AQC-Core

AQC-Core (Accelerated Quantity and Costing Core) — quantity take-off and costing by Human Centric Works, Hospet.

RCC bar bending schedules, civil BOQ, drawing takeoff, rate books, DSR-style estimates (with electrical / plumbing / escalation / consulting %), and purchase orders — plus back-office modules for project scheduling, correspondence, contracts, running-account billing, stores and HR.

One project can be operated as either a Project Manager / PMC or a Contractor: each persona has its own letterhead and numbering series, and every letter, bill and order is branded and numbered accordingly.

Linked-item derivation derives one trade's quantity from another (plaster from masonry, painting from plaster, skirting from flooring), and an opt-in AI assistant can navigate the app, answer questions, run the deterministic engine, and make confirmed changes — all while the C++ engine stays the single source of truth for every number.

Quantities follow IS 456 / IS 1200–derived conventions — always cross-check against drawings.

Version: 1.1.0 · License: AGPL-3.0 (Community) or Commercial · see also NOTICE · CHANGELOG · ROADMAP

Stack

Layer	Tech
UI	C# WinUI 3 (Fluent 2, Mica), single-project MSIX
Engine	C++ bbs_engine.dll (JSON C API)
Reports	QuestPDF (estimate / BOQ / PO)

Executable name: AQCCore.exe

Requirements

• Windows 10/11
• CMake 3.20+ and MSVC (for bbs_engine)
• .NET 8 SDK
• Windows App SDK / WinUI workload
• Inno Setup 6 — optional, for Setup.exe
• Developer Mode — optional, for MSIX sideload

Build & run

cd BBSDesktop
cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja
cmake --build build --config Release --target bbs_engine bbs_tests
cd BBSApp
dotnet build -c Release -p:Platform=x64
dotnet run -c Release -p:Platform=x64

Or launch: BBSApp\bin\x64\Release\net8.0-windows10.0.19041.0\AQCCore.exe

Installer (Setup.exe)

Per-user installer (no admin):

cd BBSDesktop
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File installer\build-installer.ps1

Output: BBSDesktop\artifacts\installer\AQCCore-Setup-1.0.1.exe
Installs to %LocalAppData%\Programs\AQC-Core\

The version comes from <Version> in BBSApp.csproj; the script passes it to Inno Setup, so the output filename tracks it automatically. Pass -SkipEngineBuild when BBSDesktop\build\bbs_engine.dll already exists.

MSIX (Store / sideload)

cd BBSDesktop
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File installer\build-msix.ps1

Output: BBSDesktop\artifacts\msix\*.msix

• Microsoft Store: upload the .msix in Partner Center (Microsoft re-signs). Match Package.appxmanifest Identity Name/Publisher to Partner Center.
• Sideload: trust the local cert from build-msix.ps1, then Add-AppxPackage -Path ….

Features

Area	What you get
Project	Name, location, client, prepared-by (Engineer/Architect/PMC), company, logo — File → Project settings
Engineering	Diameters, hooks, covers, civil yields — File → Engineering settings
Cost %	Electrical, plumbing, escalation, consulting fees on estimate base — File → Cost percentages
Levels	Lvl0 = plinth … LvlN; column clear height from storey geometry
RCC	Columns (incl. pedestal), beams, slabs, footings, walls, stairs — BBS + section sketches
Civil BOQ	Masonry, plaster, PCC, earthwork, SSM, shuttering, flooring, paint, doors/windows, etc.
Openings	Doors/windows On wall mark → deduct from that masonry wall (IS 1200 ignore-small)
Takeoff	PDF drawing measure → Commit to BOQ
Item links	Data-driven linked-item derivation (plaster from masonry, painting from plaster, skirting from flooring) — editable rules, chained preview, Apply-to-sheets into the BOQ/estimate
Rate book	App-level versioned rates (%LocalAppData%\AQCCore\)
Estimate	DSR abstract (L/B/H, area, volume) + % markups → grand total; PDF sketches appendix
PO / report	Steel & materials PO; project PDF with BOQ tables + sketches
Personas	One project operated as PM / PMC or Contractor — declared in File → Project settings; each has its own letterhead + numbering series (PMC/… vs CON/…)
Schedule	CPM / PERT scheduling with activity network + Gantt
Correspondence	Letters, memos, notices, circulars, certificates, declarations, site instructions, work-order notes, interim payment certificates — FY auto-numbering, per-persona letterhead
Contracts	Item-rate / lump-sum work orders & tenders, schedule of rates, standard-terms library, retention
Accounts	RA bills with retention + statutory deductions (GST, TDS 194C, labour cess, GST-TDS), certify & number, cash/bank book, per-contractor ledger
Stores	Purchase orders, goods-receipt notes, inventory, supplier / warehouse masters
HR & resources	Sites, resources, employees, attendance & payroll (payroll register PDF)
AI assistant	Opt-in copilot on the command bar — navigate, summarise the project, run the engine (read-only), and (each confirmed) add RCC rows, change covers/markups, draft correspondence, commit takeoff openings, read the takeoff PDF, author/apply link rules. Needs an Anthropic API key (entered in-app, stored encrypted); inert without one
Project file	.bbsproj (JSON, v17 — project info, personas, estimate markups, schedule, office, contracts, accounts, stores, HR, link rules)

Settings & data locations

Data	Path
Rate books / logos	%LocalAppData%\AQCCore\ (reads legacy %LocalAppData%\BOQCore\ if present)
AI assistant API key	%LocalAppData%\AQCCore\ — encrypted with Windows DPAPI (per-user); or the ANTHROPIC_API_KEY env var
Project	User-chosen .bbsproj

Branding

• Product: AQC-Core — Accelerated Quantity and Costing Core
• Developer: Human Centric Works, Hospet
• Logo: BBSDesktop/BBSApp/Assets/logo.png

Licensing

AQC-Core is dual-licensed:

• Community Edition — GNU AGPL v3. Free for individuals, hobbyists, research, and internal business use. Note the AGPL's network clause: hosting a modified version as a service (SaaS) requires releasing your source under the AGPL.
• Commercial License — required to resell, embed in a proprietary product, offer as SaaS without AGPL compliance, remove the branding, or ship closed-source modifications.

See LICENSING.md. Commercial enquiries: office@hcworks.in · https://hcworks.in

Disclaimer

Estimation tool only — not a substitute for structural design or site mix design (M30+).

The AI assistant is opt-in and disabled unless you supply an Anthropic API key. When used, it sends the parts of your project it needs to Anthropic's API to answer — keep it off for confidential work if that is a concern. It never computes quantities itself: all numbers come from the deterministic C++ engine.