How Betonmast uses Findable AI to handle manual declaration work in record time

Siv Tallang-Vold, Environmental Manager at Betonmast, highlights that processing thousands of product documents manually is “nearly impossible.” The company partnered with AI startup Findable to tackle building material declaration compliance at unprecedented speed.

The Challenge

The BREEAM standard 6.0 (introduced 2022) increased requirements for documenting chemical content in all building products. Betonmast faced an overwhelming task: reviewing 5,000+ unstructured documents to identify substances listed under the European REACH regulation (200+ harmful chemicals).

REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) is an EU regulation that governs the use of chemical substances in products. For construction companies pursuing BREEAM certification, demonstrating that building materials do not contain restricted substances requires reviewing the product documentation for every material used—often thousands of individual EPDs (Environmental Product Declarations), safety data sheets, and technical specifications.

As Siv explained, the work demands both time and expertise: “First, you have to determine if information about the chemicals is even included in the documentation. Then, it has to be correctly interpreted.”

Why is manual REACH compliance review impossible at scale?

Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) lack uniform formatting. According to Lars Aurdal, Findable’s Co-Founder and Head of Research, documentation arrives “in various text formats, tables, and combinations with markers,” creating significant technological hurdles.

Unlike structured databases where chemical information follows a predictable schema, EPDs from different manufacturers present the same information in completely different formats. A substance that one manufacturer lists in a clearly labeled table, another buries in a paragraph of technical prose. A third might use a different naming convention for the same chemical compound entirely.

Siv noted the biggest realization: “It’s not just about feeding the documents into a system.”

This is precisely why manual review was not a viable option at scale. A human reviewer would need to understand the document format, locate the relevant section, interpret the chemical information correctly, and cross-reference it against the REACH substance list—for each of 5,000+ documents. A full week of dedicated expert time was the realistic estimate before Findable.

The Solution

Findable’s AI processed material declarations that would have consumed a full week of manual labor in approximately 10 minutes—delivering what Siv calls results achieved “in record time.”

The AI system was trained to recognize the relevant sections across different document formats, extract chemical substance information regardless of how it was presented, and flag any substances appearing on the REACH restricted list. The output was a structured compliance report that Betonmast’s environmental team could review and act on directly.

She concluded: “With Findable, we’ve managed to crack this challenge.”

The Impact

By automating the manual review process, Betonmast can now:

• Process thousands of documents in minutes instead of weeks
• Ensure compliance with BREEAM 6.0 standards efficiently
• Identify harmful chemicals across their building materials catalog
• Free up environmental experts to focus on strategic work rather than document review
• Scale compliance reviews to match project volume without proportional increases in headcount

Why does AI-powered compliance matter for the construction industry?

Betonmast’s experience is not unique. As BREEAM 6.0 and similar sustainability certification standards raise the bar for material documentation, construction companies across Europe face the same challenge: compliance requirements that are technically achievable but operationally overwhelming at scale.

The traditional response—hire more environmental managers or outsource the review—does not scale economically. AI-powered document analysis changes the economics entirely, making thorough compliance review feasible even for large, complex projects with thousands of material specifications.

This case demonstrates how AI-powered document analysis can transform compliance workflows in the construction industry, turning what was once an insurmountable challenge into a manageable, automated process.

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For more examples of AI handling large-scale documentation challenges, see how Bodø Municipality used AI to analyze 12,000 documents and win a 30 million NOK construction dispute and how Canon and Findable digitized nearly 100,000 physical documents. Learn more about Findable’s Extract platform or book a demo to see how it handles your compliance documentation.