Build your own BAS tool with Claude Code, or use Structio?
By Bassirou Thiam, building automation engineer · Updated
With AI coding tools like Claude Code, a controls contractor can build a first in-house tool in days. The work starts after: filling and correcting the equipment library, hosting it, securing it, fixing it when it breaks, and onboarding new staff. Structio is that tool, already built, maintained and shared by other integrators.
What building your own gets right
- it fits your exact standards, naming and templates;
- you own the code and the data;
- AI coding assistants make the first version much faster than it used to be.
What it takes after the first version
| Task | Who does it in-house |
|---|---|
| Equipment library: point templates per unit type, kept correct | Your engineers, between jobs |
| Hosting, backups, user accounts | Someone who knows servers |
| Security and access for staff and partners | Someone who knows security |
| Fixes and new features when a job needs them | The one person who wrote it |
| Exports in the formats reviewers expect | Same person |
When to build your own
If you have a developer on staff with time to maintain it, very specific internal standards, and the volume to justify it, an in-house tool can be the right call.
When to choose Structio
Structio is built for one job: you describe the building once (floors, rooms, equipment, controllers) and it draws the network diagram and builds the points list from that same project, kept in sync when the job changes. Any controller brand, unlimited users, a 7-day free trial.