# What hardware does a small construction company need to run AI locally on its contracts and specs?

For contract and spec Q&A you probably don't need a giant model or a server room. A mid-size model plus a good document setup (clean text extraction, sensible chunking, retrieval of the right sections) does most of the work. Get the document side right before buying hardware.

DIY path: (1) test on the laptop you already have. Install [Ollama](/tools/ollama) or [LM Studio](/tools/lm-studio); LM Studio shows which models fit your memory. On Apple Silicon, [oMLX](/tools/omlx) is a free MLX server. (2) Add [AnythingLLM](/tools/anythingllm) or [Open WebUI](/tools/open-webui) so staff can chat with contracts and specs. (3) Only once it proves useful, size a shared box. See [Which local AI models fit on which hardware](/guides/local-ai-models-hardware-fit), [Local AI on a Mac Studio with Ollama](/guides/local-ai-mac-studio-ollama), and [Mac Studio](/tools/mac-studio-hardware), [Mac mini](/tools/mac-mini-hardware) or [DGX Spark](/guides/dgx-spark-setup) for dedicated hardware.

*AI-assisted, reviewed by our team. Last verified 2026-10-16.*

## Sources

- [Ollama](https://ollama.com)
- [LM Studio](https://lmstudio.ai)

## Related

- [Ollama](https://contractoraishop.com/tools/ollama)
- [LM Studio](https://contractoraishop.com/tools/lm-studio)
- [oMLX](https://contractoraishop.com/tools/omlx)
- [AnythingLLM](https://contractoraishop.com/tools/anythingllm)
- [Open WebUI](https://contractoraishop.com/tools/open-webui)
- [Mac Studio (hardware)](https://contractoraishop.com/tools/mac-studio-hardware)
- [Mac mini (hardware)](https://contractoraishop.com/tools/mac-mini-hardware)
- [local-ai-models-hardware-fit](https://contractoraishop.com/guides/local-ai-models-hardware-fit)
- [local-ai-mac-studio-ollama](https://contractoraishop.com/guides/local-ai-mac-studio-ollama)
- [dgx-spark-setup](https://contractoraishop.com/guides/dgx-spark-setup)

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