Fieldwire Review 2026: Current Erection Drawings in Every Ironworker’s Pocket

Updated October 16, 2026 – Tested Intelligence

Quick verdict: Fieldwire by Hilti is the plan-and-task app an erection crew will actually open. Upload the drawings once and every connector and foreman works off the same set: sheets are automatically hyperlinked, revisions sync on their own, and punch items for bolt-up and field welds get pinned to the exact spot on the drawing. Its Field Intelligence AI layer adds instant search across plans, tasks and photos, plus voice-driven task creation. Pricing is published, per user, with a genuinely free Basic plan.

What it is

Fieldwire is a field management platform built for the people standing on the iron, not the people in the trailer. It started in 2013, and Hilti acquired it in 2021 for approximately $300 million. For a steel crew, its job is simple to say and hard to do on paper: the current erection set, with current revisions, on every phone and tablet on the deck.

Every task lives on the plan. A foreman drops a pin where a connection needs its final bolt-up, attaches a photo and assigns it to a connector. When the office uploads a revised sheet, the new revision replaces the old one everywhere, markups carry over, and nobody builds off last week’s paper print.

Key features

• Fast HD plan viewer with automatic hyperlinking – callouts and detail bubbles jump straight to the referenced sheet, and it works offline
• Automatic revision sync with version control, so a reissued erection sheet pushes to the whole crew at once
• Sheet compare (Pro and up) overlays old and new revisions so changed details stand out before steel is flown
• Tasks pinned to exact plan locations for punch lists, inspections and rework, with photos and checklists
• Field Intelligence AI: instant search across plans, tasks, photos and forms, voice-driven task creation, AI summaries and an RFI editor
• Custom forms for daily reports and inspections; BIM viewer on Business tiers

Pricing

Pricing is public and per user. Basic is free: up to 5 users, 3 projects and 100 sheets – enough to run one erection package honestly. Pro is $39 per user per month billed annually and adds reports, sheet compare, project templates and the submittal extractor. Business is $64 and adds custom forms, app integrations, the BIM viewer and custom task fields. Business Plus is $89 and adds RFIs, submittals, change orders and Budget. Month-to-month billing costs more; enterprise contracts are quoted. The catch: every invited user is a paid seat, so a big gang adds up.

Who it’s for

Erectors and steel foremen whose drawings change faster than the paper trail. If your crew loses time to wrong revisions, unreadable prints, or punch items that live in a group text, Fieldwire is aimed squarely at you. GCs get proof the field is on the current set.

Who should skip it

Detailers and engineers: Fieldwire does not design connections, detail steel or run calculations – it distributes and tracks work. Small crews on short jobs may find paper plus a shared drive enough, and anyone shopping for estimating or fabrication software is in the wrong aisle.

Pros

• Crews adopt it: field-first design, not office dashboards shrunk to a phone
• Automatic hyperlinking and revision sync kill the two biggest drawing headaches in the field
• Published pricing with a real free tier – no demo call needed to learn the cost
• Hilti ownership means staying power, and AI search helps on thousand-sheet sets

Cons

• Per-seat pricing climbs fast when the whole gang, the GC and the detailer all need seats
• The best tools sit behind tiers: sheet compare needs Pro, the BIM viewer needs Business
• Field Intelligence features have rolled out progressively – check what is live on your plan
• It tracks work on drawings; it will not fix a bad model or a late fabrication slot

FAQ

Does Fieldwire work without signal on the deck?

Yes. Plans, markups and tasks are available offline and sync on reconnect, which matters where signal is scarce.

How much does Fieldwire cost for a small erection crew?

Basic is free for up to 5 users, 3 projects and 100 sheets. Pro at $39 per user per month billed annually is where most crews land, since it unlocks sheet compare and reports.

Does Fieldwire replace Bluebeam or Tekla?

No. Tekla authors the steel model and Bluebeam is a heavier markup tool. Fieldwire is the field layer: current drawings plus tracked tasks.

Bottom line

For ironworkers, Fieldwire’s promise is narrow and valuable: never build off an old drawing again, and never let a punch item die in a text thread. Start on free Basic for one package; Pro pays for itself the first time sheet compare catches a changed detail before the pick.