Put a job's specs, contract, change orders and notes into one NotebookLM notebook and ask plain questions, like what the contract says about change orders, with answers from your own files.
Who it is for
Contractors, trades and small firms with a pile of documents per job who want answers without digging through PDFs.
Tools
NotebookLM
The job's files: PDFs, Word, Excel, Google Docs
Steps
Make one notebook per job or client so answers do not mix jobs.
Add the files as sources. University IT guides list PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, text and Google Drive files among the supported types.
Ask questions in plain words with the prompt below, and open the cited passage before you act on an answer.
To ask about one document only, uncheck the other sources first; all sources are selected by default.
When a document changes, update it. Sources are static copies, and imported Google Docs must be re-synced by hand.
Only upload documents you have the right to share, and leave out anything you would not want stored.
The prompt
Answer using only the sources in this notebook. For each answer, quote the passage and name the source.
Question: [E.G. WHAT DOES THE CONTRACT SAY ABOUT CHANGE ORDERS AND WHO APPROVES THEM?]
If the sources do not answer it, say: Not in these files.
If two sources disagree, show both and say which is dated later.
Tips
Name files with the job and date, like Smith-contract-2026-10.pdf.
Ask it to quote the passage; quotes are faster to check than summaries.
Keep a notes source per job for phone calls and site visits.
Sources
The New School IT: https://services.newschool.edu/TDClient/32/Portal/KB/PrintArticle?ID=1371
Stanford University IT: https://stanford.service-now.com/it_services?id=kb_article&number=KB00020817