Lumber Acquires Pivla, Launches Agentic Compliance Platform

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New combined platform introduces construction's first AI-powered funding agent - to improve project profitability and minimize penalties.

PALO ALTO, CA / ACCESS Newswire / May 26, 2026 / Lumber, the AI-powered construction workforce management platform, today announced the acquisition of Pivla, an AI company built for the construction industry that specializes in prevailing wage and apprenticeship (PW&A) compliance, tax credit optimization, and regulatory automation.

This strategic acquisition marks Lumber's entry into agentic compliance - a new category of AI-driven systems that not only ensures regulatory adherence but also actively uses labor data to surface funding opportunities that improve project profitability.

At the center of this launch is Lumber's funding agent - this is agentic AI built into payroll and workforce workflows that identifies which federal and state incentive programs, a company qualifies for on each eligible project and what's needed to claim them. Because funding eligibility depends on accurate labor data, it continuously analyzes prevailing wage rates, apprenticeship utilization, fringe contributions, and certified payroll data.

This launch comes as federally funded construction in the United States is scaling at an unprecedented rate. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the CHIPS and Science Act, and the federal AI Action Plan have collectively committed over $500 billion to construction - from semiconductor fabs and energy infrastructure to the accelerating wave of data centers driven by federal permitting fast-tracks and DOE financing. Nearly all of this funding is gated by Davis-Bacon prevailing wage and registered apprenticeship (PW&A) requirements.

Contractors who meet these requirements unlock dramatically higher incentives. Those who don't leave money on the table - or worse, face clawbacks and penalties. Yet, most contractors still manage compliance through spreadsheets and disconnected tools, making it nearly impossible to connect payroll data to incentive eligibility in real time. Lumber's funding agent closes that gap.

Click here to see the funding agent in action

By combining Pivla's compliance intelligence engine with Lumber's payroll and workforce data, the platform automatically:

• Identifies eligible incentives at the pre-bid stage so contractors can factor funding into their price, submit more competitive bids, and win more work without sacrificing margin

• Maps active projects to eligible federally funded programs along with IRA, IIJA, and CHIPS Act incentive programs in real time

• Tracks prevailing wage and apprenticeship compliance status against program-specific thresholds

• Flags gaps in apprenticeship ratios, fringe contributions, or wage determinations before they become audit findings or disqualification events

• Generates audit-ready documentation tied directly to incentive applications

• Surfaces net-new funding opportunities by analyzing labor data patterns across a company's project portfolio

The platform serves owners, developers, and contractors across all major federally funded construction sectors, including:

• Data Center Construction - where the federal AI Action Plan's push for accelerated permitting, federal land leases, and DOE (Department of Energy)-financed energy infrastructure is triggering Davis-Bacon requirements on a growing wave of mission-critical builds

• Energy Infrastructure (Solar, Wind, Battery Storage) - where IRA §48E and §45Y credits offer a 5x multiplier for contractors who meet prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements

• Semiconductor and Advanced Manufacturing - where the $52.7 billion CHIPS Act requires Davis-Bacon compliance and detailed workforce plans on mega-project builds

• Highway, Bridge, Water, and Grid Infrastructure - where over $400 billion in IIJA funding carries mandatory Davis-Bacon requirements across all 50 states

• Broadband and Telecom - where the $42.5 billion BEAD program is bringing thousands of contractors under Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements for the first time

• Commercial Buildings and Energy Retrofits - where IRA §179D deductions of up to $5.94 per square foot require prevailing wage compliance to claim the full amount

• Industrial/Power Facilities - where §45Q credits of up to $85 per ton are gated by prevailing wage and apprenticeship compliance

• Federal Public Works & Government Facilities - where billions in annual spending through GSA, VA, DOD, USACE, FEMA, and HUD create a massive pipeline of Davis-Bacon-covered work for general contractors and subcontractors, with prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements flowing down to every subcontractor tier

"We built Lumber to be the operating system for construction workforce management. With Pivla, we're adding an intelligence layer that turns Davis-Bacon compliance into a profit center for every federally funded project. Our funding agent doesn't just tell you whether you're compliant - it tells you how much money that compliance is worth and how to capture it. That's a fundamentally new capability for this industry,"said Shreesha Ramdas, CEO and Co-Founder of Lumber.

"When we built Pivla, the thesis was simple: labor compliance on federally funded projects shouldn't be a nightmare - it should be a gateway to better project economics. Joining Lumber through this acquisition significantly accelerates that vision, allowing us to embed our compliance intelligence directly into the payroll and workforce systems that contractors already rely on. Together, we can deliver this at scale. The Funding Agent is exactly what this industry needs. It's a system of intelligence that reads labor data across every project, surfaces funding opportunities, and helps contractors capture the money they're leaving behind," said Nigel Coelho, CEO and Co-Founder of Pivla.

For an industry where margins run thin and penalties for non-compliance can erase entire project profits, this platform is the difference between compliance as a cost and compliance as a competitive advantage.

About Lumber

Lumber is the leading AI-powered construction workforce management platform that seamlessly streamlines payroll, time tracking, safety, compliance, field productivity, rewards, and recognition for building contractors. The platform offers comprehensive solutions, including payroll processing, time tracking, scheduling, hiring, and benefits management, all designed specifically for the unique needs of the construction industry.

Learn more at www.lumberfi.com.

About Pivla

Pivla is a vertical AI company specializing in Davis-Bacon prevailing wage and apprenticeship compliance for federally funded construction projects. Its AI-powered compliance engine tracks funding eligibility, monitors apprenticeship utilization, identifies penalties incurred from non-compliance, and surfaces proactive risk alerts. Pivla helps contractors on federal projects navigate complex regulatory landscapes, capture the incentive programs that depend on meeting them, and drive project profitability by turning compliance data into funding.

Learn more at pivla.com

Media Contact

Mathew Siegler

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SOURCE: Lumberfi