Project Normalizer Actor ## Overview The Project Normalizer is the first actor in the BuildBench AI pipeline. It processes raw construction project cost data from CSV files and normalizes it into a structured format for analysis. ## What It Does - Parses CSV files containing construction cost breakdowns - Validates data to ensure all required fields are present - Categorizes costs into standardized segments (Hard Construction, Soft Costs, Site Work) - Calculates totals by category and overall project cost - Extracts metadata including location, build type, and project specifications ## Input The actor expects a CSV file with the following columns: - Line Item - Description of the cost item - Cost - Dollar amount (can include $ and commas) - Category - Cost category (Hard Construction, Soft Costs, Site Work, Foundation) - Notes - Optional additional information Example CSV: csv Line Item,Cost,Category,Notes Foundation Excavation,$15000,Foundation,Pier and grade beam Framing - Walls,$45000,Hard Construction,2x6 exterior walls Architectural Design,$12500,Soft Costs,Plans and elevations ## Output Structured JSON object containing: json { "projectId": "unique-id", "metadata": { "city": "San Francisco", "region": "CA", "buildType": "Single Family", "totalSqft": 2500 }, "costItems": [...], "totals": { "total": 450000, "bySegment": { "hard_construction": 180000, "soft_costs": 45000, "site_work": 25000 } } } ## Configuration Set these environment variables: - APIFY_TOKEN - Your Apify API token - OUTPUT_DATASET - Dataset ID for storing results (optional) ## Usage javascript const input = { csvUrl: "https://example.com/project.csv", // or csvContent: "Line Item,Cost,Category,Notes\n..." }; ## Next Step Output is automatically passed to the Benchmark Aggregator actor for market comparison. ## Built With - Node.js - Apify SDK - CSV Parser ## Author BuildBench AI Team - Apify Hackathon 2025