Builder Squad
Plans in. Quote pack out. You sign off.
A custom operating workspace across sales, estimating, approvals, construction and handover, built around how you already deliver. Specialist agents run the admin. The decisions stay with you.
What it is
Estimating is one capability, not the category.
Quoting is where most builders start, because it is where the pain is loudest. The same workspace then carries the job through approvals, delivery and handover — plans, pricing, comms and approvals for every job, in one place, on your own rates, rules and thresholds. It connects into Buildxact, ServiceM8, simPRO, AroFlo, Xero, MYOB and the rest of what you already run on.
Everyone will have the same AI. The system and structure around it is the advantage.
How it works
From plans to priced in three moves.
- 01
Drop in the job
Plans, subbie quotes, client selections. PDFs, scans, photos, the lot. It reads them.
- 02
It does the takeoff
Your rate card, carpentry hours, market rates and margin, built into a cost model with allowances, PC items and provisional sums included.
- 03
You review and sign off
A full quote pack: working number, itemised register, exclusions, variation triggers and the open client decisions still to lock. You check it, tweak it, put your name to it.
estimating-agent — what comes back
Quote pack · draft
14 Bellevue Rd, Hawthorn VIC
Rate card: Anderson Building Co · drawings rev B · selections v2
| Item | Basis | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Demolition & strip-out | Rate card | $8,450 |
| Framing & structural | Carpentry hrs | $21,300 |
| Windows & glazing | PC item | $12,000 |
| Electrical rough-in + fit-off | Subbie quote | $9,870 |
| Plumbing & drainage | Subbie quote | $11,240 |
| Cladding & external works | Allowance | $14,600 |
| Internal linings & finishes | Rate card | $16,980 |
- Cost build (trades + materials)
- $96,340
- Preliminaries
- $6,800
- Margin
- $14,400
- Statutory / pass-through
- $3,150
- GST
- $12,069
- Working number (inc GST)
- $132,759
Sample shown with fabricated demo data
Division of labour
Agents run the admin. The decisions stay with you.
Agents
- Read the documents and pull the numbers
- Run the takeoff and quantities
- Price carpentry hours on your rates
- Apply margin, prelims and GST
- Draft exclusions and variation triggers
- Flag the open client decisions
- Run QA checks and record sources
You
- Set your rates, rules and thresholds
- Review every line before it goes out
- Decide what is in and what is excluded
- Approve anything material before it issues
- Sign off with your name on it
Then it stops. Nothing is sent, priced or promised without your sign-off.
In production
Priced against a real estimator. It held.
The estimating agent absorbed a full set of plans for a four-unit development, applied the builder's own rate card and returned an itemised quote pack, checked against the number the in-house estimator produced. Every quantity traceable back to a plan sheet.
- ~20 min
- Plans in to quote pack out
- ±$5k
- Against the in-house estimator
- 100%
- Of quotes signed off by you before they go anywhere
Who it's for
Built for the person whose name is on the quote.
Home builders
New homes, knockdown rebuilds, renovations and small developments. You price to win the job, then live with the number.
Trade contractors
Sparkies, plumbers, chippies and anyone pricing their own work off plans without an estimator on the payroll.
Owner-operators to multi-crew
From one desk doing the quoting at night to a team across sales, estimating and site.
You already carry the trust. What you do not have is time — the admin that follows every quote, job and client still lands on the same few desks.
FAQs
Straight answers.
Is it accurate?
It prices on your rate card and current market rates, and shows the basis of every line: rate card, carpentry hours, PC item, subbie quote or allowance. In production it landed within $5k of the in-house estimator on a multi-unit development, and you review every line before anything goes out.
Does it replace my estimator, or me?
No. It does the grind: reading plans, takeoffs, pricing and assembly. You review, adjust and sign off. Material work waits for a human — nothing is sent, priced or promised without you.
What do I need to bring?
Plans, any subbie quotes, client selections, and your rates. That is it. The squad is configured to your rate card, your templates, your thresholds and your own workflow.
Does it work with my tools?
It connects into Buildxact, ServiceM8, simPRO, WorkGuru, WunderBuild, AroFlo, Salesforce, HubSpot, monday.com, Xero, MYOB and Microsoft 365. Bring whatever your workflow runs on and we will map it on the demo.
Is it only estimating?
Quoting is where most builders start, because it is the loudest pain. The same operating layer carries the job through tendering and procurement, construction, variations, handover and the job review — with a specialist agent for each, sharing the same approved context and the same human checkpoints.
Put your next set of plans through it.
Book a demo and we will run a real job through the squad, on your rates, and put the pack beside your last quote.