The Good Builder Podcast

Most builders only find out a customer is unhappy once it has already cost them. At the end of the build, in a Google review, or in the dreaded Facebook groups. And the referral goes with it.

This week Az unpacks The Pulse by Australian Building Research and shares results from the builder trials that have been running quietly in the background. One short text at each stage of the build. Deposit, slab, frame, handover. Every reply lands in a live dashboard so you know exactly who to ask for a review, who to call, and what to fix.

Then he gets into the three things most people don't know it does.

It chases every issue until the loop is closed. Not quarterly reporting, a live workflow. A score drops, a recovery case opens, someone owns it, the outcome gets logged. Builders on the trials reported responding to issues 3.2 to 3.5 times faster.It reads your team and their workload. Communication, quality and care scores show who is driving a great experience and who needs a hand. One builder spotted a supervisor carrying too much, reallocated the work, and watched the scores lift.It benchmarks you against the industry. Every builder on the platform is measured on the same independent scale, so you can see where you sit at every stage rather than tracking against gut feel.

Az also shares the strategy behind it all: the same customer experience approach he ran at GJ Gardner Homes during the Most Trusted Builder campaign.

Whether you use the platform or not, the message is the same. Measure the experience, close the loop, and know how you stack up.

Links below to take a look at The Pulse.

View The Pulse

#thegoodbuilder #constructionindustry #buildingbusiness #australianbuilding #customerexperience #homebuilders

James Drever started as a chippy on the coast. Today he is CEO of QA Build, the fastest growing builder in Queensland, running more than 15 live projects across Australia with thousands of builds underneath them.

In this episode, James joins Az to unpack how they did it.

The philosophy is simple. See a roadblock, remove the roadblock, take control of the roadblock. When suppliers could not deliver, QA Build bought them. Their solar, electrical, air conditioning and cabinetry businesses now all sit in house, including a cabinetry operation that grew from 15 staff to more than 55, producing 60 to 70 kitchens a month with robotics on the floor.

James and Az cover:

- The journey from the tools to CEO, via national building manager at Gem Life
- Why QA Build partnered with CSQ to launch its own trade college, and what the industry loses in 30 years if nobody captures the knowledge walking out the door
- The family philosophy behind the QA name: if it is not good enough for our own, it is not good enough for our clients
- Holding the quality bar above the industry standard while building at scale
- Why they are putting on a race day for their trades, and what most builders get wrong about subbie relationships
- James's answer to the signature question: what makes a good builder?

The Good Builder is Australia's construction industry media platform. Free for the builder community.

#thegoodbuilder #constructionindustry #australianbuilding

Why does the building market suddenly feel quieter?

Builders across Australia are reporting slower enquiries, longer decision times and clients holding off on signing contracts.

In this episode of The Good Builder Podcast, Az looks at what may be driving that hesitation — including interest rates, consumer confidence, construction finance, affordability and the growing gap between housing approvals and actual building contracts.

The key point is that housing demand has not disappeared.

But clients are taking longer to make major financial decisions, and that delay can have a significant impact on builder pipelines, pre-construction, cash flow and project scheduling.

Az also breaks down three important industry stories.

First, the fallout from the Bathla Group collapse and what the administration process could mean for subcontractors and suppliers further down the creditor queue.

Then, a New South Wales court decision involving a tiny home on wheels — and why calling something a caravan does not necessarily remove planning and land-use requirements.

Finally, the episode looks at Sekisui Chemical’s move to acquire a controlling 51% stake in Queensland builder Ausbuild, and what Japanese manufacturing and industrialised construction knowledge could potentially bring to the Australian residential building market.

For builders, the message is not to panic or start discounting work.

In a more cautious market, knowing your numbers, managing your pipeline, tightening pre-construction and giving prospective clients greater certainty becomes even more important.

In this episode:

References:
Chris Baskerville Podcast on Bathla
A Tiny Home on Wheels Was Ruled a Caravan and Still Lost. Planning Law Follows the Use, Not the Structure.
Sekisui Chemical Buys 51 Per Cent of Ausbuild, Bringing Japanese Factory Housing Into Queensland’s Private Market

Sponsors:
A big thank you to our sponsor, Australian Business Research for being the sponsor of this podcast. Check out their platform The Pulse that will keep you ahead of the game: https://australianbuildingresearch.com.au/the-pulse-cep

This episode belongs to you.

When the $3.4 billion Bathla Group collapse hit, we emailed every builder and tradie in our community and asked one thing: what do you actually want to know? The questions came in fast, and some of them were spicy. Where did the money went is one thing. Whether the administrators always get paid while you get nothing is another.

So we put them straight to insolvency practitioner Chris Baskerville of Jirsch Sutherland, the leading voice on this collapse across the national media. Ten questions from real subbies, suppliers and builders. Chris only saw five in advance. The rest he answered cold.

No filtered corporate answers. Just the questions you asked: whether the money owed to you is coming back, how to work out your exposure, what the second meeting of creditors decides, how to check any builder or developer before you sign with them, and what to do this week if you're feeling the pinch.

This is the first episode built entirely from your questions, and it won't be the last. Chris returns after the administrators' report drops to decode it in plain language. If you've got a question for that one, reply to any of our emails or get in touch. We'll put it to him.

Learn more about Jirsch Sutherland: https://www.jirschsutherland.com.au/

Sponsor:

This episode is brought to you by MyConstruct, the job management software built for Aussie builders and tradies. Start your free 30-day trial at myconstruct.com with your CODE: GOODBUILDER

#thegoodbuilder #constructionindustry #australianbuilding

Every builder is being told AI will change their business. Vinnie Vecchio is one of the few actually showing them how.

Vinnie leads the coaching team at The Professional Builder, working with hundreds of builders across Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US. He joins Az ahead of the AI and Marketing Summit for Builders, on at The Star, Gold Coast, 15 and 16 October, where The Good Builder Podcast will be recording live.

In this episode:

- The real difference between a tradesperson and a business owner, and why your business can't grow if your identity doesn't
- Why The Professional Builder coaches the person first and the problem second
- The five levers you can pull before a job is even priced to lift your margin: positioning, marketing, sales, pricing and contracts
- How to fill your pipeline at least 12 months in advance with profitable projects, and why you never stop marketing
- The five levels of AI adoption, from a free ChatGPT subscription through to AI agents that work like team members
- Simple AI wins any builder can set up today: a morning brief, inbox triage, quote follow ups, client updates and bookkeeping
- The three new AI tools launching at the summit that build your offer, your lead magnet and your ad copy for you
- Why every summit day includes a structured implementation session, so you walk out with the work done, not just a page of notes
- Vinnie's answer to the question we ask every guest: what makes a good builder?

Get $200 off your summit ticket with The Good Builder: https://event.theprofessionalbuilder.com/Gold-Coast-Summit-OCT2026?discount_code=GOODBUILDER

Coming to the summit? Email admin@thegoodbuilder.com.au and we'll get you on the couch at our live recording.

He's one of the fastest growing construction profiles on Instagram, because he's saying what most of the industry won't.

Johno The Plumber (real name Robert Cragg) has spent 24 years in the trade and runs Cragg Plumbing & Drainage in Melbourne, working across commercial and domestic. In this episode he sits down with Az to talk about the stuff that actually needs saying: falling standards, missing accountability, care factor between trades, and how we bring apprentices up instead of writing them off.

Rob doesn't point the finger without pointing it at himself first. From copping a lesson from the ATO as a young subbie, to sitting in front of five directors and agreeing his work wasn't good enough — his message is simple. Failure is your best teacher, and integrity is what makes a good builder.

In this episode:

Why the older generation leaving is the industry's biggest threat
The Cassandra effect — why nobody listens until it's too late
Care factor: the real reason trades cost each other money
What it takes to build apprentices into future leaders
The one word that makes a good builder

Follow Rob:
https://www.instagram.com/johno__the_plumber/
[https://www.instagram.com/cragg_plumbing_and_drainage/

This episode is proudly sponsored by MyConstruct — built by Australian builders, for Australian builders. Get a 30-day trial at myconstruct.com with CODE: GOODBUILDER

The Good Builder is Australia's independent construction industry media platform. Free for the builder community.
https://linktr.ee/TheGoodBuilder

#thegoodbuilder #constructionindustry #australianbuilding #plumbing #tradie

Two years ago, prompt engineering was going to be the six-figure job of the future and blokes were buying Mac Minis to run AI agents next to the drop saw. Both gone — not because AI was a fad, but because the platforms built it all in. If you're paying for ChatGPT or Claude, you're probably using about 10% of it. This week, Az walks through the other 90%: four features already sitting in your subscription that can genuinely help your building business — this week, not someday.

In this episode:

Pick one. Try it this week. And if your Mac Mini is holding down invoices, you're in good company.

How-to videos for all four are coming on TGB socials this week. Know a builder, tradie or supplier who'd get something out of this? Send it their way.

What does it take to become the most awarded and highest rated solar company in Australia? Not a secret. Just turning up for customers after installation.

This week Az sits down with Leigh Storr, founder and CEO of Resinc, in their Brisbane office. Leigh has spent 24 years in renewables and built Resinc from a startup in 2016 into the country's most trusted solar provider. Over 5,000 five star reviews. 150% growth in the last 12 months. A team of 25 dedicated purely to proactive customer care after the sale.

In this episode:

Why Resinc refuses to compete on price, and why customers wouldn't want them to
The golden rule Leigh built his first sales team on: activity times skill equals results
Why post installation service is a growth strategy, not a cost centre
"What gets inspected gets respected" and how it lifts team standards
Handling 150% growth in a year without losing the customer
The community giving engine: 30 surf clubs, a Community Heroes program, and a plan to give away a solar system a day to veterans
How builders should approach solar with the NCC changes coming, and the battery rebate mistake to avoid

Whether you build homes or run any business at all, there are lessons in this one.

Resinc operates across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT. 

Find them at https://resinc.com.au/

Floor heating might be the most loved feature in a home that almost nobody asks for — and once the floors are down, it's too late.

This week Az sits down with Rick Florence, managing director and owner of Coldbuster Floor Heating, a business that's been in the Australian market for over 25 years. Rick reckons only a tiny fraction of people building or renovating ever see a floor heating quote before the floors go in — and he's built his whole business around fixing that gap.

In this episode:

Whether you're a volume builder, a custom builder or a reno specialist, this one's about a simple habit — send the plans, get the free quote, let the client decide — that costs nothing and could set your builds apart.

All Coldbuster links, socials and contact details below. Like, subscribe, and share it with a builder who should hear it.

Connect with Coldbuster Floor Heating:

Website: https://www.coldbuster.com.au
Get a Free Quote: https://www.coldbuster.com.au/get-a-free-quote/
Tradie Registration (trade discounts & installer program): https://www.coldbuster.com.au/trade-registration/
Running Cost Calculator: https://www.coldbuster.com.au/cost-of-running-underfloor-heating/
Phone: 1800 85 75 65
Email: sales@coldbuster.com.au
Address: Unit 10, 14 Rodborough Road, Frenchs Forest NSW 2086

Follow Coldbuster:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coldbusterfloorheating
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coldbusterfloorheating/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/coldbusterfloorheating/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYvKv7rlMCehLulIumkApYg
Pinterest: https://pin.it/ymQNOHR

Builders are being approached from outside the industry more than ever. Coaches, planners, consultants, software reps. All of them want the same thing: access to your trust.

In this short solo episode, Az shares the background check The Good Builder runs on everyone who approaches the platform, and why builders should run it on everyone who approaches them.

Two searches. Five minutes. Before a dollar moves or a meeting is taken.

Search one is ASIC. Run their name through the banned and disqualified register. It covers disqualified company directors, not just finance. Run their company through ASIC's company search. Check the ABN. If they claim a licence of any kind, check it with whoever issues it.

Search two is the news. Their name and their company through the Google News tab. Bans, court judgments and tribunal findings get reported, and they do not disappear.

Plus the three questions to ask anyone who makes it into the room, and the reaction that tells you everything.

Run the check:
ASIC banned and disqualified registers: asic.gov.au/online-services/search-asic-registers/banned-and-disqualified-registers
ASIC register search (company search): asic.gov.au/online-services/search-asic-registers
ABN Lookup: abr.business.gov.au
Financial Advisers Register: moneysmart.gov.au/financial-advice/financial-advisers-register

A clean search is not a clearance, and none of this replaces professional advice. It is the five minutes that too many people skip.

Think you'd make a good guest? There's a front door: podcast.thegoodbuilder.com.au/apply
Stories and tips: news@thegoodbuilder.com.au
Everything else: admin@thegoodbuilder.com.au

Solar and batteries are on nearly every new-home wish list, and hardly any builders are putting them in as standard. Az sits down with Gary Higgins, owner of Sunshine Coast solar and battery installer Halcol, to work out why, and what it's costing builders.

Gary's path here is not the usual one. An electrical apprenticeship in Ireland cut short by the GFC, a stint in retail and business management, then the Northern Territory in the middle of wet season installing satellite dishes hours outside Darwin. He joined Halcol as a business development manager, became general manager, and bought the business with his wife Rosie four years ago. Halcol now runs six or seven internal install teams plus subbies out of the Sunshine Coast and Hendra, was a Smart Energy Council top-five finalist nationally last year, and by Gary's count has been the highest-volume solar installer on the coast for the past six or seven years.

In this episode:

Why battery attach has flipped. Halcol has gone from roughly one in ten installs including a battery to solar-only being close to unheard of.

The real reason builders shy away from solar: rebates, Energex, compliance, and the warranty question.

Who actually carries the warranty under Australian Consumer Law (the builder), and how Halcol takes that off the builder's desk.

The margin conversation. How volume pricing turns solar into a line item builders make money on rather than one they avoid.

How Halcol works through a 93-unit Azure Build project: pre-wired at frame, panelled with the roof, inverter fitted last. If it's planned properly the builder never sees them.

Why a south-facing roof quietly costs 20 to 30 per cent of winter output, and the design-stage conversation that fixes it.

Inspections in Victoria, and why Queensland is heading the same way.

Hiring for attitude over paper, and running every department as its own business inside Halcol.

Why Az reckons builders have about two and a half years to get a solar process in place.

Gary's answer to what makes a good builder, which nobody has given in more than 330 episodes.

Plus an offer for builders who haven't worked with Halcol before: your first install at cost price.

FOR MORE:To learn more about Gary and the team at Halcol Energy head to: https://halcolenergy.com.au/
https://halcolenergy.com.au/solar-news/builders-put-halcol-energy-to-the-test/

SPONSOR:
The Good Builder Podcast is proudly sponsored by MyConstruct, construction software built by Australian builders for Australian builders.

Start your 30-day trial at myconstruct.com using code: GOODBUILDER

Mark Sutton has just stepped into the GM role at Goop Guys, the surface protection business builders rely on at handover. He's spent his career in hardware, paint and construction materials, starting in his father's hardware store in Cleveland, Brisbane, then leading business development for Wattyl across Australia and New Zealand, growing a network of more than a hundred stores at Everhard Industries, and working with Crimsafe Group before joining the twenty five year old family business behind Goop Guys.

Az sits down with Mark to talk about:

- What it actually means to protect an investment, for the builder and the customer at the other end of it
- Franchise growth in the construction industry, and where the opportunity sits for builders
- Why Australian manufacturing capability matters, and what it will take to rebuild it
- The project management habits that separate a good handover from a bad one
- Seventeen years of community football leadership at the Wynnum Wolves, and what building a team on the field taught him about building one in business

And as always, Az closes with the question every guest answers: what makes a good builder?

Head to https://goopguys.com/ for more.

Az runs solo through the small, low-cost moves he's watched actually shift leads for builders — no bigger ad spend required.

First, 3D walkthroughs and rendered tours of your own designs, including homes not yet built. Az's own experience — not a cited study — put these at roughly four times more likely to convert a visitor into a lead, with the added bonus of fewer variations once buyers can see how a home flows before it's built.

Second, live chat monitoring, actually staffed rather than left switched on and ignored.

Third, lead magnets, giving something of value away before asking for a quote request.

Plus a few bonus ones Az couldn't leave out: the customer experience program behind reviews and referrals, the 12 to 24 month post-handover check-in that's more psychological than transactional, and results from a TGB survey on the third-party listing platforms builders rate most, with REA well out in front.

A shout to MyConstruct for sponsoring the episode, and a look ahead to Wednesday's conversation with Mark Sutton from Goop Guys, and Friday's solar special with Gary from Halcol Energy.

Hosted by Az.

MyConstruct: 30-day trial at myconstruct.com. Use code: GOODBUILDER

Az sits down with Matt Hope, founder of Wattle Court, on building a franchise brand that is bigger than the person who started it.

Hope has run building companies and led one of the strongest performing segments of a major group. Wattle Court is the first brand he has built from scratch, and he explains why he turned down the obvious name, what the wattle tree has to do with the first homes constructed in Australia, and why the street he grew up on in regional Victoria ended up on the sign.

Covered in this episode:

The origin of the Wattle Court name, and why a builder trading under his own name is building something he cannot sell.

Exclusive territories. Why one builder given a whole market outperforms three builders splitting it, and what it does to the way franchisees help each other.

The thirteen week onboarding program, and why none of it is about construction.

Market confidence after the federal budget, the drop in new home construction searches Hope is seeing across the market, and why franchise enquiry rises when the phones go quiet.

Internal design and drafting, with plan redesigns back to franchisees inside twenty four hours.

AI takeoffs in development, taking a quoting job from eight hours to one.

Site presentation, reviews and trust, and why all of it is marketing whether builders call it that or not.

Where the brand goes next across regional Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

Hosted by Az, brought to you by The New Home Electrical Specialist.

Alex Harris from Wattyl on the couch for the first time, and Bec from Adapt Modular back for a second run.

They join Az to talk about what the construction industry keeps getting wrong about its people, and what a few operators are quietly getting right.

They cover the difference between being hired for your ability and being hired to fill a gender target. The sites that still have no facilities for women. The Census question about unpaid hours at home and what it made everyone sit with. Why apprentices are walking off the tools and the role supervisors play in it. And why the fix is not men against women, or builder against supplier, but everyone against the problem.

Bec also talks about speaking at the Master Builders Inspired Minds lunch, why she got on stage, and the line she keeps coming back to. This too shall pass.

Then the market. Where modular is winning right now. Regional and remote work that traditional builds cannot reach on cost or time. A QBuild project past Mackay at the end of fifty kilometres of dirt road. A home installed on site five hours after it left the factory. Barndominiums, dark roofs, and where Alex is seeing demand head on the Sunshine Coast. Plus Bec's call on how much of the housing market modular takes from here.

Hosted by Az.

Proudly sponsored by MyConstruct. Built by Australian builders for Australian builders. Thirty day trial at myconstruct.com with code: GOODBUILDER

#thegoodbuilder #womeninconstruction #modularhomes

Az unpacks five red flags to watch for before entering a business partnership.

As The Good Builder has grown, the partnership approaches have grown with it. Some are worth taking. Many are not. This episode covers the signals that show up early, what each one actually reveals about the person across the table, and why backing yourself is the first defence.

Covered in this episode:

The love bomb. Three messages and a calendar invite the night you meet, and what that intensity says about their order book.

The fluff. Product market fit, ecosystem, still working on that piece. The one sentence test that sorts the operators from the searchers.

The profile sweep. Twenty seconds of thumb, zero seconds of thought.

Bagging the last partner. Accountability as a filter, picking up the thread from Josh Tyrrell on responsibility.

Vague on the money. Why nobody is ever vague about their own numbers.

The through line is presentation over substance, and how to spot it before it costs you time.

Hosted by Az.

This episode is brought to you by The Pulse from Australian Building Research. The Pulse tracks the customer experience across the build, so builders find out what clients think while there is still time to act. Book a twenty minute walkthrough at australianbuildingresearch.com.au/the-pulse-cep

Coming up this week. Wednesday, Bec Askin and Alex Harris. Friday, Big Matt Hope from Wattle Court.

#thegoodbuilder #constructionindustry #buildingbusiness

Josh Tyrrell signed with GJ Gardner Homes at twenty nine, opened in October 2016, and has since built around 250 homes across Warragul, Drouin, Morwell and Traralgon. Today he has 18 staff, an average contract price near $800,000, and a second office about to open in the Latrobe Valley.

He got there by chasing the work the big builders avoid. Flat greenfield sites are a brutal fight against Metricon and Simonds. Ten metres of fall is not. Josh set out to be the volume builder for difficult builds, and now the competition sends those clients his way.

He takes Az through all of it. The shift from builder to business owner. Bringing accounting inside the business and what tighter cashflow reporting exposed. Why he hires before he needs to. The year twenty five of thirty jobs triggered planning permits and he wore the hole rather than lay anyone off. Why nobody on his team quotes a price without standing on the block first.

The Good Builder has recorded more than 300 episodes. This is the first time a guest has answered the question with a single word. Responsibility.

Josh's own podcast is linked below.
https://open.spotify.com/show/53fZLgWHZwu35jQwf3tIDe

Proudly brought to you by The New Home Electrical Specialist: https://tnhes.com.au/

Construction is one of the strongest performing sectors in the Australian economy right now. Louise Southall has the data to prove it.

Louise is the Xero Economist. She joined Xero in 2020 and brings 30 years across economics and business advocacy, working with business organisations, councils, government agencies and charities. Her focus is Xero Small Business Insights, a program that uses anonymised and aggregated data from the Xero platform to show what is actually happening inside small businesses. Real sales, jobs and wages figures rather than survey responses. The Australian data set covers more than half a million small businesses.

In this episode she joins Az to unpack the June quarter for construction. Sales up more than ten per cent on a year ago. Employment up more than five per cent. Wages up around three per cent. She explains why the sector is outperforming most of the economy, what is cushioning it against cost of living pressure, and why Queensland keeps showing up near the top of the table.

The conversation goes well past the numbers. Louise makes the case that productivity is not one big step change. It is small changes at the margin. She talks about the red tape sitting inside your own business rather than in Canberra, the friction between quoting, doing the work, invoicing and getting paid, and why the Christmas shutdown conversation with your accountant needs to happen months before December.

Her answer to what makes a good builder is worth the listen on its own, and it comes from three decades of watching small businesses succeed and fail. Most builders serve a trade apprenticeship. Very few serve the second one. Businesses rarely fail because the trade work is poor. They fail because the cash does not come in fast enough.

Also covered: skills shortage as the sector's main headwind, why the five to twelve staff bracket is the hardest place to sit, what technology adoption actually looks like when you are running quotes from the ute, and what the New Zealand experience shows about a construction sector under pressure.

Hosted by Az.

This episode is proudly sponsored by MyConstruct, built by Australian builders for Australian builders. Get a 30 day trial at myconstruct.com with your CODE: GOODBUILDER

Most builders were never taught marketing. For most of the last decade they did not need to be. Orders came in, the phone rang, and whatever budget existed went to whichever sales rep called first.

That market has tightened. New franchises are landing in established patches, buyers are researching harder than they ever have, and the builders who cannot be found are losing work to the ones who can.

This is episode one of the Monday Marketing series. Az sits down with Paul from Viva Digital, an agency the industry does not hear much about but whose work sits behind some of the biggest names on the Sunshine Coast. Paul does not sell. If a builder does not need an agency, he tells them so and sends them on their way with the advice to do it themselves.

In this episode:

The three pillars of marketing spend, and why builders reach for the wrong one first
Why the website is the only digital asset a builder actually owns
The three second rule, and what a prospect decides before they read a single word
What a builder's website should genuinely cost, and where six figure quotes lose the plot
The apple tree analogy: Google Ads catches the fruit, Meta shakes the tree
Facebook or Instagram, and the age where the audience splits
SEO explained without the jargon, and the one metric to demand from any agency
Where AI search pulls its answers from, and why citations now matter
Lead tracking, and why almost no builder in the country can say where their work came from
Choosing an agency, and why Paul treats it like a marriage

Practical, logical, and free of the usual agency noise. If marketing is the part of the business that has been sitting in the too hard basket, start here.

Hosted by Az.

This episode is brought to you by Viva Digital. vivadigital.com

Download the episode resource: https://leadtracker.thegoodbuilder.com.au/download

Subscribe for a new episode every week, and follow The Good Builder for independent reporting on the Australian residential construction industry.

#thegoodbuilder #constructionindustry #buildingbusiness #australianbuilding #marketingforbuilders #digitalmarketing #buildermarketing #constructionmarketing

Rod Gibbs has had three jobs in construction. He has done almost everything inside them.

He started out tiling, switched to carpentry, and served his apprenticeship at Glover Building Group before becoming a partner in the business. Then thirteen years at Plantation, moving from supervisor to construction manager to building manager, running volume at a scale most builders never see. Fifty to sixty slabs a month. Fifty to sixty handovers. Supervisors carrying fourteen to sixteen jobs at a time.

He has just been appointed General Manager of Construction at Bold, and he unpacks the move in this episode.

The move is not the reason to listen. The reason is the hour of practical detail on how a building business actually runs when the people side is done properly.

Rod covers why the five out of tens hold a team together better than the A graders. Why complacency in a good market shows up two years later as a problem you cannot fix. Why the supervisor is the most important link in the chain through the customer's eyes, and why that workload has roughly doubled since 2016. How to pass the baton between departments without dropping the customer at handover. What he looks for when he hires, and why a bloke who got knocked back twice is now a construction manager.

There is also six years on the HIA technical committee, and what that taught him about getting ahead of code change instead of pulling bathrooms apart after it lands.

Then the standing question. What makes a good builder? Rod's answer comes back to three things. Quality across every department, the customer journey, and communication that happens face to face.

Hosted by Az.

Sponsored by The New Home Electrical Specialist,the experts in new home electrical. Visit https://tnhes.com.au/ for more

Phil runs WD Constructions in Melbourne. He started in 2018 with one week of work at a mate's house and a first child on the way. Six years on he has never spent a dollar on advertising. Every job has come through word of mouth.

He has also built a serious following on Instagram by showing what most operators keep off camera. The mistakes. The rectification. What sits behind the plasterboard.

Az asks him why he spoke up about prefab, and what the public is actually being sold when a home gets promised in a month. Phil walks through display home finishes and lands on one word. Disappointing.

The conversation turns to what the trade stopped teaching. Carpenters who have only hung doors and glued on skirting. Apprentices pushed through with modules missing. His trade school teacher's line that roofing is the difference between a carpenter and a handyman.

Phil finished his apprenticeship without ever seeing a purchase order. He argues quoting, invoicing and basic business skills belong in every trade qualification.

He also gives a straight read on Melbourne. Plenty of work about, a hard twelve to twenty four months ahead for anyone who rode the COVID wave, and renovation and extension work about to run hot as investors sell up and spend on their own home.

His answer to what makes a good builder is two words. Care factor. Treat it like your own, or don't take it on.

Hosted by Az.

Sponsors:
Head to MyConstruct for your 30-day FREE trial with code: GOODBUILDER

Learn more about Phil and WD Constructions: https://wdconstructions.net/ | https://www.instagram.com/wdconstructions_/?hl=en

Most builders open an AI tab, type into it like it's Google, close it, and get back the same generic content everyone else is posting. Hard hat emojis. Crane emojis. Transforming spaces, one build at a time.

Builders are publishing it, and audiences are picking it straight away. That does not just waste time. It chips away at trust in the brand.

The tool is not the problem. The setup is.

In this solo episode, Az walks through a one time setup that takes ten to fifteen minutes and improves everything the tool produces after it. Four things go in:

Who you build for, and what they are actually scared of. The three things you post about, plus the one thing you never post about. How you actually sound, pulled from writing you have already done rather than a voice someone invented for you. And your rules, the never dos.

Then he covers where each of those things goes. In Claude, that is Projects, and the two boxes you will find inside one. In ChatGPT, it is either custom instructions in your settings, or a project. No verdict on which tool is better. Just where things live.

Do it once and you are done. No more hunting for the thousand best prompts.

The free Setup Sheet that goes with this episode is at https://aidownload.thegoodbuilder.com.au/download

Also in this episode: the Milwaukee giveaway, and the State of the Land reports for Queensland and Victoria.

Coming up this week, Phil from WD Constructions on Wednesday and Rod Gibbs on Friday.

Az runs through the week that was.

Every state is quoting a big housing number. Queensland says 100,000 homes. New South Wales says 150,000. Victoria says 300,000 unlocked. South Australia says 50,000. Add them up and they clear the 1.2 million National Housing Accord target. The problem is that none of them are counting the same thing.

Victoria's figure is zoning capacity measured out to 2051, and nobody has proposed those homes yet. New South Wales is counting projects handed a faster assessment pathway, which is permission to apply, not permission to build. Queensland is counting land where water, sewer and road capacity has been funded. New South Wales is the only state that published what happened next: 484 projects granted the faster pathway, and 14 approved after 18 months.

Also in this episode. New published guidance on artificial intelligence and digital tools in the workplace, and why job management apps, automated scheduling, site cameras, fatigue wearables and anything that drafts your quotes now sit inside your safety obligations. The risks flagged are psychological, not physical. New South Wales has legislated first and Safe Work Australia has asked other states to follow. Az gives three things to do about it this week, including the one most builders get wrong: buy the software from a supplier and the obligation is still yours.

Work has started on the first homes at North Harbour in Burpengary East, about twelve months after the priority development area was declared. That is quick by Queensland standards. The site runs to 3,700 homes across two precincts, one residential and one an investigation area where housing is not permitted until the development scheme is finalised. Anyone working the Moreton Bay corridor should plan against 250 lots for now.

Plus the first winners of the Milwaukee heated jacket giveaway are announced, and week two is open.

And the first two State of the Land reports are live, covering Queensland and Victoria, built on land data from Terralytics. They track blocks that actually sold inside active estates across six and a half years, twelve corridors in Queensland and seven in Victoria, with an outlook across the next six years. In Queensland, 97 percent of remaining blocks are titled and ready. In Victoria it is 46 percent. Where you are moves the numbers more than which state you are in. Logan and Brisbane are forty five minutes apart and they do not look the same.

Most people tell builders what happened to the land after the land is gone. These reports do it beforehand.

Get the report: https://stateoftheland.thegoodbuilder.com.au/

This episode of The Good Builder Podcast is proudly sponsored by MyConstruct, built by Australian builders for Australian builders. Thirty day free trial at myconstruct.com. by using code: GOODBUILDER

Two states. Same data. Same method. Queensland doubled and Victoria did not. That is the headline from the first State of the Land reports, and it is close to the least useful thing in either of them.

In this episode Az walks through what is actually inside the Queensland and Victoria editions, section by section, and what to look for when you open them. The reports are built on 26 straight quarters of real lot sales inside active estates. Not building approvals. Not median house prices. Every release and every unsold lot is counted and sorted by frontage and area, which is why these reports can tell you what a lot format costs instead of what a suburb costs.

The six things to look for:

Median lot price, and the direction and pace behind it
Months of supply, and whether you can buy land at all
Absorption rate, the early warning sign for where the work is heading
Titled stock, the number most people skip and the one that wrecks a program
The corridor breakdown, 12 corridors in Queensland and seven in Victoria
The lot itself, frontage, format, and what you pay per square metre

Queensland is sitting at 1.6 months of supply. Victoria is at 5.4. Same country, two completely different markets.

Builders, suppliers and trades usually find out what the land market did after it has already done it, and usually from someone with something to sell off the back of it. This is the benchmark instead.

State of the Land is produced in partnership with Terralytics. Links to both reports are below.

Hosted by Az. The Good Builder.

Most builders treat a communication breakdown as a people problem. Dan Okart says it is a clarity problem, and it starts at the top.

Dan from A Thousand Feet Deep is back with Az for a third Monday in a row. The brief was simple. What does effective communication actually look like inside a building business. The answer went a long way past a five point checklist.

Dan opens with the line that frames the whole conversation. The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.

From there, three things to do about it.

First, a communication agreement. Not a vibe. A written set of non-negotiables that says this is how we communicate around here. How fast an internal email gets answered. How quickly a client call gets returned. One builder built theirs around the word BRAVE, because they knew their team had to get braver about asking questions. Dan's own rule was that bad news never goes to a client on a Friday. SpaceX bans abbreviations. Different rules, same principle. If it is not a non-negotiable, it is flexible. Anything flexible is sporadic.

Second, know who you are talking to. There is always a communicator and a comprehender, and both carry responsibility. Dan uses DISC profiles to map how people take in information, because the bloke who wants three words and the person who needs the full picture will not meet in the middle on their own.

Third, paint the picture and keep painting it. Dan's rule of thumb is seven. People need to hear something around seven times before it lands. Say it once and you have not communicated it. You have mentioned it.

Then Az asks a question neither of them planned. What about the way we talk to ourselves. Dan calls it the most important thing the two have ever covered. He tells the story of his young fella coming home from footy after an adult on the sideline had torn into him, and what it takes to put context around words before they set. Take your thoughts captive, or they will take you captive.

The conversation lands where these ones always land. Culture is how you do what you do. Leaders build people, and people build homes. And when a building business goes under, the mind usually finishes before the numbers do.

Also in this episode. Master Builders workshop nights across northern New South Wales. Why men and women hear the same conversation differently. And a champion of the 1980s who played an entire career carrying doubt nobody knew about.

Hosted by Az.

For more head to: https://www.1000feetdeep.com.au/

Aaron Applefield has worn nineteen different hats in twenty years at Brett's. Ask him what he does and he reframes the question. His core, he says, is simpler than any job title. He is a coach.

In this episode Az sits down with the man they call Apps. Business Development Manager at Brett's. Baseball coach. Mentor with Live Life Build. It is a conversation that runs well past building.

They get into stoicism and the daily practice of it. Kaizen, and why direction matters more than the size of your steps. Reframing anxiety as excitement, and the language we use on ourselves. Harmony over balance, because a scale only holds two things and life throws more than that.

And the one answer Apps gives to our signature question. What makes a good builder is communication. Not build quality. It matches what builders keep telling us. They think clients care most about the build. Ask the clients, and it comes back to communication.

A rare Good Builder episode about the foundations under the foundations.

Hosted by Az.

This episode is proudly sponsored by MyConstruct. Built by Australian builders for Australian builders. Get a 30-day free trial at myconstruct.com with your exclusive code: GOODBUILDER

A big week at The Good Builder. Az runs through three announcements and three headlines moving the residential building industry right now.

The announcements first. 

The Milwaukee Tools Winter Sucks campaign kicks off, with [20] pieces of heated gear going out over four weeks. Tell TGB why winter sucks and you go in the running. It is a game of skill, so get creative. 

Pulse opens to a small group of builders. It is a customer experience program that surveys your build clients at key stages, then hands the data back to you. Because most of what goes wrong between a builder and a client is not the build. The slab is fine. The frame is fine. What breaks is the experience around it, and the communication sitting behind it. 

And a new State of Australian Land report is close. It maps where land is being released across two states, how supply and pricing are actually moving, and where builders should be looking over the coming years. A lookback across six years, built so you can forecast off it. 

Then the headlines. 

Dreamworld's master plan on the northern Gold Coast has been approved by the state. It covers 55 hectares, four precincts, and staging across roughly a decade. The theme park keeps running and gets room to grow, alongside a big slab of housing, apartments and mixed use. 

Victoria has started teaching the country's first prefab installation qualification, a Certificate III at Melbourne Polytechnic. Good news on the face of it, with a catch sitting in the paperwork. 

Google has quietly started tracking social profiles inside Search Console. A signal of how much of the customer journey now runs through Instagram, reels and reviews, not just your website. 

Plus a look ahead to next week's guest from Brett's Timber and Hardware.

Links:
Milwaulkee Giveaway: https://milwaulkee.thegoodbuilder.com.au/win
The New Home Electrical Specialist: https://www.tnhes.com.au/
The Pulse: https://australianbuildingresearch.com.au/the-pulse-cep

Burnout. Staff churn. Chasing defects. A team that only works when you're standing over it. Dan from One Thousand Feet Deep says none of those are the real problem — they're the cracks that show up when a building business has no foundation under it.

Dan joins Az as co-host for this one, tackling real questions pulled from past episodes with some of Australia's top builders, Kyle Zanetto (Zanetto Builders), Tony Gall (Creation Homes), James Stroud (Stroud Homes) and Peter Wood (Avid Property Group).

What's covered:
 • The first cracks that appear when you're working in the business, not leading it
 • Why sales, cashflow and retention are byproducts — not targets
 • "Structurally sound" vs "momentarily stable" — the hit-by-a-bus test for your business
 • Tensions to manage vs problems to solve (and why you can't fix a tension)
 • The four steps that make hard conversations professional, not personal: set the expectation, empower the outcome, measure the results, hold people accountable
 • What the Penrith Panthers and Toyota can teach a building company about culture

Dan's take is simple: you're not a builder of homes, you're a builder of people who build homes.

Connect with Dan and One Thousand Feet Deep: https://www.1000feetdeep.com.au/

Proudly sponsored by:
The New Home Electrical Specialist - https://www.tnhes.com.au/
MyConstruct - Get your 30-day FREE trial with your code GOODBUILDER at https://myconstruct.com/

 More from The Good Builder: thegoodbuilder.com.au

#TheGoodBuilder #ConstructionLeadership #BuildingBusiness #ConstructionCulture #AustralianBuilders

While the rest of the industry went backwards in FY26, Stroud Homes was the only franchise in our Top 100 report to grow — in both revenue and numbers. So we sat down with James Stroud to work out why.

It's not a growth-hack story. James talks about Kaizen, the Toyota-born habit of fixing every small thing that goes wrong, no matter how lame it seems, and why panning a hard client's feedback for that one fleck of gold beats getting your feelings hurt. We get into defects and why he's anti-handyman, checklists over memory (the way pilots are legally required to use them), and the health-wealth-happiness link that keeps builders from wearing themselves out.

James also flips the whole premise of the show: asking a builder what makes a good builder is like asking a chef if the food's good — the only judge that counts is the client. That one point is changing how we do things at The Good Builder.

Plus his read on where the market's heading: affordability driving duplexes, quality over volume as clients de-risk their build, why modular/prefab hasn't found its time yet, and being a "sense maker" for customers drowning in information.

A frank, no-fluff conversation with one of the most respected operators in Australian building.

For more head to https://franchise.stroudhomes.com.au/

Sponsor: The sponsor for this episode is MyConstruct. Built by Aussie Builders for Aussie Builders, you can get your FREE 30-day trial with the code GOODBUILDER - head to myconstruct.com

Hashtags

#TheGoodBuilder #StroudHomes #JamesStroud #AustralianBuilders #BuildingIndustry #ConstructionAustralia #Kaizen #ContinualImprovement #BuildingBusiness #TradesBusiness #ResidentialConstruction #BuilderPodcast #ConstructionPodcast #NewHomeBuild #FranchiseBusiness #QualityBuilding #BuildingBetter #ConstructionLeadership

Brendan and Hayley Kelly have spent two decades building XP Finishes into one of the Gold Coast's most respected finishing trades — named Trade Business of the Year in 2025 — but as they say themselves, they're only as good as their last job.

In this episode, Az sits down with the husband-and-wife team behind XPHQ, their customer-facing design hub, and their new decorative brand Atelier. We get into why the finishing trade makes or breaks a home, the real cost of cutting corners (what Brendan calls the "FAFO tax"), and the science behind specialty finishes like lime wash and French wash.

It's a straight-talking conversation about quality over speed, respecting trades, and the culture Brendan and Hayley have built with their team. Plus the line that had us nodding: "perception isn't perfection" — why the builder with the perfect Instagram isn't always the one who can pay their bills.

If you're a builder, designer, or homeowner who cares about doing it properly, this one's for you.

📍 XP Finishes — Gold Coast | XPHQ design hub - https://xpfinishes.com.au/atelier-by-xp-finishes

Fewer homes, more money...that's the Queensland building market in one line. In this Monday episode, Az runs through what's just dropped, what's coming, and the one tool he reckons is one of the most critical pieces of the puzzle for any builder.
Inside this episode:

 • The QLD Top 100 Builder Report (with Australian Construction Data) — why it's a read on the market, not just a ranking. The hundred biggest QLD builders wrote ~6% fewer homes but banked ~5% more, with average contracts up 11.5% to $540k. Plus three ways to actually use the report: benchmark yourself, price your next job, and read the intel.
• The State of Australian Land report (data partner: Terralytics) — a sneak peek before it drops in two weeks. Greenfield land across QLD and VIC, 25 quarters, 36 council areas — including the untitled pipeline. QLD land up 90% in six years with supply nearly gone; Victoria flat with stock to spare.
• A Milwaukee Tools giveaway — we're not telling you what it is yet. Keep an eye on our socials this week.
• The Customer Experience Program — the top 5 things it does for your business: red flag alerts, whole-journey tracking, staff scorecards, your recommend (NPS) score, and benchmarking. Az shares how this drove GJ Gardner's "most trusted" campaign and helped grow the business ~$700m in 12 months.

With thanks to our sponsor MyConstruct. Australia's building software built by Aussie builders, for Aussie builders (30-day trial at myconstruct.com).

Got questions about the customer experience program? Get in touch with us at The Good Builder. Like, subscribe, and share it with a builder who needs it.

#TheGoodBuilder #AustralianBuilders #ConstructionAustralia #BuildingIndustry #ResidentialConstruction #QLDBuilders #CustomerExperience #BuildersOfAustralia #ConstructionData #PropertyDevelopment #LandSupply #TradiesAustralia #NPS #BuildingBusiness #ConstructionPodcast

Australia tends to think it has home building figured out. Michael Hopkins isn't convinced.

A bricklayer by trade, Michael learnt the trade in Wales, worked across Germany, and has spent 30 years on sites in Australia. He keeps going back to Europe to see how they build, and he comes home with the same message every time. On the way we put homes together, we are decades behind.

In this episode he sits down with host Az to walk through what he has seen. Timber frames delivered to site and made weather tight in two days. Keys handed over in four weeks, back in the late 1980s. Double glazing and insulation that all but removes the heating and cooling bill. A German research lab warming a room with a film on the wall and a small solar panel. Slab screeding done standing up, faster and flatter than we manage on our knees.

None of it is theory. It is already being done, just not here.

The real question is why. Michael's answer takes in conservative habits, a fragmented industry, and the red tape holding better building back.

Listen to the full conversation on The Good Builder Podcast, available on Spotify and all major platforms.

#thegoodbuilder #constructionindustry #australianbuilding

This episode is proudly supported by The New Home electrical Specialist. Find out more at thnes.com.au

Every builder is up against the same question right now. How do you build more homes, faster, without dropping quality or blowing the margin?

This episode makes the case for answering it differently. Az sits down with Adam Dawson, engineering and builder solutions manager at Pryda and a chartered engineer, to unpack why the industry stays stuck treating every home as a one off project, and what changes when you start building in systems instead.

At the centre is Truss House, Pryda's framing system that turns the structural shell of a home, the roof, wall and floor, into a set of standard engineered components. Adam explains the shift from project thinking to product thinking, using the car industry as the model of fixed, flexi and free. He walks through what it means on site, where the real bottlenecks in housing supply actually sit, and why total build cost matters more than the price of a set of frames.

The numbers Adam shares are hard to ignore. Homes framed in a couple of hours. A transportable prototype from Major Timber and Trusses stood and braced in 52 minutes. A wall system that lands close to a 10 star home before you touch the detailing.

It is one of the most forward looking conversations the podcast has run, and a real look at what building like a manufacturer could mean for builders across Australia and New Zealand.

Learn more: https://pryda.com.au/trusshouse/

Sponsor:
This episode of The Good Builder Podcast is proudly sponsored by MyConstruct, construction software built by Australian builders for Australian builders. Start a 30 day trial at myconstruct.com.

The Top 100 Queensland Builders report dropped on Friday. Most builders will scroll past the first 30 pages to see if they beat the bloke down the road. This episode is about everything else in there.

Host Az walks through the read behind the ranking. It runs on official QBCC data, so no builder is missed, and it groups the franchise networks so you can see who the biggest really are. But this goes well past a league table. It is an intelligence report.

The line for the year: fewer homes, more money. Queensland's hundred biggest builders wrote fewer new home contracts than last year, yet total contract value climbed. And most of that lift is not cost being passed on. It is a market quietly building fewer cheap homes and more expensive ones.

In this episode:

It is not a list of who is winning. It is a map of how the game changed for Queensland, and where it goes next.

If you build in Queensland, or you sell to people who do, this is the most honest picture of the market you will get this year.

Grab the report at https://qldtop100.thegoodbuilder.com.au/home.

Ranking data built on Australian Construction Data. constructiondata.com.au

Most builders think margin disappears on site. Owen Chambers says it disappears earlier than that.

Owen joins Az from The Professional Builder, the coaching team working with thousands of residential builders across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the US and Canada. His argument is simple. Residential construction has limited upside and plenty of downside, so the game is not maximising profit on a good job. It is protecting margin on every job. And most of that protection happens before a contract is signed.

In this episode, Owen breaks down:

The Professional Builder's Queensland roadshow runs 21 to 23 July: Gold Coast on Tuesday the 21st, Brisbane on Wednesday the 22nd, and Sunshine Coast on Thursday the 23rd. 

Three hours in the morning, working on your business with TPB coaches, members and alumni. Tickets are $97 and include a copy of the book.

Az will be at the Sunshine Coast session.

Book your spot: https://www.tpbevents.com/event/queensland-roadshow-2026/workshops

Builders think their customers care most about build quality. Customers say it is communication. Az and the team from Increase Construction dig into where AI actually earns its place in a building business, from sales call coaching to customer experience, plus early findings from TGB's builder marketing survey.

SHOW NOTES / DESCRIPTION

What do builders think their customers care about most? Quality of work. What do customers actually say? Communication. That gap sits at the centre of this episode.

Az is joined by Drew and Sean from Increase Construction to talk about where AI actually earns its place in a building business. Not as a gimmick, but as a way to clear the back office so builders can spend more time face to face with their customers.

The conversation runs through real, working examples:

Plus early findings from TGB's builder marketing survey, including how little most builders spend on marketing and why most cannot say what is actually working.

This episode is proudly sponsored by MyConstruct, built by Australian builders for Australian builders. Get a 30-day trial at myconstruct.com.

Hosted by Az. New episodes of The Good Builder Podcast every Mon, Wed and Fri.

For more on Increase Construction: https://increaseconstruction.com/

A new financial year lands on 1 July, and it brings more than the usual housekeeping. In this solo Monday episode, Az runs builders through every change hitting their business in the same week. Award wages, payday super, expanded parental leave, tighter safety rules in South Australia, the NSW DBP Act expansion, and the permanent return of loss carry back.

He also breaks down the headlines that matter. The record $119 billion Queensland budget and the Residential Activation Fund doubled to $1 billion. The $5.2 billion NSW bet on Western Sydney water and prefab. And the apprenticeship numbers that look strong on the surface but tell a messier story underneath, with a hard look at why a fragmented industry full of overlapping not for profits keeps getting diluted results.

Plus a first look at two reports landing in the coming weeks. The inaugural Top 100 Queensland Builders Report, ranking the state's hundred biggest residential builders by build value, where total builds dipped but contract values climbed. And the State of Australian Land report, produced with Terralytics, mapping land price, current and future supply, and how fast land is clearing.

Subscribe to the database to be first when both drop.

In this episode:

Read the full 1 July article at thegoodbuilder.com.au.

General information only. Not legal, financial or work health and safety advice. Confirm your obligations with the relevant regulator or a licensed adviser.

#TheGoodBuilder #ConstructionIndustry #BuildingBusiness #AustralianBuilding #Tradies #PaydaySuper #EOFY #QLDBuilders

Brad Acheson had his builder's licence before his 21st birthday. Possibly the youngest in New South Wales at the time. He spent the next two decades building under his own name in Dubbo, up to 35 homes a year, with a reputation the whole town knew.

Then he handed that name over and joined Stroud Homes Dubbo.

Not because the business was failing. Because he was the business. Every answer, every decision, every holiday booked around which hotel had the best Wi-Fi. He wanted systems that would set him free.

Three and a half years on, Brad came back from a week away and was caught up by 11am. The business had run without him.

In this episode he sits down with Az to unpack what that shift actually took. Systemising a building company without losing what made it his. Why a franchise community beats going it alone. And the moment that caught the host off guard: the first guest to thank his wife on the show.

Asked what makes a good builder, Brad doesn't reach for volume, margin or systems. He says empathy. Anyone can build a house. Not everyone builds it for the person who has to live in it.

Listen now.

In this episode:

The line that sticks: anyone can build a house. Not everyone builds it for the person who has to live in it.

Guest: Brad Acheson, Stroud Homes Dubbo
Host: Az, The Good Builder

For more: https://franchise.stroudhomes.com.au/

Podcast sponsor:

This episode is proudly supported by MyConstruct. The Aussie Construction Software Built By Aussies Builders.
Try it free for 30 days at myconstruct.com.

#thegoodbuilder #constructionindustry #buildingbusiness #australianbuilding #stroudhomes #dubbo

Most builds get into trouble long before anyone picks up a hammer. They get into trouble in the design.

In this episode of The Good Builder, Az sits down with Vicky Cutler, a registered architect across New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria with more than twenty years in residential design, and the founder and director of Cutler and Co.

Her argument is simple. The builder should be in the room from the start, not handed a finished set of drawings and asked to price them.

Vicky makes the case against tendering and for collaboration from inception. Get a builder involved early, get a real cost breakdown, and design something that can actually be built to budget. She explains where the old tension between architects and builders comes from, how it cracks open on site, and why most of it traces back to working in isolation and ego.

The conversation covers the early decisions that quietly cost builders later, from construction method to site access. It covers the render that looks the part but cannot be built, and what that does to a client's trust. And it covers the practical side most builders overlook, including charging for time in the early stage like any other consultant.

For builders, trades and suppliers, the takeaway is direct. A good designer alongside you does not add cost. It takes a large share of the stress, the rework and the risk off the table.

Vicky also shares what she is building now, from commercial work across the coast to a boutique resort in Sri Lanka, and what a real working partnership between a builder and an architect looks like when both leave the ego at the door.

Show notes

Most builds get into trouble long before anyone picks up a hammer. They get into trouble in the design.

Az sits down with Vicky Cutler, registered architect across New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria with more than twenty years in residential design, and the founder and director of Cutler and Co. Her case is simple: the builder belongs in the room from the start, not handed a finished set of drawings and asked to price them.

What we get into:

Chapters

00:00 Why the builder and the designer need to meet
 01:52 Meet Vicky Cutler and Cutler and Co
 03:47 Residential vs commercial: designing for how people live
 07:12 What architects really do beyond the drawings
 14:34 The early decisions that quietly cost builders later
 17:30 Where the architect and builder tension comes from
 19:19 The case against tendering
 21:49 Why builders should charge for their early stage time
 27:51 Renders that sell vs renders you can build
 36:13 How a good designer takes the stress out of a build
 43:00 Leaving the ego at the door
 50:45 Women in construction and lifting Queensland's game
 1:01:45 What makes a good builder

Guest: Vicky Cutler, Founder and Director, Cutler and Co
https://cutlerco.com.au/

Follow The Good Builder for more conversations with the people building a better industry.

Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by MyConstruct. The software platform built by Australian Builders for Australian Builders. Get yiour 30-day trial at https://myconstruct.com/

Most leaders stay flat out doing work that someone else on the team could do, while the work only they can do never gets touched. That gap sits at the centre of this conversation.

Az sits down with Dan from A Thousand Feet Deep, the culture and leadership business he leans on most, to work through a question that sounds simple and turns out to be the hardest one a leader can answer. What do you do that only you can do?

They get into the difference between chasing symptoms and finding the root cause, why leadership is influence before it is anything else, and why a core purpose keeps shifting as a business moves through seasons. Dan makes the case that culture is how you do what you do, not smiling faces and a beer on a Friday, and that the strongest cultures are forged rather than left to evolve. The Penrith Panthers and the Melbourne Storm are his proof, clubs that kept winning while losing their best players every year because the standard lived in the system instead of one or two people.

It is also an unusually honest episode. Az is candid about feeling stuck, unmotivated and unsure of his next move, including the three weeks he spent building things that were never his job to build. If you're busy but going backwards, this one names the problem and points to a way through.

Sponsor:

This episode of the Good Builder Podcast is proudly supported by MyConstruct, the job and client management platform built by Australian builders for Australian builders. Visit https://myconstruct.com/ for your 30-day trial.

Ask most builders who runs their HR, and the answer is "me."

That's the problem.

In this episode, Az sits down with Julie Bolitho, a recruitment and HR specialist who has spent close to 30 years in the building industry. She started at sixteen in a land surveying office, studied drafting at TAFE, and went on to work across the HIA, Apprenticeships Queensland and the Australian Industry Trade College before founding Dedicated Staffing Solutions. She knows a building business from the inside.

The throughline of this one is simple. Your people are your most important asset, and getting recruitment right is everything.

Julie and Az get into the real stuff. Why so many women in the industry undersell themselves, and why they need to back themselves more. Where builders get unstuck hiring friends and family. What candidates using AI on their resumes actually looks like from the other side of the interview table. And why a tidy LinkedIn profile matters more than tradies might think.

There's a strong section on workforce planning too. With the trade shortage and 2032 on the horizon, Julie makes the case for bringing on apprentices, trainees and cadets now — and mentoring them under your best people so you're not caught short later.

They also talk leadership. The kind that shows up when the conversations get hard, not just when the beers come out.

And when Az asks what makes a good builder, Julie's answer is one worth sitting with: someone who embraces change, looks after their people, and knows when to step up, step aside, and step down.

A genuinely useful conversation for anyone who employs people in this industry.

What we cover

Sponsors
This episode is proudly supported by MyConstruct, construction management software built by Australian builders, for Australian builders. Start a 30-day free trial at myconstruct.com

Matt was never the classroom type. He left school without much love for books or essays, and for years he moved through job after job trying to find his place.

What he found was the trade.

In this episode, Az sits down with Matt from Vanstyn Constructions — a builder who turned hands-on instinct and hard-won life experience into a thriving business. Patios, carports, decks, renovations and extensions, across residential and commercial work in South East Queensland. Fifteen staff. A 4.9-star rating from 70 reviews. And more than a decade in business, in an industry where most don't make ten years.

Matt's story is a reminder that life is the best educator.

He talks about learning the trade from the ground up, why he came off the tools, and how he built a one-stop-shop that handles council approvals so clients and builders don't have to. He's honest about the trends he's seeing on the ground too — the rise of granny flats and intergenerational living, where the SEQ market is really sitting, and why he has no interest in chasing size for the sake of it.

There's also a good conversation about something builders rarely talk about: rewarding yourself for the risk you carry.

And when Az asks the question we ask every guest, what makes a good builder, Matt's answer is simple. Honesty. Be clear, be upfront, and be good at what you do.

A grounded, practical chat with a builder who knows exactly who he is.

What we cover

Sponsors
This episode is proudly supported by MyConstruct. Construction management software built by Australian builders, for Australian builders. Start a 30-day free trial at myconstruct.com

This week Az is back on the Monday couch with Josh Peapoint from Elevate Estimating.

Josh has just returned from two weeks in Bali with his family. No phone. No work. Just time off. That sets the tone for an honest chat about something most builders never stop to look at: the way they actually run their business.

The conversation starts with pricing. Diesel is coming down. The fuel levies that went on through the year are starting to come back off. Josh shares what he is seeing across builders around Australia, why suppliers have handled the volatility better than the headlines suggest, and what builders should be factoring in when they project costs six to twelve months ahead.

From there it turns to the bigger issue.

Most builders are not struggling because they lack skill. They are struggling because they are wearing every hat at once. Estimating. Drafting. Marketing. Client communication. Site work.

Spread that thin and the cracks start to show. Cash flow slips. Stress builds. And in an industry with the highest rate of insolvency in the country, that pressure has real consequences.

Az and Josh talk through what changes when builders stop trying to do it all and start putting the right people in the right roles. They cover trust, delegation, working on the business instead of in it, and why getting this right flows straight through to your health and your family.

A practical conversation about building a good business, not just a good product.

What We Cover

#TheGoodBuilder #TheDailyDose #ConstructionAustralia #BuildingIndustry #Estimating #BuilderBusiness #Tradies #ConstructionPodcast #CashFlow #BuilderMentalHealth

When an insolvency practitioner walks into the room, most builders assume it is the end. Hand over the keys. Pack it up. Game over.

But that is not how Chris from Jirsch Sutherland works.

In this episode, Aaron sits down with an insolvency practitioner who has worked on more than 2,000 matters. They call his kind the Grim Reaper of the building industry. The twist is that his first job is to keep your business alive, not bury it.

Chris explains the difference between insolvency, liquidation, and bankruptcy in plain terms. He walks through what a liquidator does first when a company is in trouble, which assets you can and cannot keep, and why so many trade companies are really sole traders in disguise. There is also the three ways out of bankruptcy most people never knew existed.

It is an honest look at the side of building no one wants to talk about. Cash flow, tight margins, and why construction sits at the top of the insolvency list year after year.

If you have ever felt the squeeze of December and January, or wondered what your real options are when things get tight, this is the conversation to have before you need it.

And his answer to what makes a good builder? Know your numbers. Fix your systems. The good operators never need to meet the Reaper.

Links:
https://www.jirschsutherland.com.au/

Sponsors: 
A huge thank you to MyConstruct. Construction software built by Australian Builders, for Australian Builders. Visit myconstruct.com for your 30-day trial.

Our first New Zealand builder steps onto the couch, and Aaron reckons he summed up everything TGB stands for in about thirty seconds.

Dan Saunders started building in 1993 and formed DS Construction in 2002. In 2012 he built the first 8 Homestar-rated home in Australasia, the highest rating going at the time. Since then he's built close to 30 high-performance "super homes," helped get the Super Home Movement off the ground, and co-founded EcoPanel, a prefabricated wall system that can get a house closed in inside a week.

This one covers a lot of ground that lands the same on both sides of the Tasman:

Dan's coming back as a regular, so consider this the first of a few.

Find Dan's work and EcoPanel in the links below.

Links
DS Construction: https://www.dsconstruction.co.nz/
EcoPanel: https://www.ecopanel.co.nz/
Super Home Movement: https://www.superhome.co.nz/

#TheGoodBuilder #HealthyHomes #SuperHomeMovement

Existing property prices are starting to move. And it matters more for builders than most people realise.

In this Monday episode, Az is joined again by Emily Pollard from Nesta Builder Brokers to make sense of what is happening in the market right now.

They start with DropBee (dropbee.au), a live dashboard built by a developer on Reddit that maps property price drops across Australia as they happen. At the time of recording there were more than 1,600 price drops across Queensland alone.

From there the conversation opens up. Why homes under one million are holding while the two to three million dollar end is softening. How existing property prices feed straight into land values, feasibilities and build costs. And what builders and developers running put and call contracts should be watching when it comes to market uplift.

It also gets honest about the human side. Mortgage stress, the pressure to always go bigger and better, and whether the family home has quietly become a show pony instead of somewhere to actually live.

Practical, grounded, and worth a listen if you build, sell or develop in the current market.

Sponsor callouts

This episode is proudly sponsored by MyConstruct. Built by Australian builders, for Australian builders. Manage your jobs, contracts and client communication in one place instead of across text messages and spreadsheets. Start your 30 day trial at myconstruct.com 

Most builders have tried AI by now. A lot of them have also quietly pulled it back.

In this episode, Az sits down with Anisha and Nayan from ScaleUp Smart to talk about what's really happening with AI in building businesses across Australia.

The pattern is clear. Builders go all in. They hand over estimating, marketing, follow-ups, even answering the phone. Then they bring most of it back in-house.

The reason isn't that AI can't do anything. It's that building is rarely black and white. Every job is different. Every client is different. AI doesn't know your business, your market, or what Mrs Smith actually wants from her home.

Az is honest about his own experience too. When The Good Builder started, he went full AI and ended up with cold outreach emails inventing services the business never offered. The fix was simple. Use AI as a tool. Keep a human checking the work.

Anisha and Nayan break down how ScaleUp Smart actually uses AI day to day, across estimating, admin, and project coordination, and why a person always has the final say. They also share practical, low-risk ways builders can start using AI without losing the relationships that win the work.

If you've felt the pull of AI and the pull back, this one will make sense of it.

WHAT WE COVER

HOUSEKEEPING (sponsor callouts)

This episode is brought to you by MyConstruct, the construction management software built for builders. Start a 30-day free trial at myconstruct.com

#TheGoodBuilder #AIforBuilders #ConstructionAI #BuildingBusiness #AustralianBuilders #ScaleUpSmart #ResidentialConstruction #BuilderTips #ConstructionTech #TradesBusiness

Most builders know recruitment matters. Few understand it the way Luke does.

Luke spent more than a decade inside building businesses before he placed a single candidate. Chippy. Estimator. Senior CA. Residential and commercial, on jobs from 200K through to 2 million plus. He has seen the industry from the tools, from the office, and now from the outside looking in.

That dual perspective is what makes this conversation different.

In this episode, Luke sits down with Aaron to talk about the road that led him to start Prime Build Recruitment. It was not a clean run. He talks openly about losing his job, driving around the coast for three hours before he could face his wife, and starting again with a one year old at home and a mortgage he could barely service.

From there the conversation opens up into the things builders actually deal with day to day.

The gap between the office and the site, and why bridging it comes down to communication. The quality problem on site, even as trade rates climb. The shortage of skilled people, and what the Olympics build-up could do to rates. And the simple truth that runs through all of it: if you do not look after your people, you do not have a business.

This is a real, honest conversation about people, pressure, and what it takes to build something that lasts.

What We Cover

Connect with Luke

Reach out to Luke and the team at Prime Build Recruitment: https://www.primebuildrecruitment.com.au/

Sponsors:

This episode is supported by myconstruct.com - The Aussie construction software built by builders, for builders.

Get your FREE 30-day trial at myconstruct.com

The government has committed $2.4 billion to housing and infrastructure.

The intent sounds right. More homes. More support for first home buyers.

But there is a question sitting underneath all of it.

Who is actually going to build these homes?

Emily Pollard from Nesta Builder Brokers is back on the couch to work through what this budget push really means on the ground. We get into the trade shortage, the affordability problem, and the contradictions that builders and buyers are about to face. It is a calm, honest look at a very murky moment in the market.

What We Cover

A big thank you to Emily Pollard from Nesta Builder Brokers (nesta.com.au) for sharing what she is seeing across first home buyers, investors, and developers.

Calling developers: Emily wants to understand how the $2.4 billion is actually landing in the PDA and government space. If you work in that world, reach out and come have a chat on the couch.

This episode is proudly powered by MyConstruct, built by Australian builders for Australian builders. If you are still running your jobs, contracts, and client comms across text messages and spreadsheets, there is a better way. Head to myconstruct.com for a 30 day trial.

#TheGoodBuilder #AustralianBuilders #ConstructionIndustry #ResidentialBuilding #FirstHomeBuyers #AffordableHousing #HousingCrisis #Tradies #BuildingIndustry #QLDProperty

Most builders can swing a hammer. Far fewer can run a business. And the gap between those two things is exactly why, by Rod Frampton's own count, roughly one in 25 builders never makes it to a decade.

Rod is the founder of Frampton Builders, a Brisbane custom home and renovation business that's been going strong since 2014, and more recently Frampton Clean Rooms, a pharmaceutical-grade fit-out company that earned some of the best feedback the TGA has ever given a first-time facility. He's one of those rare operators who thinks like a CEO and works like a tradesman.

In this conversation, Az sits down with Rod to unpack what actually keeps a building business alive long term. They get into why a builder is really a business owner first, how the skills shortage took hold after the late 2000s, and why knowing your numbers matters more than almost anything else on site.

Rod also breaks down the square metre rate trap that catches so many builders and clients, walks through the thinking behind his documented "Frampton Way" process, and explains why he treats every client relationship like a marriage built on trust. The two of them close with a grounded, practical take on where AI fits for builders — and where relying on it too early can sink a young business.

If you're a builder trying to think past the next job and build something that lasts, this one's worth your time.

What We Cover

Sponsor callouts

This episode of The Good Builder is powered by MyConstruct — the construction management software built for Australian builders. Get your jobs, clients, and numbers in one place and spend less time buried in admin. Start your free 30-day trial at myconstruct.com

The Good Builder is also proudly supported by Pay.com.au. Pay your trades, suppliers, and bills by card — even where cards aren't normally accepted — while earning points on spend you're already making. Head to pay.com.au/tgb for terms and use the code GOOD20 to receive 20,000 bonus points.

#TheGoodBuilder #CustomBuilder #BrisbaneBuilder #ConstructionAustralia #BuildingBusiness #Tradies #BuilderLife #SkillsShortage #ConstructionPodcast #CustomHomes #RenovationBuilder #BuilderMindset #TradeBusiness #AustralianBuilders

Everyone talks about "modern methods of construction" like it's something new. Kersten Gentle has a different take: the timber frame and truss industry has been doing offsite prefab for decades. They're the OGs.

In this episode, Aaron sits down with Kersten, CEO of the Frame and Truss Manufacturers Association of Australia (FTMA), fresh off what he calls the most impressive industry conference he's ever attended. What follows is a conversation about how the industry actually moves forward — not through hype, but through relationships, knowledge sharing, and builders getting closer to the people who make their product.

Around 80% of every detached home in Australia has timber frames and trusses in it, produced across roughly 280 plants — almost all of them family-owned businesses. Yet most builders never visit the plant, never sit down with their manufacturer, and never discover how much cost and time they could save by doing so. Kersten makes the case for why that relationship matters more than price.

The conversation goes deep on the things builders rarely hear discussed properly: why 49% of the cost of a new home in New South Wales is government taxes and regulatory cost, why the rush to factory-built housing is failing in places like Cairns, and why local builders, local trades and local knowledge can't be replaced by an overseas investor's spreadsheet.

Kersten also opens up on Carbon Warrior — the movement she trademarked to help builders understand that a timber frame stores around eight tonnes of carbon for the life of a home, and grows back in roughly 150 seconds. It's marketing material that happens to be completely real.

And there's a powerful message for any builder who's come off the tools through injury: the timber systems design pathway, a career indoors that uses everything you already know about building.

This one will reignite the fire. Builders, get closer to your manufacturer. You'll be blown away.

WHAT WE COVER

SPONSOR CALLOUTS

This episode of The Good Builder is powered by MyConstruct — the construction management software built for Australian builders. Spend less time buried in admin and more time building. Start your free 30-day trial at myconstruct.com 

Thanks also to Pay.com.au — the smarter way to pay your business expenses and earn rewards while you're at it. Head to pay.com.au/tgb for terms, use code GOOD20, and grab your 20,000 bonus points.

#TheGoodBuilder #AustralianBuilders #FrameAndTruss #FTMA #TimberConstruction #Prefabrication #ModernMethodsOfConstruction #SustainableBuilding #CarbonWarrior #TimberFrame #ConstructionAustralia #BuildingIndustry #Tradies #HomeBuilders #ConstructionPodcast

The housing conversation in this country is stuck on one word: more. More homes. More tradies. More builders. Nagy Mourad thinks we're missing the word that actually matters.

Nagy has worn nearly every hat in construction. He's a registered builder, a developer, and a trainer and assessor who spent more than a decade teaching Victorian builders toward registration. Before any of that, he ran national field and contract operations for the biggest names in Australian telecommunications, including NBN, Optus, and Telstra. He came into building the hard way. His first development stalled for three years and three builders went bankrupt on him before he picked up the tools, studied the trade, and finished the job himself.

That lived experience runs through everything Aaron and Nagy cover in this episode. They get into why technical skill on the tools does not automatically make you ready to run a business, why so many capable tradies fall short at registration, and what defect-free building actually takes day to day on site. Nagy makes the case that competency is not one-dimensional, and that the single most underrated risk on any job is one many builders never name out loud: water.

They also work through NCC 2025, the Victorian rollout, the difference between a compliant home and a quality one, and the proposed changes to Minimum Financial Requirements and what they could mean for small builders. Throughout, Nagy keeps returning to one idea. Building is a journey with very different stages, and the thinking that gets you to one stage will not carry you to the next.

This is a calm, practical, and genuinely educational conversation for anyone serious about lifting their standards and future-proofing their business.

What We Cover

A Word From Our Sponsors

This episode is powered by MyConstruct, the construction management software built for Australian builders. Quotes, variations, scheduling, client communication, and compliance documents all in one place. Start your free 30-day trial at myconstruct.com

This episode is also supported by Pay.com.au. Pay your trades, suppliers, ATO, and rent on your existing credit cards, free up your cash flow, and earn points while you do it. Head to pay.com.au/tgb for terms and use the code GOOD20 to get 20,000 bonus points.

Connect With Nagy

Find Nagy through Beehive Homes Constructions, his Builder Registration Training service, and across Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nagymourad/ 

His YouTube channel is Build Like An Egyptian: https://www.youtube.com/@BuildlikeanEgyptian

Most builders don't lose their marketing because they're bad at it. They lose it because they get busy.

In this episode, Az sits down with Drew, Sean and the team at Increase Construction in the TGB studio for an unscripted, real-world conversation about the problem nearly every builder runs into. You land a few good jobs, you feel sorted, so you quietly stop putting yourself out there. Three months later the work dries up and you're left wondering where the next lead is coming from.

We talk about why marketing is the first thing to fall over when you're on the tools, why "I'll get to it later" turns into a month of silence, and what consistency actually looks like when you don't have time to sit at a desk. We also get into the bigger shift happening in construction marketing right now, including how automation and AI are starting to take the manual load off builders who can't justify a full-time videographer or marketer.

It's a candid look at a problem that costs builders real money, and a practical conversation about how to stop the cycle.

WHAT WE COVER

SPONSOR CALLOUTS

This episode of The Daily Dose is powered by MyConstruct, the construction management software built for Australian builders. Spend less time chasing paperwork and more time on the tools. Start your free 30-day trial at myconstruct.com

This episode is also brought to you by Pay.com.au. Pay your trades, suppliers and almost any business expense by card, even where cards aren't normally accepted, and earn points while you're at it. Sign up and you'll get 20,000 bonus points. Head to pay.com.au/tgb for terms and conditions and use the code GOOD20.

#TheGoodBuilder #TheDailyDose #ConstructionMarketing #BuilderMarketing #AustralianBuilders #Tradies #MarketingForBuilders #ConstructionIndustry #BuilderBusiness #LeadGeneration

Happy Friday, and what a week. One of the biggest we have had here at The Good Builder.

In this Friday wrap, Aaron runs through everything that happened inside TGB and out in the industry. We announced our Advisory Board, with MyConstruct and AVIA Homes the first two at the table and more names coming soon. We headed up to Twin Waters for the FTMA conference. And the next quarterly report is underway: the State of Builder Marketing, dropping in June.

Then it is into three headlines that matter for builders right now.

Powered by MyConstruct and Pay.com.au.

What we cover:

Read the full articles at thegoodbuilder.com.au.

Try MyConstruct free for 30 days at myconstruct.com.

Earn rewards on your bills and banking at pay.com.au/tgb and get 20,000 bonus points with code GOOD20.

Phillip Livingston is a trades coordinator at Vitaleese, a Melbourne-based home modification specialist working across aged care, NDIS, and private clients. They're a VBA-licensed builder, a registered NDIS provider, and an approved supplier under the State-wide Equipment Program.

In other words, they sit right at the intersection of building work, compliance, and the people on the other end of it.

This is a sector most builders never get exposed to. And after this conversation, you'll understand why that needs to change.

One in six Australians are now over 65. Within a decade, the over-85 cohort is set to grow by around 67%, pushing past one million people. The demand for accessible, livable homes isn't coming. It's here.

Phillip shares what it actually looks like to walk into someone's home — a home they've lived in for 50 or 60 years, raised their family in, built their memories in — and modify it so they can stay there. He talks about the privilege of doing that work, the duty of care that comes with it, and the cowboys who treat vulnerable people as a quick buck.

We get into the grab rail story that ended with a client's face on the floor. The ramp that was beautifully built and completely unfit for purpose. The Rose Bush that's been there for 40 years and why it matters more than the regulation. And the mindset shift that, if every builder adopted it, would lift the whole industry.

Phillip approached us to have this conversation. He wanted to talk about how it's done properly. That tells you everything you need to know about the bloke.

What We Cover

Sponsors

This episode is powered by MyConstruct — construction management software built for Australian builders. Free 30-day trial at myconstruct.com.

And by Pay.com.au — head to pay.com.au/tgb and use promo code GOOD20 for 20,000 bonus points. Terms apply.

Connect with Vitaleese

Philip Livingston, Trades Coordinator, Vital Ease — Melbourne, Victoria - https://vitalease.com.au/about-us/

Emily Pollard from Nesta Builder Brokers flips the script this week and puts Aaron in the hot seat. The brief: how does a young, blunt, female broker market a business in an industry built on display home theatre and base-price advertising — without turning into the thing she's trying to fix?

It's a working session disguised as a podcast. Emily wants to "set fire to display home marketing" but won't shit on builders to do it. Aaron unpacks why that instinct is right, and why most marketing advice given to builders and brokers is quietly broken.

What they get into:

If you're a builder, broker, or supplier trying to work out how to market yourself without sounding like everyone else in the feed — this one's for you.

Emily's back next Monday too.

Sponsors

This episode is proudly brought to you by MyConstruct — construction management software built for Australian builders, by Australian builders. Jobs, clients, quotes, and contracts all in one place. Get your free 30-day trial at myconstruct.com.

Also supported by Pay.com.au — get rewarded on all of your business payments. Sign up at pay.com.au/tgb and use the code GOOD20 to receive 20,000 bonus points. Terms and conditions apply, available on the site.

The 26-27 federal budget has landed, and there's plenty in it that builders, tradies, and construction businesses will feel on the ground before they ever read about it in a forecast.

This one isn't a normal budget. It's shaped by the global oil shock from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which has disrupted fuel supply chains, pushed up fertiliser costs, and added inflationary pressure to almost every line in a builder's invoice.

In this episode, Az breaks down the budget calmly, clearly, and from a builder's point of view. Here's what's covered:

Housing

Small business tax

Fuel relief

Productivity and skills

Az also walks through what this all actually means for housing affordability, and ends with three practical questions every builder should be asking inside their business this week.

Over the coming days, TGB will be breaking down each of these measures in more detail at thegoodbuilder.com.au.

Sponsors

This episode is proudly brought to you by MyConstruct — construction management software built for Australian builders, by Australian builders. Jobs, clients, quotes, and contracts all in one place. Get your free 30-day trial at myconstruct.com.

Also supported by Pay.com.au — get rewarded on all of your business payments. Sign up at pay.com.au/tgb and use the code GOOD20 to receive 20,000 bonus points. Terms and conditions apply, available on the site.

#TheGoodBuilder #TheDailyDose #AustralianBuilders #FederalBudget #ConstructionIndustry #Tradies #HousingPolicy #SmallBusinessTax #FuelExcise #NegativeGearing #InstantAssetWriteOff #BuildersAustralia #ResidentialConstruction #TradieLife #ConstructionNews #HousingAffordability #BuildingIndustry #AustralianTradies #ConstructionBusiness #BudgetBreakdown

Every now and then a guest walks onto the pod and you walk away genuinely fired up about the future of this industry.

Lewis Italiano is one of those guests.

He's a carpenter from WA, still finishing his apprenticeship, and already has a resume most blokes twice his age don't come close to. Gold at the regional and national WorldSkills competitions. A Medallion for Excellence representing Australia on the international stage in Lyon. Training stints through China, Japan and France. Master Builders Apprentice of the Year for 2025. WA Training Awards winner. And in between all that, he's standing up in front of high school students and parents talking about why the trades are one of the most future-proof career paths in the country.

This is the first apprentice we've ever had on The Good Builder, and Az sat down with Lewis to unpack the mindset, the work ethic, and the standards behind a story that everyone in the industry should be paying attention to.

We get into where it all started on the family dairy farm, why woodwork class in year 11 changed everything, and the realities of starting an apprenticeship on $350 a week. Lewis breaks down what WorldSkills actually is, what it's like representing your country against 1,600 competitors from 60 nations, and why he believes Australia is still on the back foot when it comes to celebrating the craft.

We also talk about the stigma parents still carry around the trades, why mindset matters more than money in the early years, and what builders and supervisors can do to attract and keep the next generation of apprentices on their teams.

If you're a builder looking for the kind of apprentice you actually want on your crew, this is what one looks like.

If you're a young person sitting on the fence about which path to take, listen to this one twice.

What We Cover

Sponsor Callouts

This episode of The Good Builder is powered by MyConstruct — the all-in-one construction management platform built for Australian builders. Quote, schedule, manage, and communicate with your clients from one place. Head to myconstruct.com and get your 30-day FREE trial.

We're also proudly partnered with Pay.com.au — the smarter way for builders to pay suppliers, subcontractors, and the ATO using your existing credit card. Earn points on every payment, improve your cash flow, and use the code GOOD20 for 20,000 bonus points when you sign up. Terms apply at pay.com.au/tgb.

#TheGoodBuilder #TheDailyDose #AustralianBuilders #Apprenticeship #WorldSkills #ApprenticeOfTheYear #Tradies #ConstructionAustralia #CarpentryLife #FutureOfTrades #MasterBuilders #LewisItaliano

Aaron is back with Emily Pollard from Nesta Builder Brokers for another Monday breakdown, and this week they dig into something Aaron has been watching in the Google search data for the past 12 months. The Australian housing market is splitting in two. On one end, more buyers are looking at modular, prefab, tiny homes and alternative builds. On the other, the luxury custom market is busier than ever. And right in the middle, the everyday buyer is getting squeezed.

Aaron and Emily unpack what is actually driving the search data, where the project home builder fits now that million dollar builds are becoming the new normal, and what builders need to think about when picking their lane. They get into granny flats and secondary dwellings, intergenerational living, the rise of cashed-up first home buyers in the under-million market, and the buyers agents pushing equity uplift promises that often do not stack up.

This is a real conversation about where the market is heading, what builders are seeing on the ground, and the gap between what the data says and what is actually happening in display villages and on building sites across Australia.

What We Cover

Sponsors

This episode is proudly brought to you by MyConstruct, the construction software built by Australian builders for Australian builders. If you are still running your jobs, contracts and client comms across text messages and spreadsheets, there is a better way. Head to myconstruct.com for a 30 day trial.

This episode is also supported by Pay.com.au. Pay your business expenses, earn points on everything, and use the code GOOD20 to score 20,000 bonus points when you sign up. Head to pay.com.au/tgb

Quality, on time, on budget. If that's how you sell yourself, you sound exactly like every other builder in Australia. And in a market this tight, sounding like everyone else is one of the most dangerous places you can be.

In this Friday wrap, Az covers three big stories breaking across the industry this week, then goes deep on the one thing every builder needs but most never sit down to define: their Unique Value Proposition.

He shares how UVP work drove $700 million in growth at GJ Gardner Homes, how it helped Avondale Homes hit $24 million in three years targeting a specific niche, and the five practical ways you can find yours this week.

Plus an honest look at the mental health stat we can't ignore, the NCC 2025 split that's just gone live in Victoria, and the lessons from Tom Sachs at Stroud Homes Lockyer Valley.

What We Cover

Support Resources Mentioned

Sponsors

This episode is proudly supported by MyConstruct — head to myconstruct.com to see how they're helping builders run better businesses.

And by Pay.com.au — pay your bills, invoices and banking through their platform and earn bonus points you can spend on travel, family, whatever you like. Head to pay.com.au/TGB and use promo code GOOD20 for 20,000 bonus points to get you started. Terms and conditions apply.

#TheGoodBuilder #DailyDose #AustralianBuilders #ResidentialConstruction #BuilderBusiness #UVP #BuilderMarketing #NCC2025 #VictorianBuilders #ConstructionMentalHealth #MatesInConstruction #TIACS #BuilderMargins #StroudHomes #MyConstruct #PayComAU

Tom Sachs didn't take the traditional path into building. He left school early, started lopping trees, discovered a love for working with timber in a mate's shed, and eventually found his way into a carpentry apprenticeship. From commercial construction to residential building, and finally to owning a Stroud Homes franchise in the Lockyer Valley — Tom's story is anything but straight lines.

In this episode, Az sits down with Tom to unpack the journey, the lessons, and the mindset that shaped the builder he is today.

What we cover:

This episode is one of those conversations that pulls everything together. Practical, honest, and lived in. If you're a builder trying to figure out how to grow a business without losing your standards, this one's for you.

This episode is proudly supported by MyConstruct — construction management software built for Australian builders. Learn more at myconstruct.com.

Also supported by Pay.com.au — use code GOOD20 for 20,000 bonus points. Head to pay.com.au/tgb

#construction #building #StroudHomes #franchise #tradie #builder #thegoodbuilder #podcast #residentialbuilding #buildingbusiness

Reddit doesn't lie. It's where clients go when they don't know where else to turn. And right now, it's full of confusion, frustration, and questions that the building industry hasn't answered well enough.

This week, Az and co-host Emily Pollard from Nesta Builder Brokers spent time in the trenches of Reddit and Facebook groups, reading what real clients are actually saying about building a home in Australia. What they found wasn't just a trust problem. It was an education problem, a marketing problem, and honestly, an industry honesty problem.

They talk about base price marketing and why display home tactics are fuelling consumer rage, the gap between what builders do and what clients understand, variations and why they keep blowing up relationships, the role of builder brokers in bridging that divide, and why the building experience itself has fundamentally changed for clients who can barely afford to get in the door.

Emily brings something rare to this conversation. She talks to builders and clients every single day, without being tied to one company. That perspective cuts through.

If you've ever wondered what your clients are reading before they even pick up the phone, this episode will change how you think about that first conversation.

What we cover:

Sponsors: This episode is brought to you by MyConstruct, construction management software built for Australian builders. Find out more at myconstruct.com.

And by Pay.com.au, use promo code GOOD20 for 20,000 bonus points. Head to pay.com.au/tgb for more

A big Friday Daily Dose...and a couple of important changes coming at The Good Builder.

From next week, the Daily Dose is moving to three episodes a week; Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

More room to breathe, deeper conversations, bigger guests, and more space for the research and data builders have been asking for.

In today's episode, Az unpacks:

— Why TGB is shifting to three days a week and what builders can expect
— A 900% uplift in search terms for both modular and luxury custom builders, and what it tells us about a market splitting in two
— Master Builders Australia putting the productivity case in front of the Senate, with construction productivity down 21.5% over the last decade and regulatory burden adding up to $327,000 per new home build
— A heads up from Ash Turner at Glenvill Homes on clients running tender packs and contracts through ChatGPT, and what builders need to think about
— The new MyConstruct and Billgrid integration that lets builders open up their trade and supply network instantly, all inside one workflow

Practical, timely, and built for builders.

Articles for every story are up at thegoodbuilder.com.au

Powered by MyConstruct — construction management software built for Australian builders, by Australian builders. Head to myconstruct.com.

Also sponsored by Pay.com.au — use code GOOD20 to get 20,000 bonus points when you pay your business bills through the platform. Head to pay.com.au/TGB.

This one was completely off the cuff.

Toby from BuildGrid flew up from Melbourne to visit us at The Good Builder Studio, and Jake from MyConstruct happened to be in town too. So we hit record.

What came out of it is one of the more practical conversations we've had on the podcast. Two of the country's most respected construction software founders sitting on the couch, explaining a new partnership that's now live and what it actually means for builders on the ground.

Here's the short version. If you sign up to MyConstruct, BuildGrid is now plugged in. That means when you're sending out a request for quote, you're not just emailing your usual trades and waiting. You can push that scope into BuildGrid's network and open up access to a much wider supply chain. No extra cost. No clunky workaround. Just better visibility on capacity, pricing, and compliance.

We dig into:

This is not a sponsored ad read. MyConstruct is a long-time supporter of The Good Builder, and we genuinely back what Jake and Toby are doing. If you're a builder feeling the squeeze on capacity, productivity, or supply chain, this episode is worth fifty minutes of your time.

Sponsor mention: This episode is brought to you by MyConstruct, Australia's leading construction management software for residential builders. Get a 30 day trial at myconstruct.com.

Also supported by Pay.com.au. Use the code GOOD20 when signing up to receive 20,000 bonus points. Head to pay.com.au/tgb for details

Calling all builders: We're looking for one builder using MyConstruct and BuildGrid to feature in a full case study. Videos, interview, the lot. If that's you, get in touch through thegoodbuilder.com.au.

Dan Urquhart from 1000 Feet Deep is back on the podcast, and this one gets real.

Az opens up about the season he's in right now...fired up, frustrated, and questioning where all the money in the industry is actually going. Dan meets him there with a calm, grounded conversation about how leaders move through hard seasons without losing themselves or their business in the process.

This is a wide-ranging chat about leadership, team, culture, and the foundations that hold a building business together when the season shifts. Dan shares what he learned through COVID at GJ Gardner, why a strong mission gives you a backbone to measure problems against, and the three questions every leader should be asking themselves regularly: what do I need to drop off, what do I need to take up, and what do I need to move on from.

It also gets personal. Both Dan and Az speak openly about the baggage leaders carry from past seasons, the cost of trying to do it all alone, and why surrounding yourself with the right people is the difference between weathering the next storm and getting caught out by it.

In this episode:

The seasons mindset and why leaders need to be present in the now while preparing for what's coming. 
The COVID lesson about success having weight, and why foundations are exposed when the pressure ramps up. 
Why mission, vision and core values are not corporate fluff but the anchor that lets you right-size every problem you face. 
Leadership, team and culture as the only three things you can actually control, and why everything else (reputation, consistency, finances, communication) is a byproduct. 
Why builders going to coach after coach are often trying to fix problems that started with weak leadership foundations. 
The personal side of leadership, the scars we carry into the next season, and why healing matters before the next chapter.

Plus, Az floats a new idea: a living case study where The Good Builder backs one builder through the systems, leadership development and processes that we believe make a good builder. If that's you, get in touch.

To learn more about Dan and 1000 Feet Deep, head to: https://www.1000feetdeep.com.au/

Sponsors

This episode is brought to you by MyConstruct — construction management software built by builders, for builders. Fully customisable and locally owned. Start your 30-day free trial at myconstruct.com

Also proudly supported by Pay.com.au — use promo code GOOD20 to unlock 20,000 bonus points. Head to pay.com.au/tgb for more.

Productivity isn't a buzzword. It's the thing quietly costing builders more than they realise.

In this episode, Az sits down with Toby Loft — co-founder of BuildGrid — for a wide-ranging conversation about what's actually holding the construction industry back, and what a smarter, more future-focused approach looks like.

Toby has spent years inside the industry, including a long stint at Mitre 10, watching how builders, trades, and suppliers operate, where the friction lives, and what happens when procurement gets done properly.

This episode covers:

BuildGrid is free for builders. If you're not using it, this episode will tell you why you should be.

Sponsors

This episode is brought to you by MyConstruct — construction management software built by builders, for builders. Fully customisable and locally owned. Start your 30-day free trial at myconstruct.com

Also proudly supported by Pay.com.au — use promo code GOOD20 to unlock 20,000 bonus points. Head to pay.com.au/tgb for more.

Emily Pollard is back for her third Monday co-host session, and this one goes deep on something every builder needs to understand — how clients actually choose who they build with.

Emily is the founder of Nesta Builder Brokers, a service that helps clients across South East Queensland find the right builder, assess contracts, and make smarter decisions before they sign anything. She works with a panel of 20 builders and pulls 135 data points on each one. She sees this process up close every single day.

In this episode, Az and Emily break down:

This conversation is equal parts practical and honest. If you want to understand what clients are actually thinking — and what Nesta is teaching them to look for — this is worth your time.

Sponsors:

This episode is proudly supported by MyConstruct — construction management software built for Australian builders. Check them out at myconstruct.com.

Also supported by Pay.com.au — use promo code GOOD20 for 20,000 bonus points. Head to https://pay.com.au/tgbto get your points and learn more..

Connect with Emily Pollard: Nesta Builder Brokers | South East Queensland - https://www.nesta.com.au/

This week's episode, we go straight to the source.

Five of the most common questions coming in from The Good Builder community right now, answered in one hit. No fluff, just practical answers you can actually use.

In this episode we cover:

Whether you're a volume builder or doing a few homes a year, there's something practical in here for your business.

Sponsors

This episode is brought to you by MyConstruct — construction management software built by builders, for builders. Fully customisable and locally owned. Start your 30-day free trial at myconstruct.com

Also proudly supported by Pay.com.au — use promo code GOOD20 to unlock 20,000 bonus points. Head to pay.com.au/tgb for more.

Most builders will take any deal they can get.

Ash doesn't.

In this episode, Az sits down with Ash, State Sales Manager at Glenvill Homes, inside their new Docklands headquarters in Melbourne. Glenville is one of Australia's quieter success stories. No marketing machine. No noise. Just a business built on sharp standards, deep trust, and a culture of doing things right.

Ash's path into construction wasn't straight. A computer games degree, a stint at Telstra and Apple, and a cold call from a recruiter eventually landed him inside a business he's helped grow from a small Brisbane office to a serious retail and wholesale player across Queensland.

In this conversation they cover:

Why saying no to a client is sometimes the smartest business decision you can make. How Glenville moved from wholesale into retail and what it took to get 42 deals done in six months without a billboard in sight. 
The trust problem at the centre of every builder-client relationship — and why it's only getting harder to earn. 
How AI is already changing the way buyers research and assess builders, and what you should be doing about it right now. 
Why referrals carry more weight than any marketing spend — and the responsibility that comes with them. What makes a builder genuinely worth trusting in a market full of noise.

Ash is exactly the kind of operator this industry needs more of. Thoughtful, transparent, and genuinely focused on getting it right. This one is worth the full listen.

Sponsors

This episode is proudly supported by MyConstruct, the all-in-one platform built for residential builders by builders. Try it free at myconstruct.com.

And by Pay.com.au — use code GOOD20 for 20,000 bonus points. Head to https://pay.com.au/tgb for more.

#TheGoodBuilder #GlenvilleHomes #AustralianBuilders #ConstructionPodcast #BuilderMindset #TrustInConstruction #BuildingBusiness #HomeBuilding #ConstructionAustralia #SalesStrategy #BuilderLife #ResidentialConstruction #AIInConstruction #MelbourneBuilder #QueenslandBuilder #WholesaleBuilder #BuildingIndustry #SmallBusinessConstruction #TradiesAustralia #GoodBuilding

Most builders know materials, margins and project management. Very few know what the materials going into their homes are doing to the people living inside them.

In this episode, Aaron sits down with Zara D'Cotta, building biologist, EMF specialist, and founder of The Healthy Home. Zara spent years navigating her own cancer diagnosis, environmental illness, and the search for a safe place to live. That experience became the foundation for her work helping builders, architects, and designers across Australia and New Zealand understand the relationship between the built environment and human health.

This conversation covers ground most of the industry hasn't touched yet.

Topics covered in this episode:

This is bigger than building. But it starts with builders.

Zara's work and upcoming workshops: https://www.thehealthyhome.com.au/

This episode is proudly supported by MyConstruct, the all-in-one platform built for residential builders by builders. Try it free at myconstruct.com.

And by Pay.com.au — use code GOOD20 for 20,000 bonus points. Head to https://pay.com.au/tgb for more.

Az is back from Melbourne with something every builder using AI on their website needs to hear.

The AI isn't broken. That's actually what makes it dangerous.

In conversations with Gavin Sloan from Live Chat Monitoring, one of the world's largest live chat and AI agent providers with over 4,500 clients, a clear pattern emerged. Builders who deployed AI agents on their websites found those agents happily recommending competitors, quoting prices, outlining timelines, and answering every question so thoroughly that prospects never felt the need to book.

The fix isn't expensive. It's not technical. It's guardrails, a few clear sentences that tell your AI what it can and can't say, who it works for, and when to hand the conversation to a real person.

In this episode, Az breaks down what guardrails are, why they matter, the five things your AI should never do, and the moment a conversation stops being an AI job and becomes a sales conversation.

Three practical actions you can take this week, starting with a test you can run in the next five minutes.

This episode is brought to you by MyConstruct. Go to myconstruct.com for your free 30-day trial.

Thank you to this month's monthly sponsor Pay.com.au — get 20,000 bonus points when you go to pay.com.au/tgb. Head there for terms and conditions.

Your contract could be killing deals before they even start.

This week on the Monday episode, Az is joined again by Emily Pollard from Nesta Builder Brokers — and she brings the heat. Emily has read hundreds of building contracts. What she finds inside them would surprise most builders. And what clients think when they read them? That might surprise you even more.

They cover the contract clauses that are quietly blowing up sales, how provisional sums are being used in ways that cost clients tens of thousands they never saw coming, why some special conditions may not even hold up in court, and how simply showing clients your contract early could save months of wasted time for everyone.

This is not about attacking builders. It's about understanding what's happening right now — with banks, with clients, with trust — and what a smarter approach to contracts actually looks like.

If you're signing jobs, chasing finance approvals, or wondering why clients are pulling out late in the process, this episode is for you.

Episode Co-Host Emily Pollard | Nesta Builder Brokers nesta.com.au

This episode is brought to you by MyConstruct. Go to myconstruct.com for your free 30-day trial.

Thank you to this month's monthly sponsor Pay.com.au — get 20,000 bonus points when you go to pay.com.au/tgb. Head there for terms and conditions.

Most builders don't talk about underpinning. Most homeowners are scared of the word. And most of the industry doesn't understand what actually causes a foundation to move — or who's responsible when it does.

Nicole Rosenthal is the Director of Foundation Solutions, a specialist screw pile underpinning company based in Southeast Queensland. With 31 years in the construction industry — starting as a receptionist at an engineering firm and working her way through operations, marketing, and business ownership — Nicole brings a depth of knowledge that's rare in this space.

In this episode, Nicole breaks down what underpinning actually is, why it's not always the builder's fault when foundations move, and what builders can do right now to protect themselves and their clients. She also calls out the misleading tactics being used by some operators in the underpinning market, advocates for proper documentation to stay with the home for its lifetime, and explains why screw pile underpinning is simply not comparable to the alternatives.

This is one of those conversations that fills a genuine gap. If you've ever had a client call you about cracks in a slab and not known what to say, this episode is for you.

What we cover: 
Nicole's 31-year journey from receptionist to business owner. 
What underpinning is and when it's actually needed. 
Why the builder is less often at fault than the media suggests. 
The difference between screw pile underpinning and alternatives — and why it matters. 
Misleading marketing in the underpinning space and what to watch for. 
Why foundation documents should stay with the home forever. 
Foundation Solutions' proprietary 
Lift Rig Max system. 
What makes a good builder — Nicole's answer.

Connect with Nicole: https://foundationsolutions.com.au/

Sponsors: 

This episode is proudly supported by MyConstruct, construction management software built for Australian builders. Visit myconstruct.com and get your 30-day free trial.

 Also supported by Pay.com.au — use promo code GOOD20 for 20,000 bonus points. Head to pay.com.au/tgb for more.

Today's guest is Matt Hope, former master franchisee of GJ Gardner in NSW, ACT, and WA, and now co-founder of Wattle Court, a residential building franchise built for the second, third, and fourth home buyer market.

Matt spent 20 years working inside franchise building businesses. He grew his GJ Gardner group to 34 franchisees doing $800 million and became the largest in the national network. He's now applying everything he learned to build a different kind of franchise — one that's selective, values-driven, and built for the long term.

In this conversation, Matt and Az cover:

Why knowing your market matters more than knowing your product
How to read a balance sheet, not just a P&L, and why the difference nearly kills builders
The work in progress problem most builders and their accountants ignore
Why Wattle Court says no to franchisees more than it says yes
Margin protection during cost escalation — what worked during COVID and what builders need to do right now
Why Matt hosted a mental health and mindset retreat in Bali instead of a sales conference
Business should be enjoyed, not endured — what that actually means

If you're a builder carrying too much, knowing too little about your numbers, or wondering whether franchising is the right structure for your growth...this one is worth your full attention.

Check out Wattle Court at wattlecourt.com.au

This episode is brought to you by MyConstruct — construction management software built for Australian builders.
Visit myconstruct.com for your 30-day FREE trial.

Also supported by Pay.com.au — use code GOOD20 for 20,000 bonus points. Head to pay.com.au/tgb for terms and conditions.

Az sits down with Nick from Goop Guys for a conversation that goes well beyond surface protection.

They talk about the real cost of defects, the difference between builders who think proactively and those who don't, and why protecting windows, benchtops, and flooring during a build isn't a luxury add-on — it's a margin decision.

Nick shares what he's seeing across residential and commercial builds nationally, from $800,000 window schedules on custom homes to the surge in commercial inquiries ahead of the 2032 Olympics in Southeast Queensland. They also get into the uncomfortable truth about builders who quote tight and then bleed profit through defects and repairs they never accounted for.

This one is practical, honest, and worth your time — whether you're a volume builder, a custom builder, or a tradie who cares about handing over a job you're proud of.

Topics covered:

Window protection on site | Defect rates in residential and commercial construction | The real cost of a build vs what you quoted | Commercial growth and the Olympics pipeline | Proactive vs reactive building culture

Sponsors:

This episode is brought to you by MyConstruct — visit myconstruct.com for your free 30-day trial. And by Pay.com.au — use promo code GOOD20 for 20,000 BONUS points and head to pay.com.au/tgb for more.

This week on Tuesday Headlines, powered by MyConstruct, Az covers four stories that matter for Australian builders right now.

First up, Emily Pollard of Nesta Builder Brokers is raising the alarm on something the industry has been ignoring. The people selling new homes to Australians, builder brokers, new home sales consultants, channel partners, are completely unregulated. No licence. No ethics board. No oversight of any kind. And every builder absorbing the cost of a failed prelim or a misled client is paying the price for it. Go back and listen to Monday's episode with Emily if you haven't already.

Next, a good news story out of regional Queensland. Sunshine Coast developer RM Capital settled a 19.8 hectare parcel in Gympie for $13.5 million and started construction the very next morning. 29 lots underway. 24 already pre-sold. This is what a professional development operation looks like, and it signals real pipeline opportunity for builders who have the right relationships in place.

Third, why the last 5 per cent of a build is where reputations are won or lost. Surface damage at handover costs more than most builders realise, and it is almost entirely preventable. The Goop Guys team breaks down what protecting your finish actually looks like and why it matters for every referral that follows.

And fourth, with costs still moving and the market where it is right now, a practical framework for having the over-budget conversation with clients. How to do it early, how to do it honestly, and how to come out of it with the relationship intact.

Plus a Public Service Announcement the industry needs to hear. Builders and estimators have been calling in. Do not use the conflict in Iran as your excuse to raise prices before your costs have actually moved.

This episode is powered by MyConstruct. Head to myconstruct.com and get your 30-day FREE trial. 

Also supported by Pay.com.au, use promo code GOOD20 for 20,000 bonus points. Head to pay.com.au/tgb for terms and conditions.

Today's episode is a big one for The Good Builder.

We'd like to introduce Emily Pollard, our first ever co-host, and someone who has been quietly doing some of the most important work in the Australian building industry.

Emily is the founder of Nesta Builder Brokers, a platform that bridges the gap between educated buyers and quality builders. She spent five years inside Stroud Homes developing a deep, practical understanding of the entire build journey — from first enquiry through to contract — and she brings that experience to every conversation.

In this episode, Az and Emily sit down for the first time on mic. They talk about how Emily found her way into the industry, what she sees going wrong in builder sales processes, why client education is the most underrated tool in a builder's business, and what it really means to be a good builder.

This is a conversation about the industry as it actually is, not as the marketing suggests.

What you'll hear in this episode:

This episode is proudly supported by MyConstruct, construction management software built by Australian builders, for Australian builders. If you're still running jobs through spreadsheets and text threads, it's time to change that. Visit myconstruct.com and get started with a 30-day free trial.

Also supported by Pay.com.au. Use promo code GOOD20 for 20,000 bonus points.

#GoodBuilderPodcast #EmilyPollard #NestaBuilderBrokers #AustralianBuilders #BuilderSales #NewHomeBuyers #ConstructionIndustry #HomeBuilding #BuilderCoHost #GoodBuilder

Farah Drake has been in the building industry for over 30 years. She started out helping her dad, fell in love with being on site, and never left. Today she runs Willow Grove Homes and Granny Flats in South East Melbourne — a registered building company specialising in granny flats, small second dwellings, and multi-generational housing. She is also one of a small number of female building company directors in Australia.

This episode is a different kind of conversation. Farah talks about what it was like to be a woman in construction 30 years ago — the comments, the dismissals, and pushing through anyway. She talks about why she chose the granny flat niche, what it means to build for people in the final chapter of their lives, and why she still calls it a privilege. She also breaks down the regulatory changes in Victoria that opened up the small second dwelling market, where tiny homes sit in the compliance picture, and what builders need to know before stepping into this space.

And she has big plans — Willow Grove is expanding into Queensland.

What we cover:

This episode is proudly supported by MyConstruct, construction management software built for Australian builders. Visit myconstruct.com and get your 30-day trial.

Also supported by Pay.com.au — use promo code GOOD20 for 20,000 bonus points. Head to pay.com.au/tgb for more.

Peter Wood is back. Head of Villa World Homes by Avid Property Group, 50-plus years in the industry, and the most-listened-to guest in Good Builder history. Last time he left the community with an answer on what makes a good builder that no one has matched since. This time, the conversation goes deeper.

Az and Peter cover the real pressures hitting builders right now, material surcharges, the administrative burden behind every price rise, and what it actually means to have 180 homes on the ground when costs are moving daily. They dig into the AV Jennings integration, the land crisis behind the housing crisis, and why trust with your suppliers and trades is the only thing that holds when everything else gets uncertain.

Peter also talks about what he found when he went back to Hervey Bay — a young workforce that proved attitude beats experience, and why the regions might be producing the next generation of great tradies. Plus how Villa World manages customer communication at scale, why they measure 18 points of supplier performance, and the question Peter sends himself every Friday at 8am.

What we cover:

This is one of those conversations you will want to come back to.

#TheGoodBuilder #DailyDose #PeterWood #AvidPropertyGroup #VillaWorldHomes #AustralianBuilders #BuildingIndustry #ConstructionLeadership #LandCrisis #BuilderLife #HousingAustralia #ConstructionPodcast #BuilderMindset #TradesAustralia #ResidentialBuilding #IntegrityInBusiness #GoodBuilder #BuildingBusiness #AustralianConstruction #SupplierRelationships

A year ago, we started this podcast with no studio, no blueprint, and no audience. Just a belief that the people building this country deserved a better conversation.

Today, 30,000 of you are tuning in. And that changes everything about what comes next.

In this episode we want to talk directly to you about where The Good Builder is heading. Because this platform was never about us. It was always about giving this industry a voice.

We're opening the studio — in person and online — to builders, tradies, suppliers, and subcontractors who have something worth saying. We'll produce the episode. We'll publish it. And it will live on The Good Builder forever.

Over the coming weeks you'll start to meet some guest hosts. People doing real work in this industry who finally have somewhere to say it.

Renae and I will still be here. But we'll also be working in the background on things we genuinely believe will move this industry forward.

This platform is yours just as much as it is ours. That was always the point.

Email us on admin@thegoodbuilder.com.au to apply for a community episode.

Supported by MyConstruct — construction management software built for Australian builders. Visit myconstruct.com to get yourFREE 30-day trial.

Also sponsored by Pay.com.au — use code GOOD20 for 20,000 bonus points. T's & C's Apply. Head to https://pay.com.au/tgb/

#TheGoodBuilder #TheDailyDose #AustralianConstruction #BuildingIndustry #Builders #Tradies #ConstructionCommunity #BuilderPodcast #ResidentialBuilding #IndustryVoice

Your clients are more anxious than they have been in over a decade. The data explains why, and what you can do about it.

This week on Tuesday Headlines we unpack two of the biggest stories shaping the Australian building industry right now. First, the client confidence data every builder needs to understand before their next sales conversation. Then, a clear-eyed look at why the Middle East supply shock is not COVID 2.0 — and why that distinction matters for your business.

What we cover:

The key consumer confidence index has fallen more than 36 points below its long-run average. At the same time, price expectations sit near 15-year highs. Your clients want to build. They are just frightened. We break down what is driving that fear, what two consecutive RBA rate hikes have done to borrowing capacity, and why the sales environment differs dramatically state by state right now.

We also dig into the findings from 97,000 verified consumer reviews of Australian home builders — and the single biggest driver of a five-star review that most builders are not talking about.

Then we turn to the Middle East conflict. The COVID comparison is everywhere right now. We look at where it holds, where it breaks down, and what builders should be watching as petroleum-derived material costs and diesel prices move fast.

In this episode:

Links to Articles:
https://thegoodbuilder.com.au/your-clients-are-more-anxious-than-ever-here-is-what-the-data-tells-us-about-why/
https://thegoodbuilder.com.au/covid-did-not-break-australian-construction-but-it-left-the-industry-exposed-now-the-middle-east-conflict-has-arrived/

The Australian Building Industry Health Report Q1 2026 is free to download. Grab your copy here: report.thegoodbuilder.com.au/landing-page

Pages of data covering insolvencies, construction costs, consumer sentiment, workforce shortfalls, land supply, interest rates, government policy, and the full Iran conflict supply chain analysis. The most comprehensive picture of the Australian building industry in one place.

This episode is powered by MyConstruct — construction management software built for Australian builders. Manage jobs, communicate with clients, and cut the admin. Get your 30-daty trial at myconstruct.com

Also proudly supported by Pay.com.au — use promo code GOOD20 for 20,000 bonus points at pay.com.au/tgb

The TGB Australian Building Industry Health Report is out now. Sixty-plus pages of real data — no spin, no government talking points, no marketing fluff.

But data is only useful if you know how to put it to work.

In today's Daily Dose, Az walks through five practical ways builders can use the report right now — from pricing jobs in a cost environment being shaped by the Strait of Hormuz disruption, to understanding which developers control the land in your market, to knowing exactly what homebuyers are complaining about before they complain to you.

This is not a summary of the report. It's a guide to using it.

In this episode:

— Why gut feel is not a pricing strategy when material costs are moving this fast 
— The Top 30 developer rankings by state and what they mean for house and land in 2026 
— What 97,000+ homebuyer reviews tell us about where trust is breaking down 
— How to walk into any negotiation, client conversation, or deal assessment with something solid behind you 
— The forward-looking signals in the report that builders should be watching right now

Plus — the Mitre 10 competition, a heads up on an upcoming guest who is going to challenge a lot of what you think you know about the homes we build, news on the digital marketing workshop, and something very exciting on the horizon at The Good Builder.

Grab the report at https://thegoodbuilder.com.au/australian-building-industry-health-report/

Powered by MyConstruct — construction management software built for Australian builders. Get your 30-day FREE trial - myconstruct.com

Also sponsored by Pay.com.au — use code GOOD20 for 20,000 bonus points.
Head to pay.com.au/tgb for more and terms and conditions.

Today's guest is John Davis, Director of MMC Modular and creator of ModFloor, a light gauge steel chassis system that is changing the way modular buildings are designed, manufactured, and transported across Australia and internationally.

John's story spans Darwin in 1974, residential building in Queensland, a successful expansion into New Zealand, and launching a light gauge steel framing company in the United States before anyone else had done it. When he returned to Australia in 2012, he set his sights on solving one of modular construction's most expensive and persistent problems: chassis deflection and the skilled labour required to build them.

What came out of that was ModFloor, and then ModFloor Plus. A system assembled by unskilled labour in under three hours, with no welding, no cutting, and deflection figures that have transformed the economics of transporting modules to regional and remote sites."

In this episode John and Az cover:

- The real cost of chassis deflection and why modular builders are allocating up to $25,000 for remedial work on country jobs

- How MMC Modular's in-house roll forming machinery and online design portal removes the need for builders to employ engineers or experienced detailers in-house

- The case for a separate NCC code for modular and factory-built housing, and why the current system is holding the industry back

- Why modular construction is manufacturing, not building, and what that mindset shift means for operators who want to scale

- The land lease sector, litigation risk, and how MMC's relocatable system is solving a compliance problem most developers haven't faced yet yet

- How MMC's steel and insulated floor panel is helping builders eliminate concrete entirely in regional builds

John's answer to what makes a good builder, covering costing, product knowledge, and thinking laterally about new materials

John can be reached directly on 0412 918 297 or through the Steelfast website at www.steelfast.co

Sponsored by MyConstruct — construction management software built for Australian builders. Find out more and get your 30-day trial at myconstruct.com

Also sponsored by Pay.com.au — use code GOOD20 for 20,000 bonus points. T's & C's Apply. Head to https://pay.com.au/tgb/

#TheGoodBuilder #BuildersOfAustralia #AIForBuilders #ConstructionTech #BuildingBusiness #IncreaseConstruction #AIAgents #ConstructionIndustry #SmallBusinessAustralia #BuilderLife #BusinessAutomation #ResidentialBuilding #DailyDose

Az sits down with Drew and Sean from Increase Construction and what starts as a conversation about AI quickly turns into one of the most eye-opening episodes the show has done.

These two aren't talking about AI. They're doing it. Live. On camera.

In this episode, Az gets a behind-the-scenes look at the AI agent system Increase Construction has built. One that replaces the equivalent of $1.5 million worth of specialist staff, works 24/7, and pulls all of a building business's data into one live dashboard. Marketing, operations, sales, and technology all in one place, constantly updated, ready for whoever needs to make a decision.

They walk through real use cases, show the backend of their setup, talk about what it actually costs, and explain why the construction industry is ripe for this kind of change.

Az shares what it looked like from the inside of a major franchise network and exactly what a tool like this would have been worth.

This one's not theory. It's happening now.

Sponsored by MyConstruct — construction management software built for Australian builders. Find out more and get your 30-day trial at myconstruct.com

Also sponsored by Pay.com.au — use code GOOD20 for 20,000 bonus points. T's & C's Apply. Head to https://pay.com.au/tgb/

#TheGoodBuilder #BuildersOfAustralia #AIForBuilders #ConstructionTech #BuildingBusiness #IncreaseConstruction #AIAgents #ConstructionIndustry #SmallBusinessAustralia #BuilderLife #BusinessAutomation #ResidentialBuilding #DailyDose

If you don't know your numbers, you're flying blind.

That's the reality Josh Pierpoint has seen up close across 15 years in the industry, and across 56 builders in just the last 12 months through his business, Elevate Estimate.

In this episode, Az sits down with Josh for an honest conversation about what's really going wrong in building businesses right now. They talk about the wave of fuel levies and price rises hitting builders on fixed price contracts, why estimating is the function most likely to make or break your business, and what happens when builders try to wear too many hats.

Josh also opens up about the critical shortage of qualified estimators coming through the industry, why there's no real training pathway, and what that means for builders trying to fill that seat.

This one is timely, practical, and straight from the front line.

In this episode:

Connect with Josh and Elevate Estimate: https://elevateestimating.com.au/about/

Sponsors:

This episode is brought to you by MyConstruct,construction management software built for Australian builders. Check them out at myconstruct.com.

Thanks to this month's podcast sponsor Pay.com.au.

Our audience gets 20,000 bonus points when you sign up!

Also supported by Pay.com.au — use code GOOD20 for 20,000 bonus points. T&Cs apply. Head to pay.com.au/tgb.

The Strait of Hormuz is 8,000 kilometres from Australia. Right now, it's hitting your build costs — and most of the commentary out there isn't telling builders what they actually need to know.

In today's episode Az breaks down the Iran conflict and what it means for your supply chain in plain terms — which materials carry the most risk right now, why engineered wood and standard pine framing are two very different stories, which Australian-made alternatives are worth specifying, and three things you should do this week.

Plus — the TGB Australian Building Industry Health Report drops today. Thirty-plus pages of real data on where the industry sits. Brisbane land prices have exceeded Melbourne. Construction costs are up 47% since pre-COVID. And the number one driver of a five-star customer review isn't what most builders think.

And Az responds to two posts from the weekend that got the community talking: what Plantation Homes' communication to customers during price rises means for every builder regardless of size — and whether the people selling services to builders have actually been inside a successful building company themselves.

Free report download at thegoodbuilder.com.au. April 1 — and that's no joke.

This episode is proudly supported by MyConstruct — construction management software built for Australian builders. Jobs, clients, documents, and site management all in one place. Head to myconstruct.com to check it out and get your 30-day trial.

Thanks to this month's podcast sponsor Pay.com.au. 

Our audience gets 20,000 bonus points when you sign up — use code GOOD20. T&Cs apply. Head to pay.com.au/tgb.

This one's a bit different — and a bit special.

Az sits down with Vicki Cooper from Tamworth Property Co, who also happens to be his mother-in-law. With nearly 30 years in real estate across Queensland and New South Wales, Vicki brings real insight into what's driving regional growth in one of Australia's most active inland markets.

Tamworth is moving. Commercial, industrial, residential — the development pipeline is stacking up. With land sitting around $200–$300 per square metre compared to Sydney's $2,000+, the numbers speak for themselves.

What we cover:

Who it's for:

Builders, trades and professionals watching regional markets — or anyone thinking about where the next wave of opportunity sits outside the capital cities.

Brought to you by MyConstruct — construction management software built for Australian builders. Learn more at myconstruct.com

Thanks to this month's Podcast sponsor Pay.com.au, remember our audience gets 20,000 bonus points when you sign up.

USE code: GOOD20

T&C's apply go to pay.com.au/tgb

Before the TGB Australian Building Industry Health Report drops, Az puts you to the test.

This episode is a pop quiz built from real data inside the report — land prices, shrinking blocks, customer sentiment, and the one factor that determines a five-star review more than anything else.

No headlines today. Just some numbers that genuinely surprised us when we were putting the report together.

Have a crack. See how close you get.

What we cover:

The full TGB Australian Building Industry Health Report is dropping very soon at thegoodbuilder.com.au.

Supported by MyConstruct — construction management software built for Australian builders. myconstruct.com

Thanks to this month's Podcast sponsor Pay.com.au, remember our audience gets 20,000 bonus points when you sign up.

USE code: GOOD20

T&C's apply go to pay.com.au/tgb

In this episode, Az breaks down the TGB Australian Building Industry Health Report — a 30-plus page document built from publicly available data across the ABS, ASIC, RBA, Master Builders, HIA, QBCC, Infrastructure Australia and more, including over 97,000 customer reviews analysed.

This isn't opinion. It's the facts of what's happening across the Australian building industry, pulled together in plain English.

What we cover:

Who it's for: Builders, trades, suppliers, manufacturers, consultants, brokers, advisors — and homeowners thinking about building.

The TGB Australian Building Industry Health Report drops April 1. Head to thegoodbuilder.com.au to grab your copy.

#TheGoodBuilder #TGBReport #AustralianConstruction #BuildingIndustry #ConstructionAustralia #BuilderLife #ResidentialConstruction #BuildingApprovals #ConstructionCosts #WorkforceShortages #BuilderInsolvencies #HousingAccord #ConstructionData #BuildBetter #TradesIndustry #ConstructionNews #BuildingAustralia #HomeBuildingAustralia #ConstructionInsights #BuilderCommunity

Five things every builder needs on their radar this week, from a $500 giveaway to diesel prices, fixed-price contract exposure, a major industry health report, and a night out for a great cause.

What we cover:

Competition — Win a $500 Mitre 10 Gift Card Subscribe to The Good Builder eNewsletter for your first entry. Join the TGB Community Directory for a second. Both free. Closes 26 April 2026. 👉 thegoodbuilder.com.au/join-the-community-win

Care-Factor 2026 Event — Supporting Reboot Mindset Academy Tables, tickets and sponsorship available. Live entertainment, 350 guests, Todd Carney and Mitch Pierce attending. 👉 care-factor.com.au/2026event

Links:

Thanks to this month's Podcast sponsor Pay.com.au, remember our audience gets 20,000 bonus points when you sign up.

USE code: GOOD20

T&C's apply go to pay.com.au/tgb

Your weekly construction industry news wrap. Five stories that matter for builders and trades this week.

This week: The Federal Government appoints Australia's first Fuel Supply Taskforce Coordinator as diesel supply chains come under pressure. Why the smartest builders are treating everyday site work as high-trust marketing. Goop Guys and the rise of low-risk specialist franchises expanding across Australia. Everyone's Place reaches 200 completed homes in Queensland. And why CPD done properly is one of the best investments you can make in your building business, featuring our Community Directory Member of the Week, PointsBuild.

PointsBuild is offering 20% off all courses for TGB Directory members. Check them out: https://bem.pointsbuild.com.au/bem/welcome or call 1300 892 829.

Powered by MyConstruct. Construction management software built for Australian builders. Visit myconstruct.com.

Join The Good Builder Community Directory: thegoodbuilder.com.au

What We Cover

Thanks to this month's Podcast sponsor Pay.com.au, remember our audience gets 20,000 bonus points when you sign up.

USE code: GOOD20

T&C's apply go to pay.com.au/tgb

Most builders think they lose work on price. The reality is, they're losing work before the conversation even starts.

In this episode, Az shares a story from inside the industry, a lead response audit he ran in 2018 while working within a national home building franchise. Real enquiries were submitted to some of Australia's biggest residential builders, and the response times were tracked from the moment of submission.

The fastest response was 25 minutes.

The slowest was almost six days. And multiple national builders never responded at all.

That data is backed by some of the most respected lead management research in the world — including the MIT/InsideSales study, which found that responding within five minutes makes you 21 times more likely to qualify a lead. And a 2024 study showing more than 63% of businesses never respond to a lead at all.

If you're spending money on marketing and leads are coming through, this might be the most important ten minutes you hear this week.

What we cover:

Powered by MyConstruct — construction management software built for Australian builders. Visit myconstruct.com for your 30-day trial.

Everyone is talking about AI right now. Most of them are trying to sell you something.

Drew and Sean from Increase Construction are not. They went quiet, leaned in hard, and built something real. 

A team of AI agents running inside their business. A general manager. A marketing manager. Operations. Sales. Each one with a name, a role, and a job to do.

They deliberately stalled hiring staff for over a year because they had a gut feeling something was coming. They were right.

In this episode, Drew and Sean pull back the curtain on exactly what they've built, what it cost, what went wrong (including the 3am wake-up call from a $2,000 bill), and what it means for builders who are watching all the AI noise and wondering what's actually worth paying attention to.

This is one of the most practical conversations we've had on the podcast. No jargon for the sake of it. No selling a widget. Just two guys who broke the thing 40 times and came out the other side with something that works.

What we cover:

If you've been sitting on the fence with AI, this episode will help you figure out where to start and who to trust.

Links and resources: Increase Construction — https://www.increaseconstruction.com/about

Bricklaying is a dying breed. That is the reality. But Damian and Tara are doing something about it.

In this episode, Az sits down with the husband and wife team behind DA Bricklaying and DAT Tools, two businesses built from the ground up with no shortcuts, no outside funding, and no corporate playbook.

Damian has been laying bricks for 27 years. Tara has been right beside him through all of it. Together, they turned a sole trader operation into a professional crew, competed on the world stage at the Spec Mix Bricklayer 500 in the United States, and launched a self-funded tools business born from real pain points on the job.

This conversation is raw, honest, and full of lessons for anyone running a trade business or building something with their partner.

What we cover:

If you are a tradie thinking about starting a business, or you are already in one and wondering how to do it better, this is one to listen to.

🔗 Check out DAT Tools and support an Australian family business doing it the right way.

https://www.dattools.com/
https://www.instagram.com/damianamusobricklaying/

The Good Builder Directory is live. In this episode, Az walks through what it is, why it was built, and what it means for builders, trades, and suppliers who care about who they do business with.

This isn't another listing site. It's a curated space built around reputation, trust, and the same standards The Good Builder has always stood for. Early members get the best positioning, and right now, the categories are wide open.

Az also puts a spotlight on JV Recruitment — a nationwide construction recruitment and labour hire provider — and shares a key piece of content they partnered on called From Apprentices to Supervisor: Building Career Pathways That Keep Talent. If retention is costing you, this one's worth your time.

What We Cover

What the Good Builder Directory is, and what it isn't.
Why curation matters more than reach when it comes to trusted referrals
What directory members get access to (profile, TGB badge, exclusives)

Spotlight: JV Recruitment and the people you need to know

Why retention is the new recruitment....and what builders are getting wrongThe five things builders who keep their best people do consistently

Links mentioned:

Good Builder Directory: thegoodbuilder.com.au/business-directory

JV Recruitment: jvrecruitment.com.au

MyConstruct: myconstruct.com

Four big stories. One theme. Pressure, coming from every direction.

This week on Tuesday Headlines, Aaron breaks down what's happening across the global and local construction landscape, and why builders who aren't paying attention right now could get caught short.

What we cover:

None of this is sky-falling territory. But the builders who are reviewing their exposure, talking to their supply chain, and pricing properly right now will be the ones best placed when the pressure arrives.

Mentions this episode:

Sponsor: MyConstruct — construction management software built for Australian builders. One platform for jobs, communication, and contracts. 30-day free trial at myconstruct.com: https://myconstruct.com/signup/

Most builders say the same thing about content. They don't know what to post, they don't think their work is interesting enough, and they don't have the time.

This episode flips that thinking completely.

Az breaks down why builders aren't short on content — they're short on awareness. If you're on site every day solving problems, holding standards, and making decisions, you're already sitting on more material than you'll ever need. This episode shows you how to see it, capture it, and share it — without a studio, a strategy, or three hours spare.

What's covered:

Sponsor: MyConstruct - construction management software built for Australian builders. Scheduling, client communication, and document management in one place. Head to myconstruct.com

Most builders have never thought about putting their frame in a client conversation. Christine Briggs thinks that's a missed opportunity — and she's built a career proving it.

Christine is the driving force behind WoodSolutions' national timber campaign, a consultant with 35 years in the timber and forestry industry, and one of the most genuinely industry-focused people you'll meet. She sits on multiple boards, advocates for sustainability without the greenwashing, and has quietly been one of the most impactful behind-the-scenes voices in Australian residential construction.

In this episode, Az and Christine dig into why timber framing is more than a structural choice, it's a marketing asset, a trust signal, and increasingly, a point of difference builders aren't using.

What we cover:

This episode is proudly brought to you by: myconstruct.com

Bec Askin didn't plan to be in construction. It just became her life. And then she made it her own.

In this episode, I sit down with Bec from Adapt Modular (a division of Campbell Construction Co.) to talk about her 25 years in the industry, studying for her QBCC licence while raising two kids solo during COVID, and why she's now heading up a modular building division doing work that genuinely matters.

We talk about:

Bec is the kind of person who doesn't make a big deal of what she's done. I had to push her to tell the story properly.

Worth the listen.

#constructionindustry #builderlife #womeninconstruction #buildingbusiness

This episode is proudly brought to you by myconstruct.com