Terms of use.

These terms are an agreement between you and BuilderHQ Pty Ltd (ABN 70 697 584 722), referred to here as BuilderHQ, we or us. They govern your use of the BuilderHQ website, platform and services, referred to here as the Platform.

By creating an account, uploading a project, taking a spot on a tender round, submitting a tender, or otherwise using the Platform, you accept these terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not accept them, do not use the Platform.

In these terms:

• a client is the homeowner, owner builder, developer or building design practice that runs a project;
• a builder is the building company that prices a tender round;
• the scope of works is the register of items of work we draft from the client’s documents;
• a tender round is the process in which builders price that scope of works.

You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter a binding contract under Australian law.

If you use the Platform on behalf of a business, you confirm that you are authorised to bind that business. These terms then bind both you and that business.

The information you give us when you register must be true, and you must keep it current. This includes a builder’s company name, ABN, licence details and service areas.

You are responsible for everything done under your account. Keep your login details secure, do not share them, and do not let another business use your account. Tell us at info@builderhq.com.au as soon as you suspect someone else has access.

The Platform is for residential building projects in Australia.

BuilderHQ provides a scope of works and tendering service.

• A client uploads the drawings, reports and specifications for a residential project.
• Our software reads those documents and drafts a scope of works: a register of items of work, each written in plain language and cited to the document, page and revision it came from.
• A member of the BuilderHQ team reviews every line. The client then approves the scope before it is issued to anyone.
• A tender round opens. It can be open to the verified builder network, or private to builders the client invites.
• Builders are verified before they price, on the basis set out in section 10.
• Every builder walks the same schedule, marks every line included, a provisional sum, excluded or not applicable, and answers the same structured questions under signature.
• Tenders are read against six published dimensions with fixed weights, flags are raised, and the differences between tenders are set out item by item.
• The client shortlists and awards.

This section is important. Please read it.

BuilderHQ is not:

• a builder, and we do not carry out or manage building work;
• a building surveyor, an architect, a building designer, an engineer or a quantity surveyor;
• an agent for a client or for a builder;
• a party to any building contract, and not a guarantor of one.

We do not:

• measure quantities off a drawing;
• estimate, calculate, check or validate any cost;
• recommend a builder or choose one;
• supervise, inspect or certify construction;
• hold construction funds or handle progress payments.

Nothing on the Platform is legal, financial, engineering, building surveying or planning advice. You should obtain your own professional advice before you commit to a building project or sign a building contract.

When you upload a document to the Platform, you confirm that:

• you own it, or you hold the rights and permissions needed to upload it, to have us process it, and to have it disclosed to the builders on your round;
• to the best of your knowledge it is current, complete and accurate, and you will tell us promptly if it is superseded or withdrawn;
• it does not infringe anyone’s intellectual property or confidentiality. Drawings prepared by an architect or building designer usually remain theirs, so obtain their permission before you upload them.

Where the documents are silent, we put the question to you. Your answers form part of the scope of works, so answer them carefully.

You review and approve the scope of works before it is issued. No round opens without your approval, and no builder sees your documents before it.

The decisions on the project are yours, including which builders you invite, which tenders you shortlist, and who you award to.

The scope of works is drafted from the documents you supply and from your answers to our questions. It is not drafted from anything else.

Each item is written in plain language and cited to the document, page and revision it came from. Anything we cannot trace to a document is either removed or put to you as a question.

What it is. A description of the works, so that every builder prices the same list.

What it is not. It is not a bill of quantities, not a measurement, not an estimate, not a cost plan and not a construction specification. It contains no quantities measured by us and no costs calculated by us.

Where the documents are silent on an item, the scope says so and carries it as a gap or a question rather than as an assumption.

Our review and your approval do not make the underlying documents complete or correct. A scope of works can only be as good as the documents it is drawn from.

If the scope changes after the round opens, we issue a numbered addendum to every builder on the round at the same time. The addendum lists the lines added, revised and removed, and the earlier pack is marked superseded.

We use automated systems, including artificial intelligence, to read uploaded documents, draft the scope of works, and prepare the comparison of tenders. Doing so involves sending the contents of your documents to a third party service provider that operates those systems on our behalf. Our Privacy Policy names that provider and sets out how the material is handled.

Automated output can be incomplete or wrong. That is why nothing is issued unreviewed. A member of our team reviews every scope line, and the client approves the scope before it goes to any builder.

Even so, the output is informational. It is not professional advice, and it does not replace your own review of the documents or the advice of your consultants.

A round is run in one of two ways.

• Open. The project is listed to verified builders on BuilderHQ. The round carries a set number of spots, between two and five, chosen by the client and shown to builders before they commit.
• Private. The round is by invitation only. The builders the client invites are the round, and a single invited builder is a valid round.

A client can invite builders to either kind of round. Spots on an open round are taken in order and capped. Once the spots are filled, no further builder can join.

Every builder on a round receives the same scope of works, the same documents and the same questions. Every addendum goes to all of them at once.

A client may withdraw a round or close it early. If that happens we tell every builder on the round. Builders have no claim against the client or against BuilderHQ for the cost of preparing a tender.

A builder may withdraw a tender before it is accepted. The withdrawal is recorded and the tender remains on the project record marked as withdrawn.

Nothing obliges a client to accept any tender, or to award the work at all.

If you price a round on BuilderHQ, you agree that:

• you hold a current licence or registration to carry out the work in the state or territory where it is located, and you will tell us promptly if it lapses, is suspended, or has conditions imposed on it;
• you hold the insurances you declare, that the cover is current, and that you will keep it current for the work you tender for;
• you will price the schedule honestly, marking every line included, a provisional sum, excluded or not applicable, and you will answer every question truthfully and completely;
• your tender is prepared independently and without collusion with any other tenderer;
• a tender you submit is a genuine offer, capable of acceptance by the client for the validity period you state in it. You declare this under signature when you submit;
• you will keep the client’s documents confidential, use them only to price that round, and not copy, publish or pass them to anyone outside your business without the client’s consent;
• you will return or delete those documents if the client asks you to, unless you need to keep them because you have been awarded the work or the law requires it.

From award, you deal with the client directly, and you contract with them directly.

Before a builder can take a spot on a round we check:

• ABN. The Australian Business Number is checked against the Australian Business Register, for an active registration matching the company name.
• Licence. The builder licence or registration is checked against the relevant state register where that register connects to us electronically, and by the BuilderHQ team where it does not.

Insurances are declared, not verified. A builder declares its public liability, workers compensation, contract works and home warranty position under signature. BuilderHQ does not obtain, inspect or verify certificates of currency, and does not confirm that any policy exists, that cover is current, or that any limit is adequate.

Verification is a check of public records at a point in time. It is not a warranty, a recommendation or an endorsement. In particular, it says nothing about a builder’s competence, financial position, solvency, capacity, workmanship, conduct or ability to complete your project.

Before you sign a building contract, satisfy yourself independently. Ask the builder for current certificates of currency, confirm the licence directly with the state register, check references, and take your own advice.

We may suspend or remove a builder’s verified status at any time, including where a check no longer passes.

Every tender on a round is read against the same six dimensions, with fixed weights that are published before the round opens:

• price firmness, weighted 25;
• scope coverage, weighted 25;
• preparation, weighted 15;
• credentials and capacity, weighted 15;
• delivery and aftercare, weighted 12;
• programme confidence, weighted 8.

Each score shows its working, so the client and the builder can both see where it came from. Flags are raised where a tender carries something the client should look at, and every difference between the tenders is set out item by item.

The scores measure what a tender discloses and how it is prepared. They do not measure the quality of building work, and they do not predict how a project will turn out.

BuilderHQ does not recommend a builder and does not choose one. A score is a reading of a tender, not advice to accept it. The shortlist and the award are the client’s decision alone.

Clients pay nothing. Homeowners, owner builders and building design practices pay nothing to upload a project, have a scope of works drafted, run a tender round, receive tenders, or use the comparison.

Builders. Browsing is free. A spot on an open round is a one off fee, currently from $49 for a renovation to $199 for multi dwelling work, depending on the project type. The fee for a round is shown to you before you commit to it.

Invited builders pay nothing. If a client invites you to a round, open or private, there is no fee.

No commission. There is no subscription and no commission. BuilderHQ takes no percentage of any building contract, from either side.

Payment. Fees are in Australian dollars and include GST where GST applies. Payments are processed by Stripe. We do not receive or store your full card details. A receipt is issued for every payment.

Refunds. If the client withdraws or cancels the round before tenders are due, and you have not submitted a tender, we refund your spot fee in full. If we cancel or remove a round, we refund your spot fee in full. Once you have submitted a tender the fee is not refundable, because the spot has been used. Nothing in this clause limits any right you have under the Australian Consumer Law.

Billing questions. Contact us at info@builderhq.com.au before raising a chargeback with your card issuer, so we can resolve it directly.

We may change our fees. A change never affects a spot you have already paid for.

Any contract for building work is between the client and the builder alone. BuilderHQ is not a party to it, does not sign it, does not administer it and does not guarantee it.

We do not hold construction funds and we do not handle progress payments.

The contract terms, the price, the programme, variations, defects, insurance and dispute resolution are matters for the client and the builder. They should be recorded in a written contract that complies with the domestic building law of the state or territory where the work is carried out. We recommend that both parties take independent legal advice before signing.

Any dispute about the building work, the price or the contract is between the client and the builder. BuilderHQ is not responsible for the acts or omissions of either of them.

The scope of works, the addenda, the tenders and the comparison remain available to both parties in their dashboards as a record of what was priced.

We send emails about your account and your projects, for example when a round opens, a tender is submitted, an addendum is issued, or a tender is shortlisted or awarded. These are service messages rather than marketing, they are necessary to provide the service, and they continue while your account is open.

Marketing emails, including The Build Brief, are sent only where you have consented, and every one carries an unsubscribe link. We comply with the Spam Act 2003 (Cth).

The Platform includes messaging between a client and the builders on their round. Keep those messages relevant to the project and lawful. We may review messages where it is necessary to operate the service, investigate a complaint, or comply with the law.

Do not use the Platform, or any contact details you obtain through it, to send unsolicited marketing or to make unsolicited calls. Doing so breaches these terms, and may breach the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) or the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (Cth).

Your content stays yours. You keep ownership of the documents and information you upload. Uploading them gives us no ownership of them.

You grant BuilderHQ a non-exclusive, royalty free licence to store, copy, process and display your content for the purpose of providing the service you have asked for. That includes drafting the scope of works, issuing the pack to the builders on your round, and producing the comparison. The licence lasts while we hold the content, and it ends when the content is deleted in line with our Privacy Policy.

Builders who hold a spot on a round are given access to that project’s documents so they can price it, on the confidentiality terms in section 9.

A builder’s tender stays the builder’s. Submitting a tender grants the client a licence to use it to evaluate, negotiate and contract for that project, and grants us the licence we need to run the round and produce the comparison.

Our intellectual property. BuilderHQ owns the Platform and everything in it that is ours, including the software and interface, the Scope Standard and its item register, the submission instrument and its question set, the evaluation rubric and its weights, our templates and documents, and our brand. Nothing in these terms transfers any of it to you.

You may use the documents we produce for your project for the purposes of that project. You must not copy, sell, licence or republish them, use them to build a competing service, or scrape, extract or reverse engineer the Scope Standard, the submission instrument or the evaluation rubric.

If you send us feedback or suggestions, we may use them without obligation to you. We may also use aggregated information that does not identify you or your project to maintain and improve the Platform.

You must not:

• give false information, impersonate anyone, or misrepresent your licence, insurance, ABN or affiliation;
• upload content that is unlawful, defamatory, misleading or infringing;
• collude with another tenderer, or attempt to influence a round outside the process set out in these terms;
• use another client’s or builder’s documents, tender content or contact details for any purpose other than the round they relate to;
• scrape, crawl, reverse engineer, or attempt to extract the Platform’s data or methods;
• circumvent fees, spot caps, verification or access controls, or hold more than one builder account for the same business;
• interfere with the security or operation of the Platform, or attempt to access an account or project that is not yours;
• use the Platform for anything other than genuine residential construction tendering.

You may close your account at any time by contacting us. If you have a live round or an open tender, tell us so that the people relying on it are dealt with properly.

We may suspend or close an account where:

• these terms are breached;
• a verification check no longer passes;
• we reasonably suspect fraud, collusion or misrepresentation;
• the account is being used unlawfully;
• continued access presents a risk to other users or to the Platform; or
• a fee owing to us is not paid.

Where it is practical and appropriate, we will give you notice and a chance to put the matter right first.

When an account is closed, access to the Platform ends. We keep records for the periods set out in our Privacy Policy and for as long as the law requires.

The clauses that are intended by their nature to survive do survive, including those covering what BuilderHQ is not, confidentiality, fees already payable, intellectual property, liability, indemnity and governing law.

Our services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies any right or remedy you have under that law, or under any other law that cannot be excluded by agreement.

Where we are permitted to limit our liability for failing to comply with a consumer guarantee, our liability is limited, at our option, to resupplying the services or to paying the cost of having the services resupplied.

Subject to the two paragraphs above, and to the extent permitted by law:

• the Platform is provided as it is. We do not warrant that it will be uninterrupted or error free, or that information a user supplies through it is accurate, complete or current;
• we are not liable for the acts or omissions of any client, builder, partner or other user. That includes the performance of any building work, the accuracy or honesty of any tender, and the conduct of anyone you deal with or contract with;
• we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of profit, revenue, opportunity, anticipated savings, data or reputation;
• our total liability to you for all claims, however they arise, is limited to the greater of the total fees you paid us in the twelve months before the event giving rise to the claim, and two hundred dollars.

You indemnify BuilderHQ against any loss, damage, cost or claim arising from:

• your breach of these terms;
• content you upload, including a claim that a document you uploaded infringes someone’s rights;
• your unlawful, fraudulent or negligent conduct; or
• a dispute between you and another user of the Platform.

This indemnity does not apply to the extent the loss was caused by our own breach of these terms or our own negligence, and it is reduced to the extent we could reasonably have reduced the loss.

If something has gone wrong, contact us first at info@builderhq.com.au with what happened and what you would like done. We aim to acknowledge a complaint within five business days.

If the matter is not resolved within thirty days, either of us may refer it to mediation in Melbourne, Victoria before starting court proceedings. Either of us may still apply to a court for urgent relief at any time.

This section does not affect your right to exercise a remedy under the Australian Consumer Law, or to complain to a regulator or consumer body. Privacy complaints are handled under our Privacy Policy, which sets out how to escalate a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

The Platform continues to develop, so we may add, change or withdraw features.

We may amend these terms. The current version is always published at builderhq.com.au/terms with the date it was last updated.

Where a change is material and adverse to you, we will give reasonable notice before it takes effect, normally at least fourteen days, by email or in the Platform.

A change does not apply retrospectively to a round that is already open or to a fee you have already paid. Those continue under the terms in force at the time.

If you continue to use the Platform after a change takes effect, you accept the amended terms. If you do not accept them, stop using the Platform and close your account.

These terms are governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia. You and BuilderHQ submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria and the courts that hear appeals from them.

If any part of these terms is found to be unenforceable, that part is severed and the rest continues to apply.

These terms and our Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between us about your use of the Platform.

BuilderHQ Pty Ltd
ABN 70 697 584 722
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Email: info@builderhq.com.au

Notices to us can be sent by email to that address. Notices to you will be sent to the email address on your account.