TL;DR: Retaining wall blocks come in five families in Australia: hollow concrete (besser), interlocking segmental units, cut sandstone or limestone, boulder and rock, and modular reinforced earth. Installed costs run roughly $280 to $1,200 per square metre of wall face depending on which one you pick. AS 4678 is the governing standard, the National Construction […]
If you’ve ever walked past a half-built shed, a retaining wall, or a granny flat in Australia, chances are you’ve seen a stack of grey, hollow concrete blocks waiting on a pallet. Around the country we call them besser blocks: a name so embedded in the trade that most builders forget it was originally a […]
Most failed construction software rollouts you hear about at the pub aren’t really product failures. The software wasn’t broken. The features worked. The price was fine. What went wrong is the bit nobody talks about until it’s too late: onboarding. The cabinet maker who paid for two years upfront and never logged in. The framing […]
Related Resources Best PM Software Australia Software Comparison Australia 2026 Free Builders Calculator Suite More than just calculators Built Simple manages your entire project – estimates, schedules, tasks, and team. Try Free for 14 Days
Few things stall an Australian build faster than the approvals process. Between development applications, complying development certificates, construction certificates, planning permits and the alphabet soup of state-specific paperwork, even experienced builders lose weeks chasing the wrong document at the wrong council. And in 2026, the rules have shifted again: NSW has tightened private certifier oversight, […]
TL;DR: In 2026 a house extension in Australia typically runs $2,800 to $5,500 per square metre, against $2,400 to $3,800/m2 for a new build. A 30m2 rear kitchen and dining addition lands near $162,500 once permits, demolition and site costs are in. A 50m2 master suite is closer to $248,000. An 80m2 second storey can […]
TL;DR Choosing construction software in Australia comes down to four factors: job size and crew count (1 to 5, 5 to 15, 15 plus), the must-have feature list (estimating, scheduling, time tracking, defects, document storage), AU-specific localisation (GST, NCC, Australian Standards, Modern Award awareness), and total cost of ownership over 3 years (subscription plus onboarding […]
TL;DR Owner-builders in Australia need software that handles a single project end-to-end (quotes, scheduling, trade coordination, document storage, and a budget tracker) without enterprise complexity or pricing. Built Simple’s Freemium tier ($0) covers calculators for one project, the Home Projects tier ($39/month) is purpose-built for owner-builders managing a single build (includes Trade Discount QR), and […]
TL;DR: Benchmark Australian construction costs in 2026 sit at roughly $1,800 to $2,400/m² for project homes, $2,400 to $3,500/m² for custom builds, and $3,500 to $6,000/m² for architectural work. On top of that, budget $20,000 to $50,000 in site costs, $5,000 to $15,000 in council fees, $8,000 to $25,000 for services connection, and a 10 […]
TL;DR A Gantt chart in construction is a horizontal bar chart that maps every task on a project against time, showing start dates, end dates, durations, dependencies, and the critical path. It’s the industry-standard way to plan, track, and communicate a build schedule from foundations through handover. Modern construction Gantt tools add weather alerts, resource […]
