Owner builder software
for Australian home builds.
Your owner builder command centre.
Upload your plans and SiteForeman builds your project for you — a priced, stage-by-stage cost estimate and a Gantt timeline of your whole build, generated automatically in the right trade order. Then send professional quote requests to tradies, compare the quotes against the estimate, track your budget and stay on top of mandatory inspections, without needing a licensed builder to hold your hand.
$349 AUD per build project · one-time payment, no subscription
SiteForeman produces automated cost estimates for planning — not quotes, and not professional building, financial or legal advice. Always obtain written quotes from licensed tradespeople, and confirm permit and inspection requirements with your state or territory regulator. See our Terms.
See it in action
A quick look at SiteForeman — upload your plans, get a stage-by-stage estimate, and run your build from one place.
Everything you need for the build
From the day you upload your plans through to the final inspection.
AI Plan Reading
Upload your building plans PDF. SiteForeman reads the drawings — build type, scope and the measurements that drive your costs — and checks its understanding with you before pricing anything.
Cost Estimator
A stage-by-stage cost estimate measured from your plans, before a single quote comes in. Based on published Australian construction rates, with a price range for every trade. An estimate for planning — not a quote.
Gantt Timeline
Your build program, generated from your estimate in the right trade order. Set dates, track progress, and see where you are in the project.
Professional RFQs
Generate professional request-for-quote emails scoped to each stage, log the prices as they come back, and compare quotes side by side against your estimate.
Budget Tracker
Track committed costs (accepted quotes) and invoices paid against your estimate. Know your cashflow position at every stage of the build.
Inspection Checkpoints
Keep mandatory inspections in view. State-aware checkpoints sit in your timeline as blocking items, so a hold point is on your program rather than something you remember too late.
A look inside
Real screens from a sample project — the same build, followed from plans through to budget.
It reads your plans, then prices them
Upload the PDF and SiteForeman works out what is being built — foundation type, cladding, roof, storeys, what is in scope and what is not. You check its reading before anything is priced. Then every stage is costed from published Australian trade rates.
A build program, not a spreadsheet
Your timeline is generated from the same numbers as the estimate, in the right trade order. Jobs chain forward off each other, so setting one date reschedules everything after it. Inspection hold points sit in the program as blocking items.
Compare quotes against the estimate
Send scoped quote requests to trades, then log the prices as they come back. Every stage shows what you were quoted next to what it should cost, so a number that is out of line is obvious rather than buried.
Know your position at every stage
Accepted quotes become committed costs. Invoices track against them. You can see what you have committed, what you have actually paid, and what is still to come — which is the number that matters when the money gets tight at lock-up.
How it works
Upload your plans
Upload your building plans PDF. SiteForeman reads them, confirms the scope of your build with you, then measures the drawings.
Get your estimate and send RFQs
Get a stage-by-stage cost estimate and a build timeline built from the same numbers. Then generate and send professional RFQ emails to tradies.
Track everything to handover
Compare quotes, accept the best ones, track invoices against your budget, and tick off inspections as you go.
Built specifically for Australian owner builders
The Australian building timeline, state-specific mandatory inspections, and RFQ emails written to be taken seriously by Australian trades. Not a generic project management tool retrofitted for construction.
Built by an owner builder who did it without experience. Read why →
Common questions
The things owner builders ask before they start.
- Do I need an owner builder permit in Australia?
- Yes. Every Australian state and territory requires an owner builder permit or certificate of consent once the value of the work passes a set threshold, and most require you to complete an approved course or assessment before applying. The threshold, the fee, the course and how often you may owner build all differ by state, so check with your state or territory regulator before starting any work.
- How much does it cost to owner build a house in Australia?
- It varies enormously with the job — floor area, standard of finish, construction type, your site and your city all move it, which is why a single national figure is not much use. As a rough envelope, houses in Australian capitals run somewhere between $1,900 and $5,000 per square metre including GST and excluding land. Our free cost calculator narrows that to your own specification in about thirty seconds, and SiteForeman prices your actual plans stage by stage.
- What kinds of projects can SiteForeman estimate?
- Residential building work: new houses, extensions, and renovations of existing homes, including kit homes. It prices the stages of a house build from site establishment through to handover. It does not price swimming pools, tennis courts, sheds and outbuildings, or commercial and multi-residential construction. If your plans include something outside that scope, it is flagged as an allowance for you to price with a contractor rather than estimated.
- Is the SiteForeman estimate a quote?
- No. SiteForeman produces an automated estimate from your plans using Australian construction rates. It is a planning guide to help you budget and sanity-check the prices you are quoted. You should always obtain written quotes from licensed tradespeople and rely on those before committing to any spend or signing a contract.
- Which Australian states does SiteForeman work in?
- All of them. SiteForeman prices against construction rates for Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Inspection checkpoints cover footings, slab, frame and final, which apply nationally, plus the additional critical stages that apply in your state — NSW, for example, also requires waterproofing and stormwater. Always confirm the exact hold points for your build with your own building surveyor or certifier.
- What does SiteForeman cost?
- SiteForeman is $349 AUD once per build project — no subscription and no monthly fee. You pay once and keep access to that project through to handover.
More detail in our owner builder guides and blog.
Ready to take control of your build?
Set up your project in minutes. Upload your plans and get your first cost estimate today.
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