Fixed fees. No hourly meter. An expert in your corner.
Every price on this page is the whole price, visible before you click anything. Start with a single quote review or put backup around your whole build.
- Ex-builder & current commercial site engineer
- Remote, Australia-wide
- Solicitor-reviewed T&Cs, plain-English scope
The ladder
Start small or cover the whole build
Each rung includes everything you need at that level — and payments already made credit upward.
Most booked
Quote Teardown
$29048 hours
Find the gaps before you sign.
- Line-by-line review of up to 3 quotes for one trade package
- Written gap summary: missing scope, lowball allowances, exclusion traps
- 30-minute call to walk through it before you sign anything
What this is not: This is not legal advice and not a site inspection. It is an expert second set of eyes on the paperwork — you make the decisions.
$6,200 — Gaps found in a single slab quote — missing pump hire, no rock clause, a piering allowance half the local going rate.
Pre-Start Review
$7901 week
Walk onto site with your budget, contracts and sequence already checked.
- Full budget and contingency review against real current costs
- Trade package scope check — what is missing before it becomes a variation
- Your build sequence and inspection schedule mapped to your certifier
What this is not: This is not project management. It is the pre-flight check that means you start in control and stay there.
$14,700 — A Pre-Start caught an uncosted retaining wall and a slab quote assuming fill the block did not have.
Essentials Package
$2,950across your whole build
An expert in your corner at every stage that matters.
- Pre-Start Review included, plus stage check-ins from slab to handover
- Quote teardowns for your five biggest trade packages
- Priority email access when something on site does not look right
What this is not: This is not supervision and we are not your builder. You run the build — we make sure you are never guessing.
$23,400 — Documented savings across one Essentials build — tender gaps, a variation renegotiated, an allowance corrected.
Build Partnership
from $5,500your whole build, start to finish
staged payments aligned to your bank drawdowns
The closest thing to having a site engineer in the family.
- Everything in Essentials plus scheduled reviews at every drawdown stage
- Every quote and every variation reviewed before you sign
- Direct phone access through the moments that decide the budget
What this is not: This is not a licensed-builder engagement and we never take over the build. High-touch guidance, your name on the permit.
$41,200 — One Partnership build finished 4.1% under budget in a year most builds ran 10% over.
Still deciding whether to owner-build at all? Start with theGo/No-Go Session ($240). Something already gone wrong?Build Rescue ($490).
Build Partnership
Stage billing that follows your bank, not the other way round
The Partnership fee splits into eight payments aligned to your construction-loan drawdowns — the cost lands alongside the build, never in front of it.
Deposit
1/8
Slab
1/8
Frame
1/8
Lock-up
1/8
Fixing
1/8
Waterproofing
1/8
Completion
1/8
Handover
1/8
How stage billing works: one-eighth of the agreed fixed fee falls due as each drawdown stage is reached. If the build pauses, the payments pause with it.
Optional modules
Add-ons, offered when your situation needs them
Never up-sold up-front. These exist so a specific moment in your build can get specific help.
Single variation review$290
One variation, sanity-checked against what it should roughly cost, with the negotiation points in writing — before you sign it.
Enquire about this moduleContract walkthrough (with your solicitor’s notes)$390
A construction-eyes pass over the contract schedules — allowances, provisional sums, exclusions — to pair with your legal review.
Enquire about this moduleStage briefing call$290
60 minutes before a critical stage (slab, frame, waterproofing): what the certifier checks, the traps, the questions for your trades.
Enquire about this moduleExtra quote package teardown$290
The standard teardown, added to any package for an additional trade package.
Enquire about this moduleHandover & defects review$590
Your practical-completion list reviewed, the defect-notice wording sorted, and the certificate trail checked before final payment.
Enquire about this moduleQuestions people ask before booking
Why fixed fees instead of hourly?
Because hourly meters punish you for asking questions. Every service is a fixed fee agreed before we start, so the incentive is to solve your problem, not to stretch it.
Are you licensed builders? What exactly is this?
This is independent education and document review from a construction professional — not building work, supervision, certification or legal advice. Our solicitor-reviewed terms state the scope in plain English.
Do you work Australia-wide?
Yes — every service is delivered remotely, with state-specific compliance and pricing context applied where your state matters.
How fast are turnarounds?
Teardown: 48 hours. Pre-Start: one week. Rescue: call within 48 hours. Package check-ins are scheduled around your build’s actual stages.
What is your refund policy?
Any service not yet started: full refund. Once work is underway the fee stands, because the work is the review itself. Package clients can pause if the build pauses.
Not sure which service fits?
Call 0484 508 363, email admin@ownerbuilderhq.com.au, or send the form — describe where you're up to and we'll point you at the smallest thing that solves it.