The questions worth asking before you sign.

We score your builder quote or tender across five categories: price and value, inclusions, contract clarity, timeline, and reputation and risk. We flag every provisional sum, every allowance, and every contract term that may affect what you pay after signing. Your conveyancer can explain the specific implications for your contract. We compare your inclusions list against the industry-standard inclusion categories (site costs, driveway, fencing, flooring, appliances, landscaping, colour selections), then deliver a full traffic-light scored PDF. You see what is included, what is excluded, what sits behind an allowance, and the contract terms worth raising with your conveyancer before you sign.

A Rise and Fall contract term allows the contracted price to change after signing, typically tied to a specific event (e.g. delay in construction start, material cost increases above a threshold, or a fixed window like 45 days). The term itself is a standard contract feature, but its specific impact on you depends entirely on how it's worded in your particular contract. We flag when a Rise and Fall term is present in your quote or tender so you can review it with your conveyancer before signing.

A provisional sum is an estimated dollar amount in your builder quote or tender for work that hasn't been fully priced yet, most commonly site costs, but also things like landscaping, flooring or kitchen upgrades. The number listed is an estimate, not the final figure. If actual costs differ at the time of work, the difference is typically reflected at final invoice. Provisional sums are a common source of variance between a quote's headline price and a contract's final cost. We score every provisional sum in your quote and flag where each one sits against industry-standard categories, so you can review the at-risk lines with your builder or your conveyancer before signing.

Not always. 'Fixed price' can mean different things depending on the contract. A house and land package is usually two separate contracts: one for the land (fixed) and one for the build (often not). The build contract may include provisional sums for site costs, allowances for finishes, Rise and Fall contract terms, and exclusions like driveway, fencing and landscaping. Many marketed "from $X" prices assume a flat block, no rock, no extra setbacks, and basic finishes. BuildScore™ checks what is actually fixed, what is an allowance, and what is excluded, so the headline price is broken down into what you're contractually committing to.

The categories most often left out of headline pricing: site costs treated as a provisional sum, driveway and crossover (often excluded entirely), fencing (almost always excluded), flooring as an allowance rather than a fixed inclusion, landscaping (typically excluded), Council headworks and connection fees, soil testing variations, and rock removal. These aren't omitted to be deceptive. They reflect how the industry typically structures pricing documents. But if you don't know to check for them, the final invoice can land well above the headline 'fixed price'. We score every inclusion and exclusion against the standard checklist so you see what is and isn't in your quote or tender.

Most first home buyers compare on the bottom-line price. The fuller picture is what's behind that number. A more complete comparison covers: what is included, what is an allowance (and the size of that allowance), what is excluded, the contract type, and the build timeline. Two quotes with similar headline prices can have very different total costs once inclusions, allowance values, and contract type are factored in. A higher-headline quote with more inclusions and a fixed contract may be less expensive in total than a lower-headline quote with significant allowances and a Rise and Fall contract term. Our 2-Quote Report ($222) and 3-Quote Report ($333) include a full Side-by-Side Comparison page that puts every line item next to each other and shows which builder scored highest in each category, and the notes behind every score.

Not always. The lowest-priced quote or tender often has more exclusions, lower allowances, and looser contract terms than higher-priced alternatives, meaning the total build cost may differ from the headline figure. It looks competitive on the front page, but inclusions and contract terms shape the final figure. The most reliable predictor of total build cost is not the headline price but the inclusions list, allowance values, and contract type. BuildScore™ scores Price & Value against the industry-standard inclusion checklist, so headline pricing differences are scored against the inclusions and allowances behind each quote.

Five common areas to check: (1) Is the contract a fixed price, cost-plus, or hybrid? (2) Are site costs a fixed amount or a provisional sum? (3) Are flooring, driveway, fencing, landscaping and colour selections included, allowance, or excluded? (4) Is there a Rise and Fall contract term, and what triggers it? (5) Is the build timeline realistic and what happens if it overruns? If you don't have the answers, your builder, conveyancer, and lender can each clarify their respective areas: your builder for build specifics, your conveyancer for contract terms, your lender for financing implications. BuildScore™ scores all five for you in a full PDF report, within 48 hours (business days) of submission. From $222.

Within 48 hours (business days) of submission. You purchase your report ($222 for 2-Quote, $333 for 3-Quote), upload your builder quotes or tenders via your private submission link, and our team gets to work. We score every category, write your Side-by-Side Comparison and Decision Framework, and email you the full PDF report. If you submit before 5pm AEST on a business day, you typically have your report by close of business the next business day.

Several contract terms, if present in your contract, may permit price changes after signing, most commonly Rise and Fall terms and cost-plus contracts. We flag these terms when they appear in your quote or tender so you can review them with your conveyancer before signing. The specific impact on your contract depends on the exact wording. Your conveyancer can explain what each term means for you.

An estimate is an early-stage ballpark figure that isn't binding. The price can change before a formal quote or tender is issued. A fixed price quote (or tender) is a formal pricing document the builder commits to as the basis for a contract. BuildScore™ scores fixed price quotes and tenders, not estimates, because estimates can change before any contract is drafted.

The most common categories left out of headline pricing: site costs treated as provisional sums, driveway, fencing, flooring beyond a basic allowance, landscaping, colour selection variations, and utility connections. BuildScore™ flags each of these against your quote or tender so you can see what's included, what's an allowance, and what's not in the quote at all.

Construction loans are typically approved based on the contract price. Provisional sums and site cost estimates that increase at final invoice can push your total build cost above the approved loan amount, which means you may need to fund the difference yourself. We score every line in your quote or tender so you can bring the report to your lender for their assessment before you commit to the contract.

Quote and tender mean the same thing in different states. Tasmanian builders typically use 'quote'; builders in VIC, NSW, QLD, SA, and WA typically use 'tender'. BuildScore™ scores either: same product, same scoring, same report format. Both are formal pricing documents from your builder that become the basis of a building contract.

A tender is a formal pricing offer from a builder, but it doesn't become binding on either party until you sign a building contract based on it. Between the tender and the signed contract is when changes can still be negotiated, whether variations, clarifications, or additional inclusions, and when an independent score of the tender is most useful.

BuildScore™ is an independent information and comparison service for people building a home in Australia. You upload 2 or 3 builder quotes or tenders, and BuildScore™ scores each one against industry benchmarks across five categories using a Green, Blue and Red scoring key. You receive a full PDF report within 48 hours (business days) showing how your quotes or tenders compare, line by line. BuildScore™ scores each quote or tender; you decide which one suits you.

A Digital Build Broker helps home buyers understand and compare builder quotes or tenders before they sign, delivered digitally rather than in person. BuildScore™ turns 2 or 3 builder quotes or tenders into a side by side scored report, so the differences between them are visible before you commit to a contract. The comparison covers price and value, inclusions, contract clarity, timeline, and reputation and risk.

No. BuildScore™ scores each quote or tender against industry benchmarks and the report deliberately names no winner. The Decision Framework page instead shows which builder scored highest in each category, so you can weigh them against what matters most to you. If timeline is your priority, you can see who scored highest on timeline. If inclusions matter more, you can see that too. We score; you decide.

BuildScore™ uses a proprietary builder scorecard methodology: fixed criteria, applied to the same standard for every builder. Each of the five categories is assessed against a written rubric, and the Overall Rating of Strong, Acceptable or Caution is calculated by rules rather than impression. Every score is human-verified, meaning a person finalises every report before it is released. It is not a black box.

BuildScore™ is an independent information and comparison service. BuildScore™ takes no commissions or referral fees from builders. It never recommends a builder. It does not independently verify builder quotes or tenders, builder credentials, or any representation a builder makes. What is human-verified is the scoring itself: a person finalises every score in every report.

Each builder is scored Green, Blue or Red across five categories: Price and Value, Inclusions, Contract Clarity, Timeline, and Reputation and Risk. Green means it meets or exceeds expectations, Blue means acceptable but worth noting, and Red means it requires clarification before signing. Each builder also receives an Overall Rating of Strong, Acceptable or Caution. The report covers a seven item inclusions checklist marking each item Included, Allowance or Excluded: site costs, driveway, fencing, flooring, appliances, landscaping, and colour selections. It finishes with a Side-by-Side Comparison page and a Decision Framework page.

A 2-Quote report is $222 and covers two builder quotes or tenders. A 3-Quote report is $333 and covers three. Both are delivered as a full PDF within 48 hours (business days) of submission. The 3-Quote report adds a third builder for $111, which is less than the cost of a second 2-Quote report.

BuildScore™ compares 2 or 3. Comparing more than one is the point of the exercise: a single quote or tender gives you nothing to benchmark it against, and the differences between builders only become visible when they sit side by side. A third quote or tender widens the benchmark again, which matters most where inclusions and allowances vary a lot between builders.

Two builder quotes or tenders for the same home can differ because of what each one includes, what is listed as an allowance, and what is excluded altogether. They can also differ on how fixed the price is, the build timeline, and the contract terms. These documents are long and structured differently by every builder, which makes them genuinely hard to compare line by line. That information gap, not the builders, is the problem BuildScore™ exists to close.