AR and VR on building sites: design walkthroughs, set-out checks and safety training
Augmented reality lays the design over the real site on a tablet or headset; virtual reality puts a client inside a house before it is built. Where each genuinely helps builders, and where it is still more demo than tool.
7 min read
The PointCPD blog
Building industry news and articles
What is changing in Australian building, and what it means on site: construction technology, materials, energy, regulation, safety, contracts and the housing market.
AR and VR on building sites: design walkthroughs, set-out checks and safety training
Augmented reality lays the design over the real site on a tablet or headset; virtual reality puts a client inside a house before it is built. Where each genuinely helps builders, and where it is still more demo than tool.
7 min read
Negative gearing and CGT changes: why new builds are about to become the investor product
The negative gearing and capital gains tax reforms announced in the May Budget are now law and start on 1 July 2027. They favour new builds over established homes. Here is what changes and what builders should expect.
7 min read
How the residential construction industry is structured, and where your business sits in it
The residential construction industry is not one market. It is a stack of tiers with different customers, different cash cycles and different failure modes. Knowing which tier you sit in, and which one you are actually competing against, decides where your margin comes from.
12 min read
Subcontract agreements: the clauses that decide who pays for defects, delays and disputes
Many builders run jobs on a quote and a handshake with their trades. It works until a defect, a delay or a payment dispute. The clauses that protect both builder and subcontractor, and how security of payment laws apply.
7 min read
Housing Accord target slips to December 2030, with NSW not expected to hit its share until 2032
The National Housing Supply and Affordability Council now expects the 1.2 million homes target to be reached in December quarter 2030. Costs, rates and softer sentiment are weighing on supply, and NSW is further behind than most states.
5 min read
Planning connectivity and data on site before you start
Site establishment usually means fencing, amenities and a temporary board. Connectivity belongs on that list, because every other trade now depends on it. Plan coverage, power and file access before the first delivery lands.
11 min read
Airtightness and blower door testing: the quality check more houses are getting
A well-insulated house that leaks air loses much of the benefit. Blower door tests measure how leaky a house is and find where. Here is how testing works and the details that make the difference.
8 min read
Laser scanning for renovations and extensions: measure the house you actually have
Old houses are never as drawn. A laser scan captures the real geometry of an existing home in hours: out-of-square walls, sagging floors, ceiling heights, service runs. Here is when scanning pays for a renovation builder.
8 min read
Water efficient fixtures: meeting BASIX without callbacks
BASIX sets a water target the dwelling has to hit, and the fixtures you install are a large part of how it gets there. Get the selection and the verification right and the certificate holds up; get it wrong and the shortfall surfaces at the worst time.
11 min read
Plant and people: traffic management on residential building sites
Concrete trucks reversing down driveways, excavators on tight blocks, crane trucks near power lines, kids walking past the site on the way to school. Traffic management on a house site is a real hazard, not a formality.
7 min read
HIA: 2,400 home contracts at risk from SMSF borrowing ban, let funds keep building new homes
The Housing Industry Association has called on the Government to let self-managed super funds keep borrowing to build new homes, citing a survey of large builders and estimates of thousands fewer detached home starts a year.
6 min read
What records NSW builders must keep, and how long to hold them
Retention is where most building businesses quietly fail. The records exist; they are just not findable, not complete, or not held for the period the law requires.
13 min read
Termite management for new homes: physical, chemical and slab systems, and how they fail
Termites cause some of the most expensive damage in Australian homes, and most attacks exploit gaps in the barrier or the inspection zone. How the systems work, what the NCC expects, and how builders and owners keep them effective.
8 min read
Free site templates for builders
SWMS, JSA, Take 5, inspection checklists, site diary, variations and payment claims. Word and PDF, free for commercial use.