When the build doesn’t match the DA: statutory modification pathways in NSW
A contract variation changes what you are paid for. A modification changes what you are legally allowed to build. Confusing the two is how a job ends up with work that no consent covers.
10 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.
When the build doesn’t match the DA: statutory modification pathways in NSW
A contract variation changes what you are paid for. A modification changes what you are legally allowed to build. Confusing the two is how a job ends up with work that no consent covers.
10 min read
Handling a difficult client without losing the job: escalation and exit options
Every difficult client starts as a normal one. The job is won or lost in how you recognise escalation, use the contract, and choose between holding the job and exiting it cleanly.
12 min read
Steel framing fixing details: how cold-formed frames are actually fastened
Cold-formed steel frames fail at the connections, not the members. This covers screw and fixing selection, how load reaches the fixing, galvanic risk between dissimilar metals, and what to inspect before the frame is closed up.
12 min read
Managing solvents, adhesives and fuels on house sites
The dangerous chemicals on a house site are rarely the drums. They are the part-used tins, the fuel cans and the adhesive tubes that get left where the last trade put them down.
12 min read
Choosing CPD that holds up: relevance, outcomes and the provider test
The CPD points are self-recorded, so the quality of the activity is your problem long before it is the regulator’s. Here is how to judge an activity before you pay for it, and the questions that separate a defensible record from a wasted afternoon.
12 min read
How many jobs a builder can run at once is set by supervision time, not turnover
Most builders work out how many jobs they can run by looking at turnover, head count or the size of the pipeline. The binding constraint is usually none of those. It is the number of hours of supervision you can actually put on site in a week.
12 min read
Job costing for builders: tracking actual cost against the estimate while the job runs
Job costing is not a post-mortem. It is how you know where a job stands while there is still time to act — provided costs are coded against the estimate and reviewed weekly.
12 min read
Subfloor ventilation for suspended timber floors: keeping the underside dry
The space under a suspended timber floor is a moisture management system, not a leftover void. Get the airflow and ground cover right and the floor above stays stable; get it wrong and you will be back replacing bearers.
11 min read
Working with conditions on your NSW construction certificate
A construction certificate is only half the approval. The conditions attached to it are the part that gets audited on site, and they are the part most often lost between the approval file and the trades.
12 min read
Neighbour access, damage and complaints on a residential site
Neighbour consent to access is a commercial risk you can close out before the excavator arrives. Here is how to document adjoining property, handle damage claims, and answer complaints without accepting liability you do not own.
13 min read
Nail plates, cyclone washers and fixing schedules for timber frames
The fixing schedule tells you what holds the frame together. If you only read it after the plasterboard goes on, you are relying on someone else’s work with no way to check it.
15 min read
Confined space hazards on house sites: what residential builders need to control
Most confined space training is written for industry, but the hazard turns up on ordinary house sites: a sewer pit, a rainwater tank, a service shaft. The duties do not change because the job is a dwelling.
13 min read
CPD exemptions in NSW: the narrow grounds, and how to ask properly
An exemption from the NSW builder CPD requirement is not a scheduling tool. The grounds are narrow, the request belongs at renewal, and the evidence you gather decides the outcome.
10 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.