Straight answers to your questions.
No spin. No fluff.

We help custom residential builders through construction estimation and contract administration services. Basically, we handle pricing, systems, and backend workflows so you can stay focused on building.

How we do it:

1. We price the job accurately before it goes under contract.
2. We monitor cost against estimate every month it’s on the tools.
3. We produce a single director-level report showing if the business is on track.

What we are NOT: A software company that bolts on services.
What we ARE: A contract administration practice that built the software we needed. We use our proprietary platform Hawktress™ as the construction cost intelligence engine that sits behind every estimate.

We work with residential builders in Australia and New Zealand running between 4 and 30 active jobs at any time. This includes custom homes, knockdown rebuilds, and major renovations on contracts between $600k and $4m.

We are also for builders who want accurate construction estimating, tighter cost control and confidence that the final cost stays as close as possible to the original estimate.

If you have ever lost money on variation or struggled to keep costs on track, we are built for you.

We are based in Geelong, Victoria. We work with builders across Australia and New Zealand.

We were founded by Nathan Holloway, a residential builder with 20 years of experience in construction estimating and contract administration.

Today, BuildHawk is backed by an experienced team delivering accurate estimating, commercial support and project oversight.

Every engagement starts with a 30-minute discovery session.

We will take the time to understand your business, current challenges, estimating process, construction procurement, contract administration and reporting before assessing whether BuildHawk is the right fit.

If we believe we can add value, we will recommend the most suitable engagement and guide you through onboarding.

Your monthly fee includes:

• Ongoing commercial support across your active projects
• Construction cost monitoring and forecasting
• Contract administration and variation management
• Construction procurement support
• Monthly Director reporting and commercial reviews
• Priority support for new projects entering your pipeline

We offer 3 pricing tiers, which you can view on our Pricing page.

Pricing is based on the size of your active project pipeline, including the number of jobs we manage and the volume of construction estimating required.

Most builders engage with us on a minimum 12-month term, giving the methodology time to deliver meaningful results across multiple project cycles.

No. Our methodology is designed to work across your entire active project pipeline, not just a single job.

One project alone doesn't provide enough data to measure performance or identify meaningful trends. To show the value of the engagement, we need to track cost variances across multiple projects.

No. We replace the spreadsheet and the gut feel.

Your contract administrator (CA) still runs the job day to day. We provide a cost framework that flags issues early and regular reporting that helps keep projects on track.

The 5% variance threshold is an early warning system we apply to every trade or BOQ section. If the actual cost exceeds the estimated allowance by 5% or more, that section is flagged for review.

It is not a contingency, markup or pricing allowance. Instead, it is a tolerance band designed to identify potential cost issues early while there is still time to act. That gives you the opportunity to absorb the cost, recover it, or escalate it before it becomes a much bigger problem.

For a more detailed explanation, read the full piece here.

We monitor costs weekly, but our director reports follow a monthly schedule because that's how cash flow, project commitments and forecasting align in a residential building business.

Weekly reporting is for the contract administrator (CA). Monthly reporting is for the director. The right reporting cadence is the one that supports better business decisions.

Every variation is identified, priced and approved before any work begins.

There are no verbal approvals and no back-end reconciliation at practical completion. Variations are invoiced progressively, so your cash flow reflects the true cost of the project at every stage.

For a detailed explanation, read our guide here

Hawktress™ is BuildHawk’s proprietary cost intelligence engine, built using reconciled data from completed residential construction projects.

Every completed job helps improve future construction estimates by providing reliable cost benchmarks based on postcode, build type and floor area. Hawktress is a reference database that supports better estimating and commercial decisions, not a project management or workflow tool.

For a closer look at how it works, read the full background here

No. Hawktress is the platform behind every BuildHawk engagement.

We do not license it as a standalone product because its value comes from the contract administration practice that continually maintains and improves the data.

Hawktress brings together construction intelligence from BuildHawk engagements to support more informed estimating, commercial decisions and project delivery.

The platform continuously grows with every project, strengthening cost insights, procurement intelligence and commercial reporting while protecting the confidentiality of client data.

No. Your client information, project addresses and contract details remain confidential and are never shared.

The cost reference data used in Hawktress is anonymised and helps improve future construction estimates without identifying your business or clients.

For more information, learn more here

None. You can continue using the accounting and project management software you already have.

BuildHawk works alongside the systems most Australian residential builders already use, so there is no need to change your existing workflow.

We provide a shared workspace for each builder, along with regular huddles.

After your monthly Director report is delivered, we will schedule a Director debrief to review the results and discuss the next steps.

If anything is urgent, you can contact us directly by phone or email. There is no ticketing system between you and us.

Yes. BuildHawk Pty Ltd carries professional indemnity and public liability insurance, with certificates available on request.

While we are not a registered building practitioner, we support your registered builder through contract administration.

They include a 12-month minimum engagement, 60 days’ notice to terminate, and no exit penalties. The methodology either earns its keep or it doesn't.

For more information, our standard terms are available here.

Yes. We can arrange a reference call during the second discovery conversation.

The builders we work with are our best advocates. They will give you an honest perspective on what it’s like to work with us, including where the process can be challenging.