Ask most builders who runs their HR, and the answer is "me."

That's the problem.

In this episode, Az sits down with Julie Bolitho, a recruitment and HR specialist who has spent close to 30 years in the building industry. She started at sixteen in a land surveying office, studied drafting at TAFE, and went on to work across the HIA, Apprenticeships Queensland and the Australian Industry Trade College before founding Dedicated Staffing Solutions. She knows a building business from the inside.

The throughline of this one is simple. Your people are your most important asset, and getting recruitment right is everything.

Julie and Az get into the real stuff. Why so many women in the industry undersell themselves, and why they need to back themselves more. Where builders get unstuck hiring friends and family. What candidates using AI on their resumes actually looks like from the other side of the interview table. And why a tidy LinkedIn profile matters more than tradies might think.

There's a strong section on workforce planning too. With the trade shortage and 2032 on the horizon, Julie makes the case for bringing on apprentices, trainees and cadets now — and mentoring them under your best people so you're not caught short later.

They also talk leadership. The kind that shows up when the conversations get hard, not just when the beers come out.

And when Az asks what makes a good builder, Julie's answer is one worth sitting with: someone who embraces change, looks after their people, and knows when to step up, step aside, and step down.

A genuinely useful conversation for anyone who employs people in this industry.

What we cover

• Why your people are the real core of a building business
• Women in construction, and why backing yourself matters
• Where builders get unstuck hiring friends and family
• Candidates using AI on resumes and cover letters, and how to see through it
• Why LinkedIn and social profiles matter for tradies
• Workforce planning ahead of the trade shortage and 2032
• Using apprentices and trainees to replicate your best people
• Leadership when times get hard
• Skilled migration and local trade pathways

Sponsors
This episode is proudly supported by MyConstruct, construction management software built by Australian builders, for Australian builders. Start a 30-day free trial at myconstruct.com

Matt was never the classroom type. He left school without much love for books or essays, and for years he moved through job after job trying to find his place.

What he found was the trade.

In this episode, Az sits down with Matt from Vanstyn Constructions — a builder who turned hands-on instinct and hard-won life experience into a thriving business. Patios, carports, decks, renovations and extensions, across residential and commercial work in South East Queensland. Fifteen staff. A 4.9-star rating from 70 reviews. And more than a decade in business, in an industry where most don't make ten years.

Matt's story is a reminder that life is the best educator.

He talks about learning the trade from the ground up, why he came off the tools, and how he built a one-stop-shop that handles council approvals so clients and builders don't have to. He's honest about the trends he's seeing on the ground too — the rise of granny flats and intergenerational living, where the SEQ market is really sitting, and why he has no interest in chasing size for the sake of it.

There's also a good conversation about something builders rarely talk about: rewarding yourself for the risk you carry.

And when Az asks the question we ask every guest, what makes a good builder, Matt's answer is simple. Honesty. Be clear, be upfront, and be good at what you do.

A grounded, practical chat with a builder who knows exactly who he is.

What we cover

• Why life experience beats formal education in the trades
• Coming off the tools and building something bigger
• Running patios, carports, decks and renovations under one roof
• Handling council approvals and certification for clients and builders
• The granny flat and intergenerational living trend in SEQ
• Why bigger isn't always better, and the value of staying manageable
• Rewarding yourself as a business owner
• What honesty really means for a good builder

Sponsors
This episode is proudly supported by MyConstruct. Construction management software built by Australian builders, for Australian builders. Start a 30-day free trial at myconstruct.com

This week Az is back on the Monday couch with Josh Peapoint from Elevate Estimating.

Josh has just returned from two weeks in Bali with his family. No phone. No work. Just time off. That sets the tone for an honest chat about something most builders never stop to look at: the way they actually run their business.

The conversation starts with pricing. Diesel is coming down. The fuel levies that went on through the year are starting to come back off. Josh shares what he is seeing across builders around Australia, why suppliers have handled the volatility better than the headlines suggest, and what builders should be factoring in when they project costs six to twelve months ahead.

From there it turns to the bigger issue.

Most builders are not struggling because they lack skill. They are struggling because they are wearing every hat at once. Estimating. Drafting. Marketing. Client communication. Site work.

Spread that thin and the cracks start to show. Cash flow slips. Stress builds. And in an industry with the highest rate of insolvency in the country, that pressure has real consequences.

Az and Josh talk through what changes when builders stop trying to do it all and start putting the right people in the right roles. They cover trust, delegation, working on the business instead of in it, and why getting this right flows straight through to your health and your family.

A practical conversation about building a good business, not just a good product.

What We Cover

• Where fuel prices and levies are heading, and what to factor into your quotes
• Why the mainstream headlines do not tell the full story on costs
• The real reason so many builders feel stretched and stuck
• How wearing too many hats links straight to cash flow and burnout
• Why estimating sits at the heart of a profitable business
• Getting the right people in the right roles, and learning to trust them
• Working on your business instead of in it
• Looking after your health and showing up for your family

  #TheGoodBuilder #TheDailyDose #ConstructionAustralia #BuildingIndustry #Estimating #BuilderBusiness #Tradies #ConstructionPodcast #CashFlow #BuilderMentalHealth

When an insolvency practitioner walks into the room, most builders assume it is the end. Hand over the keys. Pack it up. Game over.

But that is not how Chris from Jirsch Sutherland works.

In this episode, Aaron sits down with an insolvency practitioner who has worked on more than 2,000 matters. They call his kind the Grim Reaper of the building industry. The twist is that his first job is to keep your business alive, not bury it.

Chris explains the difference between insolvency, liquidation, and bankruptcy in plain terms. He walks through what a liquidator does first when a company is in trouble, which assets you can and cannot keep, and why so many trade companies are really sole traders in disguise. There is also the three ways out of bankruptcy most people never knew existed.

It is an honest look at the side of building no one wants to talk about. Cash flow, tight margins, and why construction sits at the top of the insolvency list year after year.

If you have ever felt the squeeze of December and January, or wondered what your real options are when things get tight, this is the conversation to have before you need it.

And his answer to what makes a good builder? Know your numbers. Fix your systems. The good operators never need to meet the Reaper.

Links:
https://www.jirschsutherland.com.au/

Sponsors: 
A huge thank you to MyConstruct. Construction software built by Australian Builders, for Australian Builders. Visit myconstruct.com for your 30-day trial.

Our first New Zealand builder steps onto the couch, and Aaron reckons he summed up everything TGB stands for in about thirty seconds.

Dan Saunders started building in 1993 and formed DS Construction in 2002. In 2012 he built the first 8 Homestar-rated home in Australasia, the highest rating going at the time. Since then he's built close to 30 high-performance "super homes," helped get the Super Home Movement off the ground, and co-founded EcoPanel, a prefabricated wall system that can get a house closed in inside a week.

This one covers a lot of ground that lands the same on both sides of the Tasman:

• Why Dan calls the building code "the worst house you're legally allowed to build" — and why he walks away from jobs that won't go above it
• The link between cold, damp homes and New Zealand's childhood respiratory problems
• Where to actually spend your money: the thermal envelope, not the stone benchtop
• The numbers on healthy homes — every $1 spent saves $4 in the health system, and an energy-efficient build can wipe out an $11,000-a-year power bill
• EcoPanel and prefab: how a job gets framed, wrapped and ready for roof in two to three weeks
• New Zealand's first zero-carbon home, built eight tonnes below zero
• Shared pressure points: $3-a-litre diesel, road user charges, and the post-COVID timber and plasterboard shortages
• His link with Future Builder's Kyle Zanetto and Luke Davies
• And the simplest answer we've had to "what makes a good builder": good grounding, good morals, and leaving a bit of skin in the game for the next guy

Dan's coming back as a regular, so consider this the first of a few.

Find Dan's work and EcoPanel in the links below.

Links
DS Construction: https://www.dsconstruction.co.nz/
EcoPanel: https://www.ecopanel.co.nz/
Super Home Movement: https://www.superhome.co.nz/

#TheGoodBuilder #HealthyHomes #SuperHomeMovement

Existing property prices are starting to move. And it matters more for builders than most people realise.

In this Monday episode, Az is joined again by Emily Pollard from Nesta Builder Brokers to make sense of what is happening in the market right now.

They start with DropBee (dropbee.au), a live dashboard built by a developer on Reddit that maps property price drops across Australia as they happen. At the time of recording there were more than 1,600 price drops across Queensland alone.

From there the conversation opens up. Why homes under one million are holding while the two to three million dollar end is softening. How existing property prices feed straight into land values, feasibilities and build costs. And what builders and developers running put and call contracts should be watching when it comes to market uplift.

It also gets honest about the human side. Mortgage stress, the pressure to always go bigger and better, and whether the family home has quietly become a show pony instead of somewhere to actually live.

Practical, grounded, and worth a listen if you build, sell or develop in the current market.

Sponsor callouts

This episode is proudly sponsored by MyConstruct. Built by Australian builders, for Australian builders. Manage your jobs, contracts and client communication in one place instead of across text messages and spreadsheets. Start your 30 day trial at myconstruct.com 

Most builders have tried AI by now. A lot of them have also quietly pulled it back.

In this episode, Az sits down with Anisha and Nayan from ScaleUp Smart to talk about what's really happening with AI in building businesses across Australia.

The pattern is clear. Builders go all in. They hand over estimating, marketing, follow-ups, even answering the phone. Then they bring most of it back in-house.

The reason isn't that AI can't do anything. It's that building is rarely black and white. Every job is different. Every client is different. AI doesn't know your business, your market, or what Mrs Smith actually wants from her home.

Az is honest about his own experience too. When The Good Builder started, he went full AI and ended up with cold outreach emails inventing services the business never offered. The fix was simple. Use AI as a tool. Keep a human checking the work.

Anisha and Nayan break down how ScaleUp Smart actually uses AI day to day, across estimating, admin, and project coordination, and why a person always has the final say. They also share practical, low-risk ways builders can start using AI without losing the relationships that win the work.

If you've felt the pull of AI and the pull back, this one will make sense of it.

WHAT WE COVER

• Why so many builders go all in on AI, then quietly bring the work back in-house
• The real gap: AI doesn't know your business, your clients, or your market
• Az's own cautionary tale of AI inventing services in cold outreach emails
• How ScaleUp Smart uses AI across estimating, admin, and project coordination, with a human always signing off
• Why customers can now spot AI content and why it can read as lazy
• Practical, low-risk ways builders can start using AI today
• What makes a good builder when the tools change fast but the standards shouldn't

HOUSEKEEPING (sponsor callouts)

This episode is brought to you by MyConstruct, the construction management software built for builders. Start a 30-day free trial at myconstruct.com

#TheGoodBuilder #AIforBuilders #ConstructionAI #BuildingBusiness #AustralianBuilders #ScaleUpSmart #ResidentialConstruction #BuilderTips #ConstructionTech #TradesBusiness

Most builders know recruitment matters. Few understand it the way Luke does.

Luke spent more than a decade inside building businesses before he placed a single candidate. Chippy. Estimator. Senior CA. Residential and commercial, on jobs from 200K through to 2 million plus. He has seen the industry from the tools, from the office, and now from the outside looking in.

That dual perspective is what makes this conversation different.

In this episode, Luke sits down with Aaron to talk about the road that led him to start Prime Build Recruitment. It was not a clean run. He talks openly about losing his job, driving around the coast for three hours before he could face his wife, and starting again with a one year old at home and a mortgage he could barely service.

From there the conversation opens up into the things builders actually deal with day to day.

The gap between the office and the site, and why bridging it comes down to communication. The quality problem on site, even as trade rates climb. The shortage of skilled people, and what the Olympics build-up could do to rates. And the simple truth that runs through all of it: if you do not look after your people, you do not have a business.

This is a real, honest conversation about people, pressure, and what it takes to build something that lasts.

What We Cover

• Luke's journey from the tools to estimating to contracts administration to recruitment
• Why understanding both the office and the site builds trust on both sides
• Losing his job, and the personal pressure that forced a rethink
• How and why Prime Build Recruitment started
• The trade quality problem, and why finish is slipping even as costs rise
• The skills shortage, immigration, and what 2032 could mean for rates
• Why builders need to stay open to new ideas and new people
• What makes a good builder, from someone who has seen it from every angle

Connect with Luke

Reach out to Luke and the team at Prime Build Recruitment: https://www.primebuildrecruitment.com.au/

Sponsors:

This episode is supported by myconstruct.com - The Aussie construction software built by builders, for builders.

Get your FREE 30-day trial at myconstruct.com

The government has committed $2.4 billion to housing and infrastructure.

The intent sounds right. More homes. More support for first home buyers.

But there is a question sitting underneath all of it.

Who is actually going to build these homes?

Emily Pollard from Nesta Builder Brokers is back on the couch to work through what this budget push really means on the ground. We get into the trade shortage, the affordability problem, and the contradictions that builders and buyers are about to face. It is a calm, honest look at a very murky moment in the market.

What We Cover

• The $2.4 billion housing and infrastructure commitment, and whether it solves the real problem or just adds pressure to an already stretched industry
• Why the trade shortage makes "who builds these homes" the question that matters most
• The June 30 change to the Queensland First Home Owner Grant, and how the $750k cap catches buyers out at valuation, not contract price
• How the capital gains and negative gearing changes are pushing investors toward new builds
• What affordable housing actually means, and whether it exists for the everyday buyer
• The sudden rise of single part contracts for self managed super fund builds
• Low valuations coming in on unconditional contracts, and the real risk this creates for first home buyers
• Land being allocated direct to builders, and what that means for pricing and consumers
• Why doing right by a client means checking the existing market before anyone signs anything

A big thank you to Emily Pollard from Nesta Builder Brokers (nesta.com.au) for sharing what she is seeing across first home buyers, investors, and developers.

Calling developers: Emily wants to understand how the $2.4 billion is actually landing in the PDA and government space. If you work in that world, reach out and come have a chat on the couch.

This episode is proudly powered by MyConstruct, built by Australian builders for Australian builders. If you are still running your jobs, contracts, and client comms across text messages and spreadsheets, there is a better way. Head to myconstruct.com for a 30 day trial.

#TheGoodBuilder #AustralianBuilders #ConstructionIndustry #ResidentialBuilding #FirstHomeBuyers #AffordableHousing #HousingCrisis #Tradies #BuildingIndustry #QLDProperty

Most builders can swing a hammer. Far fewer can run a business. And the gap between those two things is exactly why, by Rod Frampton's own count, roughly one in 25 builders never makes it to a decade.

Rod is the founder of Frampton Builders, a Brisbane custom home and renovation business that's been going strong since 2014, and more recently Frampton Clean Rooms, a pharmaceutical-grade fit-out company that earned some of the best feedback the TGA has ever given a first-time facility. He's one of those rare operators who thinks like a CEO and works like a tradesman.

In this conversation, Az sits down with Rod to unpack what actually keeps a building business alive long term. They get into why a builder is really a business owner first, how the skills shortage took hold after the late 2000s, and why knowing your numbers matters more than almost anything else on site.

Rod also breaks down the square metre rate trap that catches so many builders and clients, walks through the thinking behind his documented "Frampton Way" process, and explains why he treats every client relationship like a marriage built on trust. The two of them close with a grounded, practical take on where AI fits for builders — and where relying on it too early can sink a young business.

If you're a builder trying to think past the next job and build something that lasts, this one's worth your time.

What We Cover

• Why a builder is a business owner first, and a tradesperson second
• The real reason so many builders don't survive ten years
• How the post-2000s push for numbers affected trade quality and the skills shortage
• The case for skilled migration and investing in apprentices
• The square metre rate trap — and why custom builds can't be priced that way
• Inside the "Frampton Way": a documented, repeatable client process
• Treating client relationships like a marriage: the MCP approach (Myself, Company, Product)
• A measured, builder-first view on AI and where it actually helps
• What Rod believes makes a good builder

Sponsor callouts

This episode of The Good Builder is powered by MyConstruct — the construction management software built for Australian builders. Get your jobs, clients, and numbers in one place and spend less time buried in admin. Start your free 30-day trial at myconstruct.com

The Good Builder is also proudly supported by Pay.com.au. Pay your trades, suppliers, and bills by card — even where cards aren't normally accepted — while earning points on spend you're already making. Head to pay.com.au/tgb for terms and use the code GOOD20 to receive 20,000 bonus points.

#TheGoodBuilder #CustomBuilder #BrisbaneBuilder #ConstructionAustralia #BuildingBusiness #Tradies #BuilderLife #SkillsShortage #ConstructionPodcast #CustomHomes #RenovationBuilder #BuilderMindset #TradeBusiness #AustralianBuilders