· ai
How I run a building company with a team of AI bots (and how to set up yours)
How Davies Construction runs an org chart of AI bots in Grok Bot, the rules that keep a person in charge, and how a builder can set it up this week.
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All writing→29 posts filed under this topic.
· ai
Claude vs ChatGPT for Builders: Which Should You Actually Use?
Claude or ChatGPT? For builders they are better at different jobs. A plain comparison of where each one wins, and why you might end up using both.
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Wunderbuild vs Buildxact: Estimating Depth or All-in-One?
Wunderbuild and Buildxact both suit small builders. One leads on estimating depth, the other on running the whole job. Here is which fits your business.
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Wunderbuild vs Buildertrend: Which Is Right for Your Building Company?
An honest comparison of Wunderbuild and Buildertrend for residential builders: who each one suits, where each wins, and how to choose for your business.
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Fixed Price vs Cost-Plus: Which Contract Is Right for Your Build?
Fixed price or cost-plus shapes your risk, your cash flow and your client relationship. A builder's honest guide to picking the right one for each job.
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The AI Setups Builders Actually Ask Me For
I run AI calls and 1-on-1s with builders every week. The same five setups come up again and again. Here are the ones that genuinely move the needle.
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Generate Bulletproof Scopes of Work with AI
A sloppy scope is where variations, disputes and lost margin come from. Here is how to use AI to write a sharp, trade-by-trade scope that protects you.
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Read Your Job's Real Profit, Live: Forecast Cost to Complete in Wunderbuild
Most builders find out if a job made money after it is finished. Here is how to use Wunderbuild's Forecast Cost to Complete to see your margin as you go.
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Everything on Wheels: Designing a Workshop That Runs Itself
A messy shed quietly costs you hours every week. Here are the lean and 5S principles for a workshop that flows, plus how I designed the floor plan with AI.
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Your AI Routines Should Run in the Cloud
A scheduled AI routine that lives on your laptop stops working the moment you close the lid. Here is how builders should set up routines that always fire.
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Automation That Nags Stops Working
Automated pings train your team to ignore them. The notification fatigue trap, why good automations should retire themselves, and what to build instead.
Read→· construction
A Glass Facade on a Certified Passive House
I'm using Candour's timber glass facade system on my own certified passive house build. Why I chose it, how it goes together, and the airtightness details.
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Client Meeting to Follow-Up in Two Minutes
The easiest first AI win for a builder: record client meetings, get clean notes, and send a professional follow-up email the same day. Here is the setup.
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Don't Confuse Fun with Progress on AI
An honest one: I lose hours in AI that move nothing. The test that separates AI work from AI play, and why builders can't afford to sit this race out.
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Give Your AI SOPs: Skills Behind Every Routine
When an AI routine gets something wrong, most people rewrite the routine. Wrong move. Write skills, the SOPs your AI reads, and fix the document instead.
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I Grew to 20 People, Then Went Back to 6
I make as much money with 6 on site as I did with 20-plus, with a fraction of the stress. On growth, the right size for a building company, and enough.
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The Healthy Home Movement in Australia
I got into healthy building materials early, alongside Zara D'Cotta of The Healthy Home. Where the movement is now, and what every builder should know.
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Talk Through Your Reasoning Out Loud
The cheapest training program in building: say your reasoning out loud every time you make a decision, until your team makes your decisions without you.
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Two Pipelines: Leads In, People In
Builders run a leads pipeline and forget the other one: people. Why you should recruit and win work in parallel, and how to build a hiring pipeline.
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The Weekly CRM Audit My AI Runs
Leads go cold quietly. Here is the weekly AI audit that flags any lead sitting still for 7 days, suggests the next move, and drafts the follow-up email.
Read→· construction
One Job, One Owner: Structuring Project Management as You Grow
As a building company grows, everything funnels through the owner and stalls. The project management structure I coach builders through to break that.
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Know Your Numbers: How to Actually Price a Building Job
Most builders are great on the tools and shaky on the numbers. How to work out your true cost of an hour, recover overheads, and stop leaving money behind.
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Hardie Gravis, the 2026 Design Forecast, and an Honest Cavity Debate
James Hardie presented at our mastermind: the new Gravis AAC panel, the free My Hardies tools, the 2026 design forecast, and a good debate about cavities.
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Sort Your Filing Before You Touch AI
Everyone wants the AI magic and nobody wants to talk about folders. Your filing system is the foundation AI stands on. Here is how to get it right first.
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How to Set Up Your Files So AI Can Actually Run Your Building Business
AI only does real work in a building business once your files are set up right. The folder, job-number and naming setup I run, from a session with builders
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Claude and Connectors: How to Talk to Your Whole Building Business in One Place
A plain-English guide to Claude, connectors, and the new Wunderbuild connector that lets a builder ask questions straight to their live job data.
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Whether You're in Christchurch or Cairns: Dan Saunders and the Weight Every Builder Carries
Meet Dan Saunders, the first Kiwi builder to join Future Builder, on evolving, mental health, and why builders rise faster when they share instead of hide.
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The New Zealand Welcome: Three Cities, a Room Full of Builders, and the Future We're Building Together
Three days across Auckland, Hamilton and Wellington with the New Zealand building community, on the welcome we got and the future of AI in construction.
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Where AI Is Taking Construction: Notes From the Road
The cost of building is heading down, one person can do the work of a team, and pre-construction is set to collapse from months to weeks. What I see coming
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