Interactive example · Building
A new home takes most of a year, and for the family paying for it, every quiet week feels like something's wrong. Supervisors lose hours to calls and texts, variations get agreed in passing, and selections run late. Below, a fictional Woodend builder puts all of it in one portal. Try it as the homeowner, then look from the builder's side.
In short
A builder's client portal gives homeowners one place to follow their build: stage progress, site photos from the supervisor, variations to approve and sign, finish selections with deadlines, progress claims to pay and documents to keep. The builder sees every approval, selection and payment as it happens, with a record of who agreed to what and when.
Live demo · Whitford Building Co., Woodend is a fictional business with sample data. Nothing you do here is saved or sent.
Example portal · fictional builder, sample data
Whitford Building Co.
18 Forest St, Woodend VIC 3442
Sam & Priya CastellanoHomeowners
Stage percentages in this demo follow the typical Victorian new-home schedule under the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 and are shown for illustration, not legal advice. Your contract sets your own stages. No payment is taken in the demo.
What you just used
Where the build is, what happened this week and what's next, with photos from the site. Most "just checking in" calls come from not knowing, and this is where they stop.
Each variation has its reason, price and time impact, and the homeowner signs it in the portal. Victoria's domestic building rules expect variations in writing; this makes that the easy path rather than the paperwork.
Benchtops, tapware and colours chosen against a due date, with a preview of how they look together. Late selections are a common cause of delay, so the portal chases them before the trades need them.
Each progress claim matches a contract stage, with the work that's complete listed alongside. The homeowner pays against something they can see, which is how disputes about claims get avoided.
Contract, plans, permit, engineering and warranty insurance, kept where the homeowner can find them years later, not in a buried email.
Approvals, selections and payments land on the builder's side as they happen, with signatures and times recorded, across every active job.
Built for you
Built for your business, the portal follows your contracts and your jobs:
Where a tool offers an API or a calendar feed, the build talks to it directly. Your data stays in accounts you own.
Construction platforms such as Buildertrend, CoConstruct and Buildxact include client portals, and they suit many builders. Custom work fits when your process or your brand doesn't.
| Criteria | Email, texts and calls | Construction platform portal | Custom client portal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homeowner experience | Scattered | Functional, the platform's look | Designed around your clients, your brand |
| Variation approvals | Often verbal | Built in | Built in, with your thresholds and wording |
| Selections | Spreadsheets and showroom visits | Varies by platform | Your suppliers, allowances and deadlines |
| Fits your contract stages | Not applicable | Usually configurable | Exactly |
| Ongoing cost | Supervisor time | Per-user or per-project fees | Hosting and support |
| Best when | A few builds a year, with close clients | Your process fits the platform you already use | Your clients expect a premium experience and your process is your own |
How we'd build yours
We map how clients hear about progress, how variations and selections happen now, and where they've caused delays or disputes.
Stages, variations, selections, claims and integrations in the first version, with one fixed price you approve before we start.
One or two current clients use the portal while supervisors post updates from site. We tighten the wording and flow on what they actually ask.
New clients start in the portal from signing, and existing jobs move across at a sensible stage.
Custom work is quoted individually, at a fixed price, once the scope is written down. These are the things that make the biggest difference.
If you build a handful of homes a year and speak to every client weekly, a portal adds a system to maintain without saving much. If your construction platform's client portal already works and your clients use it, improve how your team uses it first. A custom portal pays off when you're running several jobs at once, supervisors are losing hours to calls, and the client experience is part of why people choose you.
Tell us how the work runs today. We'll reply within one business day with what we'd build first, what we'd leave out, and whether an off-the-shelf tool would serve you better.
A private website or app where a homeowner follows their build: progress by stage, site photos and updates, variations to approve, selections to make, progress claims to pay and documents to keep. The builder sees every action in real time.
For a typical new-home contract under the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995, the deposit is capped at 5 per cent for contracts of $20,000 or more, followed by base 10, frame 15, lock-up 35, fixing 25 and completion 10 per cent, unless the contract specifies otherwise.
Yes. Each variation shows the reason, the price and any time impact, and the homeowner signs to approve it. The signed approval is stored with the time and the signatory, which gives both sides a clear written record.
Yes. A mobile-friendly supervisor view lets them add photos and a short note from the job, which appears on the homeowner's portal straight away. A minute a week per job replaces a lot of phone calls.
If it fits, you should. Those platforms are capable and include client portals. A custom portal makes sense when you want the client experience to carry your brand, your contracts and selections don't fit the platform's model, or per-project fees add up.
Last reviewed . The business in the demo is fictional; names, prices and bookings are sample data.