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In this newsletter, you'll find:
Our latest blog post is our C11 Enclosed Stage Checklist (yes, it finally happened). Post two + three, we ask ChatGPT to review a specification from Hotondo & GJ Gardner Homes.
Post 1: C11 The Enclosed Stage Checklist: "An overview"
Your home’s walls are going up, and it’s finally starting to feel real—but here’s the thing: what you can’t see now might cost you big later. From dodgy wall ties to blocked weep holes, the enclosed stage (C11) is your last real chance to catch hidden issues before they’re sealed away forever.
Our latest post breaks down the C11 Enclosed Stage Checklist—a quality management checklist for homeowners/trades who want to make sure details are done right. Think of it as your behind-the-scenes pass to your home’s structure. Here’s a quick look at what we cover:
- Site Management: Why a messy build site is more than just an eyesore (hint: it’s not about someone spilling their coffee).
- Brickwork: How missing control joints or badly mixed mortar can cause unsightly—and costly—cracks.
- Flashings & Weep Holes: Small features that keep your walls dry, or turn them into a damp sponge if done wrong.
- Cladding & EPS Board Checkpoints: Fibre cement and foam cladding can look great—but only if installed properly (spoiler: it’s often not).
👉 Don’t leave quality to chance—read about C11 by clicking on the link below, sign up/sign in then grab your checklist here and build with confidence.
Anthony Painter
Post 2+3: ChatGPT Analyses
Ever wondered what an artificial intelligence thinks about your potential home builder? We put one of Australia's largest construction companies under the microscope - using ChatGPT's analytical capabilities.
We use the same method for each review, which we explained and posted the prompt HERE, and ask ChatGPT to assess Quality, Language, What they say vs what they do then finally rank the builder on a score from 1 to 10.
See the complete AI-generated review by clicking the link below:
Anthony Painter
Anthony Painter
🚧 Constructor Website Updates
Checklist Progress:
- Enclosed stage checklist = DONE! Woo.
- A new checklist will be published next week (already drafted).
Access Improvements:
- We added a Docsend embed to our latest checklist post (testing this format out).
A Shorter Weekly Newsletter:
Going forward, we’re trimming down the newsletter—it was way too long. (Honestly, you’d need a packed lunch just to get through it!) So, we’re cutting back to only the most essential news each day from the week that was.
💾 Software of the Week: Supercut
This is not a sponsored post - just software we use and are sharing it with you
🌟 Simplifying Screen Recording and Sharing
Ever needed to share your screen but found the process a bit of a pain? Meet SuperCut—a sleek, user-friendly tool that makes screen recording and sharing fast and frustration-free.
What is SuperCut?
SuperCut is a simple yet powerful app that lets you record your computer screen with ease. Whether you’re making a quick tutorial, walking someone through a design, or giving project feedback, SuperCut captures your screen and lets you share it instantly.
Why Use SuperCut?
Trying to explain a process over email or chat can be slow and easily misunderstood. With SuperCut, you can just hit record, talk through what you’re doing, and send a link to the video. It’s a much clearer, faster way to communicate.
Key Features and Benefits:
- Instant Sharing: Record your screen and get a shareable link immediately—no upload delays or waiting around.
- Auto-Chapters: SuperCut automatically adds chapters to your recording, making it easy for viewers to jump to the parts they need.
- High-Quality Recording: Capture crisp, professional-looking videos—up to 4K resolution.
- Interactive Feedback: Viewers can leave comments or react directly on the timeline, making collaboration a breeze.
Who Is SuperCut For?
It’s perfect for professionals, educators, creatives, and anyone who needs to share their screen quickly and clearly. If you’re a designer presenting a mock-up, a teacher recording a lesson, or a manager giving team feedback, SuperCut can seriously speed things up.
What we love about it:
Right now, it’s in free beta—so it’s completely free to try. It’s fast, easy to use, and offers multiple presentation styles for your recordings. We also like that it’s shaping up to be a strong alternative to Loom, and using it supports an early-stage company doing something cool.
System Requirements:
SuperCut works as an extension on Chrome, Edge, and Firefox for Windows users. Mac users can download the native macOS app. So, whether you’re on a PC or Mac, it’s easy to get started.
In short: if you’re looking for a smooth, no-fuss screen recording tool that gets the job done—and looks good doing it—give SuperCut a spin. LINK
👉 Check out Supercut on the link below:
Makes digital communication a whole lot easier and faster! Less charades and "war and peace" length emails.
ICYMI - the most important construction news from this week
🚀 The latest residential construction news from new sources around Australia for the news week ending 04-04-2025 🔥
This Week’s Theme: "Heads in the Sand"
Everyone’s hoping things will change—but nobody’s willing to actually do anything about it.
We've highlighted our favourite news articles for the week by marking with a 🌯 or five
28-03-2025
🌯🌯 The budget reply fails to set out a clear plan to improve living standards or seriously address the housing crisis. [LINK]
🌯🌯🌯 Housing crisis? What housing crisis? We take a closer look at the political gridlock fueling Australia's housing shortage. [LINK]
🌯🌯🌯 Why no one really wants to fix the housing crisis [LINK]
Article excerpt: “To genuinely address housing affordability, Australia needs a holistic approach. This would involve increasing housing supply through measures such as modular construction and streamlined approval processes, reforming tax policies that currently favour investors, and lowering migration levels to align with housing availability.”
🌯🌯🌯🌯 Housing industry ignores number one crisis solution - [LINK]
Article excerpt: “If the HIA genuinely cared about solving the housing crisis and improving living standards, it would argue for significantly lower immigration.”
🌯 Does the budget help solve the housing supply crisis? [LINK]
🌯🌯 Queensland’s infrastructure boom: the golden decade ahead [LINK]
29-03-2025
🌯🌯🌯 Are 'innovative' prefab homes the answer to the housing crisis? [LINK]
Our comment: Yes. This is the only viable way to build more houses under current conditions in Australia. Labour shortages, entrenched market players, and supply chain issues mean we need to rethink how homes are built. By centralising manufacturing and producing homes in a controlled environment, we can upskill technically unqualified workers to follow programmed construction processes that meet code. This broadens the labour pool and makes outdated lobbyist arguments irrelevant. The industry has had 20 years to evolve and hasn’t. It’s time to cut through the red tape and embrace a new approach. The current industry has lost its way—why should we expect it to improve if left to its own devices?
🌯🌯🌯🌯 What are the major parties' housing policies? [LINK]
Our comment: Honestly, neither major party seems to have a clue. They're so beholden to donors and vested interests that they can’t sneeze without permission. So why would they rock the boat? They won’t. Until enough independents get into power to force compromise, the status quo will continue.
We need disruption—not chaos, but enough of a shake-up to make real change unavoidable. Modular housing could be a key solution, and the government should be incentivising investment into it. It’s not cheap to scale, but if they’re serious about solving the crisis, they need to back it. Want to see what real scale looks like? Check out Autovol for inspiration.
Our comment: If you think Australia lacks the expertise to lead in construction innovation, you're wrong. Look no further than Professor Hugh Durrant-Whyte, based in Brisbane—a globally recognised robotics and automation expert with a strong passion for the construction industry. He led automation efforts at Rio Tinto, and let’s be clear: mining is far more complex than house construction. LINK
If the government were truly serious about solving the housing crisis, they’d start by investing in innovation sectors and backing local businesses. Nurture these systems and, over time, they’ll compound—growing in value, talent, and output. LINK
Attract talent. For fuck’s sake, Australia has lost wave after wave of talent to the US because we fail to support local startups. There's barely a functioning investment pipeline—Series A, B and beyond are rare. We’ve had a few lucky unicorns, like Canva, but most companies just give up or move overseas.
It’s time to stop talking, stop commissioning another white paper written by one of the big accounting firms, and actually do something. The truth is, I’m not sure they even know how. With global dynamics shifting, Australia should be transforming into an innovation powerhouse—leveraging its mineral wealth to fund the future. Increase LNG taxes to match Qatar’s, funnel those funds into innovation and state-led or PPP housing manufacturing hubs. Train people, expand the housing supply chain, and turn the housing crisis into the catalyst for lasting change.
Oh, and while we’re at it—enough with the lobby groups whose only goal is to serve the interests of their international, tax-dodging masters. These multinationals earn billions from Australians but pay tax elsewhere. That includes the big accounting and legal firms.
If you make money here, pay tax here. You’re bleeding the country dry, and you’re a major part of the housing affordability crisis, you greedy fucks.
Australia's housing affordability crisis worsens – [LINK]
🌯🌯 Australia has access to all the structural timber it needs — ABARES – [LINK]
🌯🌯🌯 Housing is less affordable than ever – [LINK]
Article excerpt:“Instead, the biggest problem is that housing construction in recent years hasn’t kept up with increasing demand.”
🌯🌯 Dutton doubles down on 'super for housing' policy – [LINK]
Our comment: Just to be clear, rather than address supply-side issues, the proposed solution is to let you raid your retirement savings to buy overpriced homes caused by decades of policy failure. So, you’re now expected to fund the consequences of political inaction with your own future wealth—and they’ll take credit for it.
Article excerpt: The policy has long been slammed by the superannuation sector with Super Members Council chief executive Misha Schubert reiterating the point in the wake of Dutton's speech.
“Raiding retirement savings for house deposits would just unleash a supercharged price hike in house prices, not create more new home buyers,” said Super Members Council CEO Misha Schubert.
🌯🌯 Super for housing a recipe for disaster – [LINK]
30-03-2025
Peter Dutton wants to be the 'PM for home ownership' — but do his policies stack up? – [LINK]
With net migration tumbling from great heights, experts say 'surge' talk is overblown – [LINK]
31-03-2025
How a 'lost decade' of low wage growth stopped young Australians from buying homes – [LINK]
01-04-2025
🌯🌯 Why Australia has a housing crisis – [LINK]
Article excerpt: “This is why we have a housing crisis: too many people, not enough houses.” Kohler concludes, “I reckon the government should connect those two bits of data and be accountable for the gap.”
02-04-2025
Coalition's pledge to relax bank lending laws for home ownership labelled a 'disaster waiting to happen' by Greens – [LINK]
Our comment: Letting people borrow more and take on even greater debt to chase a limited housing supply is not a solution. Debt is the enemy of prosperity. Increase supply—and everything else will follow. The current industry isn’t equipped to do this. If it were, they would have by now.
AVJennings, now sold to an international company, is just the latest sign that the residential construction sector is on life support. Local builders are treading water unless someone with deep pockets steps in. These buyers aren’t doing it for charity—they’ll push their own products through their new building groups to maximise return. It’s easier to buy a presence than to build one from scratch—so long as the numbers add up.
03-04-2025
🌯🌯🌯 Aussie home builder AVJennings latest to fall into offshore hands amid cost pressures – [LINK]
New legislation to protect owners’ corporations and homeowners slammed by builders’ association – [LINK]
04-04-2025
Weak home approvals and apartment costs doom housing targets – [LINK]
The Constructor Forum
Got a question or want to post about some quality construction work, building detail or something that really impressed you about something (product/material) or someone (in residential construction) and why - head over to the forum and let everyone know.
The purpose of this forum is to discuss quality construction details, process, products/materials, people doing great work. Let's create a positive place and give thanks and support to great people and well made products, methods and processes that impress us.
To join the forum, click the button below. Thank you.
😶🌫️ That's all of today
The best way to support us is to share this this with three (3) friends who you think our content will help in some way.
Feel free to reach out on X or Mastodon or Bluesky - @obiwonky - 👋 Anthony
PS: Quality Management Checklist Access
All our published checklists are available to download via the Checklists Link in the navigation menu or directly at https://www.constructor.net.au/checklists/.
To download, simply enter your email when prompted. This allows us to assign you a free license—nothing more. Once completed, you’ll be able to view and download the checklists.
Each checklist is formatted on A4-sized paper for easy printing. Be aware that the files are larger than typical PDFs, around 25–35 MB each, as they are saved in CMYK (print-ready) format. This ensures the best quality for printing, even if it makes the files a bit “chunkier.”
Enjoy the checklists, we hope they help you identify quality improvements in your new home or next project - or at least, get you thinking.
Anthony Painter
Please note: You’ll need to be a member and to log in to access the content.
