A quiet but costly issue is surfacing across Australian construction sites, and it’s not the trade shortage, interest rates or delays.
It’s waste.
According to the Green Building Council of Australia, an estimated $65 billion worth of construction materials will go to landfill over the next five years. That equates to an average of $19,000 in waste per home.
And while sustainability headlines tend to focus on climate impact, it’s the builders, especially small-to-medium operators, who are feeling it most in their margins.
“Builders know it’s happening,” says Toby Loft, co-founder of procurement platform BuildGrid. “They’re just so caught up in the day-to-day that it becomes the cost of doing business. But it doesn’t have to be.”
Not Just a Sustainability Issue, a Business One.
Earlier this year, The Good Builder published a breakdown of the Green Council’s estimate, pointing out that material waste isn’t just an environmental problem, it’s a financial handbrake.
Loft agrees.
“When we map procurement workflows for builders, the first thing we see is buffer after buffer, ordering extra materials ‘just in case’ because scopes are vague or selections aren’t confirmed.”
“It’s not waste from poor craftsmanship,” he adds. “It’s waste from uncertainty.”
That uncertainty, whether it’s unclear plans, supplier interpretation, or under-defined scopes results in over-ordering, rework, and margin erosion. Builders often build in contingencies without realising they’ve already blown the budget before the slab is down.
The Real Cost of Poor Scoping
In many cases, it starts with quoting. Or more precisely, the way builders communicate with suppliers during the quoting process.
“We still see emails go out that just say ‘Please quote’ and include a PDF set of plans,” says Loft. “There’s no breakdown. No selections. No confirmed quantities.”
The result? Suppliers fill in the gaps themselves, often conservatively. That means adding in materials, pricing in risk, or quoting with wide variation.
“If your electrician gets a scope that says ‘24 power points’ and another quote says ‘20 to 30 points depending on layout,’ you’re going to get a spread of quotes, and you won’t know which one’s right.”
“That difference becomes your margin,” says Loft. “And over the life of a project, or worse, across 20 projects, that kills profitability.”
Efficiency Before Capacity
While much of the national conversation is focused on solving the labour crisis, Loft believes we’re missing a simpler solution.
“We keep hearing that we need more trades to meet demand, and yes, we do. But we also need to get better at how we’re using the resources we already have.”
He’s not alone. Industry bodies across the country are now backing efforts to improve productivity before pouring money into more recruitment.
BuildGrid, along with others, has been in discussion with the Queensland Productivity Commission on how smarter procurement, digitised scopes, and better system integration could improve delivery ahead of major state projects like the 2032 Games.
“You can’t build faster just by throwing more people at the problem,” Loft says. “You have to remove the bottlenecks. Procurement is one of them.”
What Builders Can Do Right Now
Loft’s advice to builders is refreshingly simple: stop thinking about software as a cost and start thinking about efficiency as a tool.
“Technology isn’t about replacing people,” he says. “It’s about helping them spend more time building, and less time chasing quotes, fixing orders, or redoing takeoffs.”
For builders still using Excel and email for procurement, Loft recommends just starting with one small improvement: better scoping.
“List your inclusions clearly. Confirm your selections early. Pass those details to your suppliers with precision. You’ll get tighter quotes, better outcomes, and less waste.”
A Smarter Way to Build
As margins tighten and regulatory pressure mounts, builders need better control over their projects, not just on site, but behind the scenes.
That starts with improving procurement. It means aligning scopes, quotes and materials from day one. And it means recognising that the biggest gains don’t always come from swinging hammers faster, they come from thinking smarter before the job begins.
“If we could just cut $5K to $10K in waste from every build,” Loft says, “we’d see better margins, happier clients, and more affordable homes. That’s not a pipe dream. That’s just good process.”
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