The integration of MyConstruct and BuiltGrid means Australian builders can now manage their entire procurement and supply chain from a single platform. It is a practical step forward for an industry that has been held back by fragmented tools, email chaos, and a shrinking trade network.
There is a moment in most builder conversations when the topic turns to procurement, and the energy shifts. Finding trades, chasing quotes, checking licences, managing the back and forth across a dozen different email threads. It is not what builders got into the industry to do. But it takes up an outsized portion of their week.
That friction is exactly what Jake Barry from MyConstruct and Toby Loft from BuiltGrid are trying to eliminate. Their two platforms have integrated, and the result is a connected system that lets builders run procurement, supply chain management and compliance tracking from inside a single workflow.
The partnership was announced in the final weeks of April, and both founders were candid about why it made sense to collaborate rather than compete.
“A lot of these products say they’re the best at everything, all in one. It’s not possible. You can’t be the best at everything.” – Jake Barry, MyConstruct
What the Integration Actually Does
At its core, the integration works like this. A builder working inside MyConstruct can now send a request for quote directly to the BuiltGrid network with a single checkbox. The suppliers receive the scope, submit their pricing, and the quote flows back into MyConstruct automatically.
That might sound straightforward, but it solves a persistent problem. Until now, the request for quote process in most builder software meant sending an email, waiting for a supplier to find it in their inbox, click a link, upload a quote, and hope nothing fell through the cracks. For builders with an established trade network, that process was manageable but slow. For builders trying to grow or expand into new regions, it was a genuine barrier.
BuiltGrid brings an open supplier network to the equation. When a builder sends a request for quote through MyConstruct, that job is no longer only visible to their existing contacts. It reaches BuiltGrid’s broader network of verified, licensed trades and suppliers. If capacity exists somewhere in that network for a given scope of work, it surfaces.
Critically, the RFQ process through BuiltGrid carries no additional cost to the builder. It is included as part of the integration.
The Problem It Is Built to Solve
The labour and trade capacity shortage across Australian construction is not news. Builders operating in regional markets or expanding into new areas know it acutely. When you move outside your established trade network, the cost and difficulty of finding reliable, licensed subcontractors can stall projects before they start.
Barry and Loft used the example of a builder expanding from the Sunshine Coast into Gympie. Without local relationships already in place, that builder faces the time cost of identifying trades, verifying their licences, negotiating rates, and managing unfamiliar logistics. A network that surfaces available, compliant capacity automatically removes much of that friction.
There is also the productivity dimension. In a well-run MyConstruct operation, a builder can see all the work allocated across their trade network, which supervisors are managing which jobs, and where capacity is being used. But that visibility only covers their own data. BuiltGrid adds the external layer: the knowledge of what other builders are running, what capacity trades genuinely have across the broader market, and where gaps and opportunities exist.
“If you can make the current pool of people more efficient, why aren’t we doing more of this?” – Aaron Ng, The Good Builder
Getting Builders Out of Email
One of the more practical outcomes of the integration is what it does to a builder’s inbox. A significant portion of procurement admin in most building businesses currently lives in email, and email is where things get missed.
Licence and insurance renewals are a clear example. Barry described the risk directly: a trade is onboarded, their details are collected, and six months later their licence expires quietly in the background while the builder continues issuing work. In a company with multiple supervisors and dozens of subcontractors, that gap can widen quickly.
BuiltGrid manages supplier compliance documentation centrally. Licences, insurance certificates and other credentials are maintained by the supplier within the platform, rather than being chased by individual email. MyConstruct’s licence manager then tracks compliance status and flags issues at the point of issuing a purchase order.
Together, the two platforms create a system where the builder is not relying on memory or inbox management to stay compliant. It is built into the process.
A Platform Built to Connect, Not Compete
Both Barry and Loft were deliberate about one thing during the conversation: neither company is trying to be everything. MyConstruct is a construction management platform. BuiltGrid is a procurement and supply chain network. The integration works precisely because each product does its own job well, and the connection between them is clean.
Barry has spoken about the risk of all-in-one platforms before. The appeal is understandable. Builders are time-poor, and the idea of a single tool that handles everything is attractive. But the reality is that general-purpose platforms tend to be average across the board. The more effective model is purpose-built products that talk to each other through open APIs.
MyConstruct operates this way deliberately. The platform already integrates with accounting software, vehicle tracking tools, and other best-in-class products. BuiltGrid is the latest addition to that ecosystem. Barry’s position is clear: any product that connects to BuiltGrid is doing its customers a service.
Loft acknowledged that BuiltGrid also has a standalone product with broader functionality, including supplier compliance management and more advanced procurement tooling. The integration with MyConstruct covers the core RFQ and supply network features, with deeper functionality available for builders who need it.
What It Means for Scaling
There is a growth story embedded in this integration that goes beyond day-to-day efficiency.
Barry described a pattern he sees regularly. A well-organised builder using good systems reaches a point where their trade network becomes the ceiling on their volume. They could take on more sales, but they cannot deliver more homes without more reliable access to trades. So they start pushing back on sales rather than expanding their capacity. The work flows to less-organised competitors who might be able to start faster.
Opening up access to a broader supply network changes that equation. A builder who can reliably surface and verify available trade capacity across a wider geography can take on more work with more confidence. The system scales with the business rather than constraining it.
Loft pointed to franchise builders as a specific beneficiary. When a franchise opens in a new region, they are essentially starting from scratch on trade relationships. Having verified, networked capacity available from day one changes the economics of that expansion.
“This partnership will help you grow your business. You get the system and you get the supply chain.” – Toby Loft, BuiltGrid
Still Early, But the Direction Is Right
Both founders were careful not to oversell where the integration currently sits. The core RFQ and supply network connection is live. More advanced features, including deeper capacity visibility and additional compliance tooling, are in development.
That measured approach reflects something worth noting about both businesses. MyConstruct has been building for fifteen years. BuiltGrid has been operating for six. Neither company arrived overnight, and neither is making promises it cannot keep.
Barry was candid about the construction software landscape. New platforms appear regularly, backed by genuine enthusiasm and good intentions. Some find their footing. Others do not survive their second year. The builders who stake their business operations on those tools can pay a real price when they disappear.
The integration of two established platforms with real customer bases and genuine track records is a different proposition. It is not a startup pitch. It is two operational businesses finding a practical way to deliver more value to the builders already using their products.
The Bigger Picture
Australia has a housing supply problem. That is not a controversial statement. What is less often discussed is how much of the constraint sits not in approvals or funding, but in operational capacity at the builder level.
When builders cannot find trades, builds take longer. When builds take longer, builders cap their sales intake. When sales are capped, fewer homes get started. The downstream effects compound.
Better systems for procurement and supply chain management will not solve everything. But they address a real and practical constraint that sits entirely within the industry’s control. Tools that reduce friction, expand access to trade capacity, and keep compliance on track give builders more bandwidth to do what they are actually there to do.
That is the case that Barry and Loft are making. And based on the problems they are describing, it is a reasonable one.
Builders can try MyConstruct on a 30-day free trial at myconstruct.com. BuiltGrid can be explored at builtgrid.com.au.
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