Waterproofing
From the builder's plan to the signed certificate and the payment claim
A waterproofing system for Australian contractors, built on Odoo. It turns the builder's plan into a pre-quote, keeps the evidence of every layer on site, checks each wet area against the National Construction Code, AS 3740, AS 4654.2 and the manufacturer's data sheet, and turns a finished job into a signed certificate and a payment claim.
I worked on site as a waterproofer in Adelaide, and measuring to quote took an hour or two per visit. Now I build software, so I built the system I would have wanted then.
It is a working demonstration, with a made-up company and made-up jobs. I am looking for a few contractors to try it on their own plans and tell me where it gets things wrong.
Jump to: the plan · on site · the rules · the certificate · getting paid · what it does not do yet
From the builder's plan to a pre-quote
What moves a quote is rarely the size written on the plan. It is what the plan does not show: a floor waste that was not drawn, a gap at the foot of the wall sheets that needs a double angle, a room the builder takes out of your scope. The pre-quote prices both.
The plan, read
Upload the builder's plan to the job, as a PDF or a photo of the print. The AI reads the wet rooms, the sizes written on them and the fixtures it can see. You set the scale from a written dimension, and where the drawing and the written size disagree, the written size governs and the room is flagged to check on site.
Counted, with where each number came from
Floor wastes, penetrations and corners are counted, and each count says whether it was seen on the plan, assumed by a rule or entered by you. You can change any of them.
A pre-quote with its range
A base from the plan, and the range the job is likely to end in: the extras that often show up on site and the credits if the builder takes a room out, each with its chance and its price. The base goes to the builder; the range stays with you.
Item by item, from your rate card
One click creates the wet areas of the job. The estimate goes item by item, the way you quote a builder: membrane, bandage, caulking, angles, preformed corners, puddle flanges and pipe collars, with the price, the material and the minutes of your own rate card. Reference rates come loaded, marked as such, until you set yours.
Variations already priced
The estimate carries a schedule of rates for variations: an extra floor waste, a double angle, a return visit. When one comes up on site, its price is the one the builder already has.
Or from a job sheet
Some builders send a job sheet instead of a plan. Paste it, or upload the PDF or a photo, and the AI pulls out the client, the builder, the site and every wet area with its size. Nothing is created until you check it.
The AI proposes rooms, sizes and fixtures. It never works out quantities or prices: those come from fixed formulas of the trade, and you correct anything on the plan before it counts.
On site, the evidence of every layer
Nothing to type on a wet floor: the crew talks, takes the photo, and checks what the system filled in.
Measurements by voice
The applicator measures with the laser and says the numbers into the phone. The AI turns the note into fields, each value shows the words it came from, and only what someone accepts is kept.
Layers from the manufacturer's system
Each wet area takes the stages of its membrane system as the data sheet gives them: preparation, primer, bond breaker, flashings, the coats, the flood test and handover.
Evidence for each layer
Batch and expiry, dry film thickness, temperature and humidity, said into the phone, and a photo with the date, the time and the place it was taken. The AI also looks at each photo and points out what looks wrong, such as pinholes or a corner without reinforcement.
Recoat and cure times checked
Mark a coat done too early and the system checks the recoat time against the coat before and tells you. The flood test waits for the full cure.
A site that is not ready
Wet substrate, moisture over the manufacturer's limit, other trades in the way, no access: the crew records the reason, the moisture reading and a photo. The builder's site supervisor is told, the return visit is booked and charged at the price in your quote, and the moisture rule fails while the area is wet.
Each area in 3D
Drawn from its measurements, with every item of the takeoff where it goes, the membrane coloured by progress, the layers lifted apart in the order they go on, and any failing rule in red.
The rules decide
Twenty-one rules, each with its source, its clause and its thresholds, check every wet area. Green passes, orange means evidence is missing, red fails.
The National Construction Code
Housing Provisions Part 10.2: shower walls to 1800 mm, falls between 1:80 and 1:50 to the waste, the floor outside the shower treated for its substrate, a perimeter flashing of at least 50 mm, penetrations sealed, a puddle flange at every floor waste and bond breakers at the junctions.
The standards and the flood test
The minimum dry film thickness of AS 3740 and, for balconies and other external areas, the upturn for the wind class and the falls of AS 4654.2: at least 1:100, or 1:80 in Victoria. And the flood test, held for at least 24 hours.
The manufacturer's data sheet
Substrate moisture, application temperature, the batch in date, recoat and cure times, and the gap under the wall sheets.
No certificate while anything is open
A job reaches Ready to certify only when no blocking rule fails or lacks its evidence. Try to send it earlier and the system stops you and lists why. That protects the licence holder.
A to-do list in plain English
From the open items, one list for the crew, one for the licence holder and one for the builder, so everyone knows what comes next.
Your rules
Each rule shows its source and its clause, and you can adjust its values for your company.
The AI suggests. The rules decide. The licence holder signs. The AI never declares a job compliant, and every one of its answers is logged with what it cost and whether someone accepted it.
The certificate, with its evidence
In Queensland a leaking shower is a structural defect that can be claimed for six years and six months. Years later, what defends the work is dated evidence, layer by layer.
Drafted from the job, signed by the licence holder
When every rule passes, the AI drafts the certificate summary from the records of the job. The licence holder reads it, edits it if needed and signs, on the phone or the tablet. Only a licence holder with a licence number can sign.
The evidence pack
The certificate comes out with its number, the warranty date and a PDF with every check, every layer and every photo, saved on the job. Once it is signed, the evidence is locked for everyone but a manager.
A private link for the builder and the certifier
They see the evidence through a private link: no account, nothing to install.
The warranty register
Every certified job goes into the warranty register, with its dates.
Getting paid
Payment claims follow Queensland's Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act. The books are Australian: GST, the BAS and the taxable payments annual report.
A payment claim from the job
Invoice the whole estimate, a progress claim or a deposit straight from the job. Where the BIF Act applies, it goes out as a payment claim, with GST, the retention held and the due date counted in Queensland business days, public holidays included. On a domestic contract, the deposit stays within the cap of the QBCC Act.
When the builder pays less
A payment schedule for less is recorded with its reasons, and the system shows your options and the deadline to apply for adjudication. The schedules you owe your own subcontractors come with their deadline, a reminder and a PDF.
Retention, released on time
At practical completion and at the end of the defects liability period, with its GST.
Every job's profit
Each job has its own analytic account: what was invoiced, what it cost, the profit and what is left to bill.
Work in progress, every month
For every open job, how far it has gone, what it has cost, what it has earned and what has been billed, with a warning when a job is heading for a loss, while there is still time to act. It is the schedule the QBCC or your bank may ask for.
ABN, BAS and TPAR
A supplier's bill over the ATO's threshold, without a valid ABN or an exemption, does not go through without the 47 % withholding. At the end of each period the BAS worksheet is worked out from the books, and once a year the taxable payments annual report comes out in the ATO's electronic file. Lodging stays with you or your BAS agent.
What it does not do yet
Said before you ask, so you can judge whether it fits.
Payment claims outside Queensland
Every state has its own security-of-payment law, and only Queensland's is built.
Reading plans and photos exactly
The AI's readings are approximate: where a room sits, how big it is drawn, how many wastes or corners it finds. That is why a person checks each reading before it is used, and why a room whose drawing disagrees with its written size is flagged to check on site.
Working without a signal
On site it needs mobile data to save. There is no offline mode yet.
Real jobs
No waterproofing business uses it on real jobs yet. What you would see is a working demonstration, with a made-up company, made-up jobs and made-up people. That is the reason for the next section.
How a trial works
Send me one of your plans
A builder's plan for a job you have already quoted, as a PDF or a photo. Cover the names and the address if you prefer.
See it on your own job
On a video call, I run your plan through the system with you: the wet rooms it reads, the pre-quote with its range, and the rules on each area.
Tell me where it gets things wrong
Against what you actually quoted and what you found on site. If it is useful to you, the next step is a few real jobs.
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Try it on your own plans
Tell me where you work, what you waterproof and how you quote today. I reply within one business day. I work from Quito, Ecuador, so my evening is your morning.
contacto@andresbrinez.comSix years building systems for companies in three countries: Colombia, Ecuador and Australia