Time wise, money wise, efficiency wise: How HBK Building keeps cost-plus renovations under control
Business name: HBK Building
Location: Sydney, Australia
HBK Building runs 10 to 15 residential projects a year across Sydney, ranging from $100,000 renovations through to $2 million builds. Most are cost-plus projects, where clients are closely involved in the financial detail from start to finish. They see what has been spent, what has changed and where the job is heading.
That level of visibility only works when the builder is ahead of the numbers.
Every HBK project starts with a detailed estimate and cash flow forecast. Every cost runs through a purchase order. Every fortnight, the client meets the team on site to review the claim before an invoice is raised. They have already received the breakdown, read through the costs and had the chance to ask questions. Once they are satisfied, they sign the claim. Only then does the invoice go out.
That rhythm depends on live project data. That is what Nexvia gives HBK.
“We know exactly where all our numbers are so we can manage the project time wise, money wise and efficiency wise.”
100% of costs
Captured and tracked through purchase orders
Up to $2M projects
Renovations, extensions, small works & remedial
15 x major projects
Undertaken annually with complete control
About HBK Building
HBK Building is a Sydney residential builder specialising in renovations, additions and alterations. Led by Hamish Breading and Michael Herd, the business has grown from “a man in a van” into a structured team delivering projects across Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
Its reputation is built on clear communication, high-quality craftsmanship and a disciplined approach to project delivery.
Project types: Renovations, alterations, additions and remedial works
Integrations: Xero
The challenge
HBK had a clear way of running projects: involve clients early, discuss costs openly and review claims before invoices went out. The process was already working, but as the business grew, the systems supporting it were becoming harder to manage.
Leads lived in one place. Project management sat somewhere else. Defects were handled through a separate process. Getting a clear view of a job meant pulling information from multiple systems, creating extra admin when HBK needed faster visibility across more projects and quicker answers for clients.
“We had a project management system, we had a sales system, we had a defect program - we had everything sitting there, but we never had an all-in-one captured system that could go from A to Z.”
For HBK, that fragmentation created risk. The team needed one platform that could carry a job from start to finish, without losing detail between estimating, sales, site and finance.
Why Nexvia
HBK wasn’t looking for software that would force the business to rebuild its process. The team already had a clear way of estimating, presenting proposals, managing claims and communicating with clients.
What they needed was a system that could be shaped around how they already worked – and still carry the full job from first enquiry through to final claim.
“The demo was excellent. It showed exactly what happens from start to finish, then gave us a preview on how we could customise that to what we needed - to get that A to Z in our way, not anyone else’s.”
For HBK, the estimate is not just a sales document. It becomes the baseline for the whole project: the proposal, the cash flow forecast, the budget, the claims and every cost conversation that follows.
With Nexvia, Hamish can build the estimate in the level of detail HBK needs internally, then carry that information straight into the live project once the job is won.
“Estimating is my favourite feature because I can create the kits, I can customise them, I know what’s going on there and I can make it flow really quickly. The best part is what I make in the estimate gets transferred direct to the project without any copy paste.”
The same source of information also becomes a clear client-facing proposal. Behind the scenes, HBK is working with materials, rates and internal costing details. The client receives a clean proposal with inclusions, exclusions and a timeline.
“All this comes directly out of that with one export button. We bring it all out so it looks neat, tidy, the way we want it - it makes it pretty for the clients to understand and read through.”
Once the proposal is accepted, the job becomes a live project. No double handling. No copy and paste. No gap between what was sold and what the site team is working from.
“We go from estimate, we have a revision process with our clients, then once that happens we turn it into a live project and everything is set up for the guys on site.”
What changed with Nexvia
With Nexvia, HBK now runs each project from a live source of truth. Costs are tracked through purchase orders. Budgets update as the job moves. Variations are raised from site. Claims are built from project data rather than pieced together at the end of the month.
That gives the team a clear view of where each job stands at any point in time.
“We’re not just licking our finger and sticking it in the wind. We’ve got a detailed system that allows us to manage budgets, manage cash flow - and we know exactly where the budget’s at. We’re not getting to the end of a project and a budget’s $50k to $100k over and the clients are going, ‘How did this happen?’”
For clients, Nexvia also strengthens the claim process HBK already had in place.
Every fortnight, HBK sends the client a detailed cost breakdown before the invoice is raised. The client reviews it, meets the team on site and talks through the claim. Once they are happy, they sign it off.
Because the claim is built from live project data, HBK can walk into that conversation with the numbers ready, the supporting detail clear and the client already informed before the invoice is sent.
“The clients have read it, they run through it, we talk them through it. They’ve received every receipt - and the big thing is once they’re happy with it, they pick up a pencil and sign the claim.”
For HBK, that has turned cost conversations into a trust-building part of the project.
“This is massive because it creates trust with the clients, where we can talk to a claim before we send an invoice. It creates communication, creates trust and gets us a great outcome.”
Nexvia has also tightened the variation process. Foremen and site supervisors can raise variation requests from site, which the office can review against the estimate before accepting or rejecting them. Instead of variations drifting into the budget unnoticed, they are captured early.
“It has tightened up our variation process. But what it’s probably tightened up the most is getting everyone understanding that variations are a thing. When it’s a two or three step process, people put them in.”
The same operating rhythm now carries across the wider team. Timesheets flow into Xero. Defects are assigned, photographed and closed out in the Nexvia mobile app. Load lists help the warehouse manager track materials from pickup through to site delivery. Purchase orders keep costs allocated properly.
“Every cost in our business is run through a purchase order, so it makes it very easy for cost tracking and allocating. The team enjoy the constant rhythm. They know where it all is. It’s easy on the eye. It’s not complicated. It’s not looking at an Excel sheet.”
Why it matters
Cost-plus building only works when the client trusts the numbers.
For HBK, that trust is not built at invoice time. It is built earlier – in the estimate, in the purchase orders, in the variations captured from site and in the fortnightly claim meetings where clients can see exactly what has happened before anything is billed.
With Nexvia, HBK has made an already disciplined process easier to manage, repeat and scale. The team knows where the budget stands. The client knows what they are signing off. And the business can keep complex renovations moving without waiting for end-of-month reports or chasing information across disconnected systems.
“Once we got our sales process right, once we got our estimating software right and once we got everything dialled in, it goes from selling a service to selling a product. Once you know your rhythm, once you know what you’re talking about and you’re fully confident in what you’re doing, it makes life a lot easier.”
For HBK, the value of Nexvia is not simply that the numbers are captured in one place. It is that the numbers are live, trusted and ready when the client asks.
For cost-plus work, that visibility is critical. But the value goes further: it gives HBK what every growing builder needs – control over the job, confidence in the numbers and trust from the client.
Highlights
Replaced disconnected sales, project management and defect tools with one end-to-end platform
Moved from estimate to live project without copy and paste
Built detailed estimates and cash flow forecasts before work begins
Gave the team live budget visibility through purchase orders and cost tracking
Created a fortnightly claim process where clients review and sign off costs before invoicing
Captured variations from site before they became budget surprises
Created a consistent operating rhythm across sales, estimating, site, claims, defects and warehouse management
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