It’s the biggest joke in the building industry: You’re expected to deliver a perfect build using a set of documents you had absolutely nothing to do with or didn’t draw the plans.
Think about it.
You’re handed architectural plans, engineering drawings, site surveys, cabinetry layouts, truss designs, hydraulic drawings, selections… the list goes on. But you didn’t create them, or coordinate them. You probably didn’t even get a chance to review them until you started quoting.
And if they don’t line up?
If a steel beam doesn’t fit, or if a note buried on page 7 of an engineering detail gets missed?
It’s your problem. Your cost to carry. And your reputation on the line.
Not to mention a ridiculous amount of pressure to carry for something that’s not even in your control.
So why does this keep happening?
In my experience, there are three main culprits behind critical costs getting missed, and none of them have anything to do with how good you are at your job.
Culprit #1: Death by Documentation
You’re not dealing with a plan – you’re dealing with 12.
Architectural, structural, civil, cabinetry, truss layouts, engineering notes… and that’s just Monday. Every document comes from a different party, with different priorities, and none of them speak to each other.
As the builder, you’re the only one expected to stitch them all together. But with so much volume, it’s easy for key details to fall between the cracks. Or worse, contradict each other entirely.
Culprit #2: You Can’t Cross-Check What You Can’t See
Spotting clashes manually is like trying to assemble IKEA furniture with your eyes closed.
You might catch a few issues (if you’re lucky). But even the best builder can’t hold 20 overlapping documents in their head at once and expect to see every inconsistency.
Without a way to overlay all the layers and walk through the job virtually, you’re guessing. And when you’re guessing in construction, it’s only a matter of time before it costs you.
Culprit #3: Not All Drawings Are Created Equal
Some drawings are clean CAD files. Others are hand-sketched with a biro on the back of a spec sheet.
I’ve seen builders quoting from site plans with coffee stains on them. No joke.
And when one part of the job is drawn to scale and another isn’t, how are you supposed to know if they’ll actually work together?
Even worse, critical info can be hidden in fine print, stuffed in a note, or implied but not shown. If you miss it, you pay for it.
And when you’re pricing a custom build under pressure; juggling all this documentation, trying to meet deadlines, and keep clients happy; those little things get missed.
That’s when the real trouble starts. Because on site, even a 10mm mistake can snowball into months of delays and thousands in rework.
Let me show you what I mean.
The 10mm Beam That Jammed a Bedroom Door
We worked with a builder on a two-storey home where the mid-floor joists were drawn at 300mm deep. But the steel beam running through the middle of the joists? It was drawn on engineering drawings at 310mm.
That’s a 10mm difference. Tiny on paper – massive in reality.
We flagged and adjusted in our documentation, however they ordered from the Engineering documents. As a result, the floor sheets were laid over the hump not noticing the size difference, the upper level was built, the plaster and carpet went in, and the owners moved in.
That’s when the issue showed up: the bedroom door wouldn’t fully open. It kept catching on the floor.
It’s a perfect example of why collaboration matters. When all disciplines — architectural, structural, and engineering — are working from one coordinated, universal set of drawings, these issues can be caught early, saving time, money, and frustration on site.
And it’s not just structural clashes that cause headaches…
The Windows That Were Never Going to Fit
The architect drew in a beautiful set of skinny highlight windows high on a raked ceiling. The client loved them.
But when the engineer finalised his beam sizes, the structural steel needed was 200mm too tall to fit in the available space.
Nobody noticed the clash… until it was too late.
Framing had gone up, and only then did someone say, “Wait, this doesn’t look right.” Now the builder had to redesign, justify the changes to the client, and wear the cost of delays.
These aren’t edge cases. I see issues like this every second job.
Because despite what the industry expects, you can’t fix what you can’t see.
There’s a Better Way to Catch These Issues (Before They Cost You)
That’s why we flipped the process on its head.
Instead of reacting to issues on site, we built a system to catch them before the first shovel hits the ground.
It starts with building the project in 3D – a full construction model that brings together every drawing: architectural, structural, cabinetry, services, the lot.
From there, we can:
- Overlay every document to see how the entire job fits together before it’s priced
- Run clash checks and QA reviews to catch things like sizing conflicts, hidden notes, or missing elements
- Spot coordination issues early, like windows that don’t fit or beams that clash with framing
- Walk clients through the model to build trust, answer questions, and avoid confusion later
- Integrate directly with Software so quantities and codes flow straight into your workflow – Including platforms such as Wunderbuild, Buildxact & Buildertrend amongst others.
No more double handling or juggling spreadsheets at midnight trying to make the numbers line up.
It puts you back in the driver’s seat – not just with your quotes, but the whole job.
If You’re the One Paying for the Mistakes, Let’s Change That
At the end of the day, you didn’t draw the plans. You didn’t create the documentation. But you’re the one who pays when it doesn’t all line up.
That never sat right with me, and it’s exactly what we’re here to fix.
Our Small Mistakes, Big Money 3-Minute Quiz helps you uncover where things are slipping through the cracks, and how a more coordinated estimating process could change everything.
In just a few quick questions, you’ll find out:
- Where you’re most at risk of quoting based on incomplete or conflicting documentation
- How much time (and money) you could be losing without even realising it
- What a more visual, integrated system could do for your margins, and your stress levels
At the end, you’ll get a free, no-obligation report with tailored insights and next steps to help you quote with confidence and avoid costly surprises on site.
It could be the most profitable three minutes you spend all week.
Learn more about Vision 2 Estimating (V2E). Vision 2 Estimating has strategic partnerships with leading building industry organisations such as APB, and HIA.
