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GBQ Academy

Learn to control a building price.

Four short courses, written in plain language by the Modern GBQ team. Each lesson takes a few minutes and ends with something you can do on the platform today. Free, no account needed to read.

Start with the homeowner courseOpen the help centre
  • Free to read
  • Written by the team
  • Matched to what the platform does
Sam Grace, founder of Modern GBQ

Course 1

Budgeting your build, for homeowners.

From first idea to a shortlist of builders you can compare fairly.

  1. 1

    Why a price per square metre misleads

    The same floor area can cost very different amounts. This lesson shows what a single number hides: the site, the shape, the storeys, the openings and the finishes.

  2. 2

    Describe your project once

    What the estimate needs from you: the site, the buildings and storeys, the rooms and their sizes, and a finish level. Have your plans to hand; a rough area in gives a rough figure out.

  3. 3

    Read an estimate line by line

    Every quantity shows its working and every price shows its source: a supplier offer, a market price, an item rate or a category average. Learn which lines to question first.

  4. 4

    Choose and swap finishes

    Economical, Standard, Good or Advanced sets the defaults. Swap any product for a listed alternative, record a short reason, and re-price. Nothing is overwritten.

  5. 5

    Ballpark, Design, Detailed

    Three levels of rigour and when to move up. A Ballpark is for budgeting only; a Design or Detailed estimate is what builders price.

  6. 6

    Compare builders blind

    Approve the scope, invite verified builders, read their responses as Builder A, B and C, record your feedback, then see names. Your contract is directly with the builder you choose.

  7. 7

    Keep your privacy

    What a builder sees and what they never see: the suburb and the scope, never your name, street address or contact details.

Course 2

One method across a portfolio, for developers.

Feasibility fast, detail later, and every decision on record.

  1. 1

    Feasibility in an afternoon

    Set up a site, its buildings and storeys, choose a finish level and get a first figure for every lot or unit type on the same basis.

  2. 2

    Delegate the preparation

    Invite an estimator by email with a role. They prepare the estimate inside your project; approval stays with you. Nobody invited this way joins your organisation.

  3. 3

    Read drawings into the project

    Upload the architectural set and let the AI propose the buildings, storeys and rooms, with their areas measured against the drawing's scale, for you to confirm.

  4. 4

    Versions side by side

    Every re-price is a new numbered version. Put two beside each other to see exactly what a design change did to the total, and re-price from any earlier version.

  5. 5

    From feasibility to Detailed

    Upgrade a Ballpark to a Detailed estimate without losing its history, choose products line by line, and approve the version builders will price.

  6. 6

    Run the builder round

    Invite a shortlist, share or withhold your rates, compare responses blind, and record the selection with its reasons.

Course 3

Pricing jobs on Modern GBQ, for builders.

Respond to scoped invitations, and price your own clients' jobs with the same engine.

  1. 1

    What an invitation contains

    An approved scope: every included line with its quantity and labour hours, the excluded lines listed separately, and the owner's rates and totals when they choose to share them.

  2. 2

    Four ways to respond

    Accept, send a revised proposal, request a discussion after answering, or decline. Each revision is a numbered version the owner always sees the latest of.

  3. 3

    How the blind comparison works

    Owners read every response as Builder A, B and C until they record their feedback. Your numbers, programme and notes carry the round, not your name.

  4. 4

    Protect your rating

    Every builder starts at 5.00. Only declining after you have been selected lowers it, so acknowledge or decline a selection promptly.

  5. 5

    Price your own jobs

    Describe your client's site and buildings, run the estimate, choose materials and price the scope with the same engine the homeowners use, within your plan's allowances.

  6. 6

    Share with your client

    Share by email with a role, type the client's name under Prepared for, or give a no-login report link that opens the printable estimate for 30 days. The client sees the totals, never your cost split.

  7. 7

    Your branding on the estimate

    On the Gold plan and above, once verified, your logo and business details print at the top of the client's estimate.

Course 4

Your prices inside real estimates, for suppliers.

From listing to publishing offers that win estimate lines.

  1. 1

    Where your prices go

    A published, in-date offer on one of your products prices the matching line of real estimates, with your name on the line, before any tender exists.

  2. 2

    Your products and demand

    See every product listed under your business, how often it was chosen in approved estimates and where, by suburb only. Never who the owner is.

  3. 3

    Publish an offer

    One product variant, one market, one currency, a unit price ex GST, stock status and validity dates. The platform checks the unit and the figure against the item before the offer can price anything.

  4. 4

    How an offer wins a line

    Published, valid today, right market and currency, verified supplier, passes the price check. Then the lowest unit price wins, then the most recently updated.

  5. 5

    Keep offers current

    Expiring offers are flagged in your workspace; Extend validity keeps a good price live in one click. Edits apply from the next estimate; estimates already priced keep their figures.

  6. 6

    Work in bulk with CSV

    Export your offers, edit the cells that moved in your spreadsheet, dry-run the upload to see what would change, then upload for real.

Academy questions.

Does the academy cost anything?

No. Every course is free to read, and you can try each lesson on a free account.

Are the lessons videos?

They are written lessons today, so you can read them at your own pace and search them. The help centre guides go deeper on every step.

Do the courses say how the estimating method calculates?

They explain what the method does and how to read its results: every quantity shows its working and every price shows its source. The method itself is Sam Grace's, developed since 2013.

Can I use a lesson for my members or staff?

Yes. Link to it freely. Associations that want a session for their members can see the partners page.

Try lesson two on a real project.

Describe your project once and see every line explained.

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