Building software made in NZ, by a builder

Quote a real job in minutes — built to the NZ Building Code

Describe the job in plain English, sketch it on site, or drop in a PDF plan. Toolie runs the NZS 3604 take-off and prices the materials and labour — a real, NZ-code quote with a dimensioned plan to match.

Try Toolie on a job free → See how Toolie builds a quote ↓ New: Brain & Design Studio ↓

No signup to try · 14-day free trial · Works offline on site

Quote · Deck, Mount Maunganui

The job, as typed8 × 5 m deck · 1.2 m off ground · pine 140×32 · balustrade

Deck — 40 m² · 24 Marine Parade, Mount Maunganui

Quote breakdown in NZ dollars
Materials, wastage, delivery & consumables — ex GST · pine 140×32, SS316 fixings$12,572.32
Labour — 124.5 h at $80/h (the default charge-out rate)$9,960.00
Contingency (3%)$675.97
Markup on materials (15%)$1,859.51
Subtotal (ex GST)$25,067.80
GST (15%)$3,760.17
Total (inc GST)$28,827.97

Corrosion zone D (coastal) — SS316 fixings · High wind zone · NZS 3604 take-off

Toolie's first pass for that description with the site address above, at its default NZ pricebook rates and $80/h. It is a starting point you refine before it goes out. Your own charge-out rate and margins change the total, and leaving the address out drops the coastal stainless fixings and concrete (about $25,600).

Toolie writes the quote. You win the job.

These are the bits no other NZ builder app does. Turn a sentence or a set of plans into a priced, code-aware quote, and hand the admin over to the software.

  1. Describe it, sketch it or drop in the PDFType it in plain English the way you'd say it down the phone, draw it on site, or load the plans — three ways in.
  2. Toolie takes it off and prices itIt reads the scope, runs the NZS 3604 take-off, factors in the site's wind and coastal exposure, and prices it off the NZ pricebook.
  3. Check it before it goesThe quote health check and accuracy audit look for what's missing before it goes — this one came back clean.
  4. The client taps AcceptA branded, GST-correct, client-ready PDF in minutes, and a client portal where the yes is one tap.

A look inside Toolie: three ways to start a quote

Describe the job · a 600 mm deck with steps to the lawn A deck described in plain English in Toolie: 8 × 5m deck off the lounge, 600mm off the ground, pine 140×32 decking, SS316 screws, steps down to the lawn, ready to draw, take off or quote

Quote from a plain-English prompt

. Type the job the way you'd say it down the phone — say, “8×5m deck, 1.2m off the ground, pine 140×32, balustrade”. Toolie reads the scope, runs the NZS 3604 take-off and prices it off the NZ pricebook. You get a full quote in seconds instead of losing the evening to it.
Toolie sketch tool on a phone with an L-shaped deck drawn to 30 square metres and piles placed automatically at NZS 3604 spacing

Draw it, or trace a photo

. Sketch the outline on your phone and the freehand lines straighten themselves. Or photograph the site and trace it off to real measurements. Either way Toolie turns the drawing into a scope, a priced NZS 3604 quote and a dimensioned plan.

PDF plan → take-off → quote

Drop in the plans, set the scale and measure straight off the screen. Or hit Auto-analyse and let Toolie read the plan, pick out the elements and build the take-off itself.

Plans · Deck plan view, 1:50 · swipe to see it all →
Toolie auto-drawn structural deck plan, 8 by 5 metres at 1:50, with bearers, posts, joists at 600 millimetre centres and NZS 3604 notes
…and a dimensioned plan to match. Toolie drew this set for an 8 × 5 m deck on Marine Parade, Mount Maunganui — cover sheet, site plan, plan view, elevation, section, stair detail and material schedule. The plan view shows the bearer lines, posts and joists at 600 c/c, with the NZS 3604 clause notes and a 1:50 scale bar.

Every screen on this page is a real capture from Toolie: a demo business with made-up clients in real NZ suburbs, and every figure worked out by the app.

Quote summary · 8 × 5 m deck, 600 mm high, Mount Maunganui
Toolie quote summary for an 8 by 5 metre deck, 1.2 metres off the ground, at 24 Marine Parade, Mount Maunganui: materials, wastage, delivery, 124.5 hours of labour, consumables, contingency, the 15% materials markup and GST, totalling $28,827.97 including GST, with the quote check and margin panel
The priced quote, line by line. The same job as the card above: 8 × 5 m, 1.2 m off the ground, Mount Maunganui. Materials, wastage, delivery, 124.5 h of labour, contingency, the 15% materials markup and GST come to $28,827.97 inc GST, with the quote check and your margin underneath.

Before it goes out

Three tools that tighten the quote before your client sees a number — and when it's right, the yes takes one tap.

Quote accuracy audit
Toolie quote accuracy audit scoring a deck quote 95, well calibrated, with its notes sorted by category
The auditor scores the quote out of 100 before it's sent. This deck quote came back 95, well calibrated, with nine notes sorted by category for you to work through — like pricebook items due a price check. You know the job, so you decide what applies.

  • Quote accuracy auditor

    Before you send, it checks for missing companion items, supply-only lines with no labour booked, and the spots where you've gone in light. That's usually where the margin leaks away.

  • Competitor quote analyser

    Paste in a rival's quote. Toolie shows you line by line where you sit higher or lower, and where the job is being won or lost, so you can sharpen the next one.

  • Photo → scope

    Snap the site and Toolie suggests scope items from what it can see, so less gets missed on the walk-around.

Toolie client portal on a phone showing a $28,828 deck quote with an Accept this quote button

Clients accept the quote in one tap

. Every quote comes with a client portal, and it now has a big ✓ Accept this quote button. The client taps it, you get an email confirming they're good to go, and the yes is locked in without the chase-up call.
Try Toolie on a job — no signup → See every quoting & estimating feature →

New: a brain that knows the NZ rules, and a studio that draws and prices the job

Two big additions tie everything in Toolie together. Toolie Brain connects quoting, programme, diary, safety and money to the NZ rules and tells the right screen what to do next. Design Studio lets you draw the job to scale, see it in 3D and price it live from the same engines as your quotes. Neither guesses: the Brain is plain rules with a source on every alert, and every number comes from the pricing engines.

See what’s new →How the Brain works →

You're running your build on four apps and a spreadsheet

One app quotes, another tracks jobs, a third does the H&S, the Building Code lives in PDFs, and compliance comes down to what you can remember. Toolie pulls the lot into one place that knows the NZ rules. Then it runs the job, keeps you right on H1, Healthy Homes and the CCA 2002, and gets the invoices out.

Calendar · week of 6 Oct, six crew on five jobs · swipe to see it all →
Toolie week calendar for a busy building business: six crew across a deck, a re-roof, a driveway pour, a bathroom and a carport, with appointments, a council inspection, crew days off and a 7-day roofing-weather forecast flagging the wet days
The whole week, every job. Six crew across the deck, the re-roof, the driveway pour, the bathroom and the carport, with site visits, deliveries and a council inspection in between. The 7-day forecast calls the wet days, so the roof crew move to workshop pre-cuts and the pour waits for Friday. Anyone on leave drops off the job they'd normally be on.

From first enquiry to final claim

There's more here than quoting and jobs. Calculators, timesheets, inspections, maintenance, NZ contracts, a crew portal and the full compliance trail. It's the kit a residential builder reaches for day to day, put together around the way NZ jobs really run.

Toolie Today screen on a phone showing the first job of the day, the crew, an On my way text button and a Start the clock button
Today, on your phone. First on site at 7am for the steps and fascia on a deck job, the crew with you, an “On my way” text to the client and one tap to start the clock.

Take the full tour →Download the full feature & user guide (PDF)

Built for the NZ Building Code from the ground up

This is the part the overseas apps can't copy. Tradify, Fergus, ServiceM8 and Buildxact are good at admin. But none of them know an NZS 3604 span, an H1 R-value, or when your retention's due back. Toolie knows NZ structure, energy, compliance and pricing from the day you sign in.

Job details · Site intelligence · swipe to see it all →
Toolie site intelligence for a Mount Maunganui address showing coastal corrosion zone D, high wind zone, H1 zone 2 and SS316 stainless fixings required
Site intelligence from the address. Marine Parade, Mount Maunganui comes back as corrosion zone D, 0.2 km from the coast, high wind and H1 zone 2 — so Toolie flags SS316 stainless fixings and H3.2 timber before you've priced a thing.
NZS 3604
Pile/footing sizing, bearer & joist spans, bracing and fixings — to the cited clause.
Site intelligence
Wind zone, coastal/corrosion exposure, seismic & H1 climate zone — derived from the address.
H1 6th edition
Correct R-values by climate zone for roof, walls, slab and glazing.
Healthy Homes
Rental compliance with zone R-values, deadlines and penalty amounts in context.
CCA 2002 retentions
Retention held per claim, auto-release date from Practical Completion + defect period.
Weather-aware scheduling
Live 14-day site forecast flags rain/wind/frost on pour & outdoor days, one-tap reschedule.
LBP & consents
Restricted Building Work logic, Schedule 1 exemptions, LBP on every Record of Work.
Region pricing
Regional labour rates for 59 NZ towns and cities and material pricing for 18 regions, applied to every quote.

The NZ paperwork — generated, not chased

Contracts, the LBP Record of Work, consent status, variations, EOT and RFIs — the documents the Building Act and CCA 2002 expect, produced for you and kept on the job.

Stop stitching compliance together out of Word templates and memory. Toolie knows the rules, writes the memos and certificates, and tells you what consent the job needs, with the clause to back it up.

  • $30k written-contract threshold & 5-day cooling-off built in
  • Consent logic current to the 2025/2026 amendments
  • Every document branded and carrying your LBP number
8 NZ contract templates
Standard Building Contract ($30k+), Small Job Agreement, Prescribed Disclosure + checklist, Variation Order, Defects Liability Notice, CCA 2002 Payment Schedule, Subcontractor Agreement, Practical Completion.
LBP Record of Work / Memorandum
The Building Act 2004 Record of Work generated as a PDF for the owner and the BCA.
Consent tracker — clause cited
Schedule 1 exempt vs consent vs Restricted Building Work, with per-council fee estimates and inspection booking points.
Invoice · 50% progress claim · swipe to see it all →
Toolie tax invoice for a 50 percent deck progress claim, carrying the builder's LBP number and GST, under the CCA 2002 payment-claim clock counting 20 working days
A 50% progress claim on a deck build. The CCA 2002 payment-claim clock counts the 20 working days the client has to send a payment schedule, and the tax invoice carries your LBP number and GST, above a tax invoice carrying your LBP and GST numbers.

48 priced NZ job types · regional labour rates for 59 towns and cities · material pricing for 18 regions · consent-fee estimates for 25 councils · 8 NZ building contract templates · 115 NZ Reference topics in 16 categories

A crew portal they’ll actually open

The crew get their own stripped-back login with just what they need on site and nothing they don’t. No training to sit through, no “where do I find it”, and it keeps working when there’s no signal.

  • My jobs, week & open shifts

    Where they’re working, what’s on, and shifts they can claim or swap.

  • Timesheets that flow to job costs

    Tap in, tap out — hours land straight on job profitability.

  • Safety, spend & calculators

    Toolbox talks, receipts, to-dos and the full calculator set — in their pocket.

Separate crew login · Works offline on site · Time → job costs · iOS & Android

See the crew portal & H&S tour →
Toolie crew portal on a phone showing today's Day 2 tasks for a deck in Mount Maunganui, with NZS 3604 pile and bearer steps and a Clock in button
Today on the schedule. Day 2 of a deck in Mount Maunganui, with the NZS 3604 pile and bearer steps from the quote and a Clock in button.
Toolie crew portal timesheet on a phone showing 8 hours today, 16 hours this week and $608 gross week pay, with Clock in now and Enter hours manually buttons
Time. Today, this week and the week's gross pay, worked out from the hours they log.
Toolie crew safety pre-start on a phone listing six pre-filled hazards for a deck build, including working at height, buried services and H3.2 treated timber dust
Pre-start. Six common deck-build hazards pre-filled with their controls — untick what doesn't apply.

17 builder calculators — and they work with no signal

No more cab-of-the-ute maths. The numbers you run on site, built in and working offline. No flicking between apps, no spreadsheet, no “I’ll sort it back at the yard”.

Plus a built-in NZ Reference library — plain-English guides to NZS 3604, NZS 3902 & NZS 4229, the H1 6th edition, Healthy Homes, BRANZ research, GIB systems, NZ timber & H-class, wind & coastal zones, the 2025 Code update and per-council consent fees, each pointing you to where to find it in the standard. A whole reference shelf that works on site with no signal.

Open all 17 calculators →
Toolie concrete calculator on a phone working out 15 ordinary deck piles, each on a 400 millimetre diameter footing 200 millimetres deep with a 125 millimetre pile: 0.389 cubic metres, 41 bags of 20 kilograms, and a bags versus readymix cost comparison
The concrete calculator, on site. Fifteen ordinary deck piles on 400 mm footings, 200 mm deep (BRANZ Bulletin 560), with the pile taken out: 0.389 m³ with 10% waste, 41 × 20 kg bags — or a 0.4 m³ readymix truck at $244 including the $115 small-load fee, against $516 in bags.

Built for every trade, not just builders

Each trade gets its own quote engine and the certificates it must legally issue in New Zealand — on the same flat price for the whole crew. Pick yours.

See software for every trade →

“The overseas apps were slick at the admin but couldn’t tell a bearer span from a bracing unit.”

Built by a builder, not a software company

Toolie didn't start in a tech office. It started at a kitchen table at 9pm, pricing a deck by hand with Tradify open in one tab, the H&S binder on the bench and NZS 3604 buried somewhere in a PDF. The overseas apps were slick at the admin but couldn't tell a bearer span from a bracing unit, and they charged more for every chippie you put on. So we built the tool we wanted ourselves: built around the NZ Building Code, the quoting done for you, one honest price for the whole crew.

Built by a builder who got sick of quoting at 9pm.— Lucas Finucane, sole-trader builder and founder of ToolieBuilt & supported in Aotearoa New Zealand

Read the full story →
  • Built around the NZ Building CodeNZS 3604, H1, Healthy Homes & CCA 2002 — core, not a localisation sticker.
  • Offline-first by designIt works on the site with no signal, then syncs when you're back in range.
  • One flat price — not per userHire your fifth chippie without your bill changing.
  • Your data is yoursExport anytime. No lock-in, no hostage-taking.
  • Made & supported in NZA real builder-focused team — not an offshore ticket queue.

One price for your whole crew

All prices NZD, ex GST · 14-day free trial · no credit card

Take on a chippie and your bill climbs again — not here. One flat price per plan, whole crew, same number every month.

Solo

1 user · $49/mo

Just you — quote, do the work, get paid.

$49/mo

1 user · up to 20 active jobs

  • Every Toolie feature — none locked to a higher plan
  • Quoting, invoicing + GST, scheduling, compliance & calculators
  • 10 AI client updates a month
Try it free

Duo

up to 4 users · $89/mo

You plus an apprentice, partner or 2IC.

$89/mo

Up to 4 users · unlimited jobs

  • Every Toolie feature — none locked to a higher plan
  • Quoting, invoicing + GST, scheduling, compliance & calculators
  • 50 AI client updates a month
Try it free

Crew

up to 8 users · $129/mo

A small team working across several sites — flat fee.

$129/mo

Up to 8 users · unlimited jobs

  • Every Toolie feature — none locked to a higher plan
  • Quoting, invoicing + GST, scheduling, compliance & calculators
  • 200 AI client updates a month
Try it free

Builder Pro

up to 20 users · $249/mo

A busy business with up to 20 people in Toolie.

$249/mo

Up to 20 users · unlimited jobs

  • Every Toolie feature — none locked to a higher plan
  • Quoting, invoicing + GST, scheduling, compliance & calculators
  • Unlimited AI client updates
Try it free

Enterprise

— 20+ users or several companies? Users, jobs and AI agreed with you, plus help moving your data across. Custom pricing.

Talk to us →

Plans differ only by users, active jobs and AI client updates. Every plan: works offline on site · cancel anytime · no setup fee · your data stays yours.

How Toolie compares

The NZ favourites do job admin well. None of them are built for the Building Code. Tradify charges per user, and Fergus charges for extra seats.

Toolie compared with Tradify, Fergus, NextMinute and Buildxact on six NZ building capabilities
CapabilityToolieTradifyFergusNextMinuteBuildxact
Automatic NZS 3604 take-offYes— No— No— No— No
H1 & Healthy Homes complianceYes— No— No— No— No
CCA 2002 retention ledgerYes— No— No— No— No
NZS 3604-aware priced quote from a description or PDF planYes— No— No— Nonot compared
Works offline on siteYesPartialPartialPartialnot compared
Flat price for the whole crewYes— No— NoYesnot compared

Each cell comes from our published one-to-one comparisons with Tradify, Fergus, NextMinute and Buildxact; “not compared” means that page doesn't cover the row. Comparison compiled May 2026 and re-checked October 2026 from public competitor information; competitor features and pricing change — check their current sites.

Compare Toolie with each app →

Questions builders ask

Can't see yours? Email support@toolie.co.nz. NZ business hours, usually same-day.

How quickly can my crew be up and running on Toolie?

You can be quoting a real job within the first hour. Sign-up is a minute (no credit card), a quick wizard sets your business details, GST and bank, and the crew sign in to the crew portal with an emailed code — no IT overhead.

What is Toolie Brain?

Toolie Brain is the rules engine inside Toolie. Quoting, the programme, diary, timesheets, invoices, variations, safety and the Design Studio all report to it, and it runs NZ rules (Building Act Schedule 1, NZBC clauses, Construction Contracts Act clocks, HSWA duties) against what happens on your jobs to raise deadlines, obligations, suggestions and draft messages. It is deterministic, not AI: every alert shows the rule, its source and the events behind it, and it never changes a price or sends anything for you.

What is the Toolie Design Studio?

A drawing and 3D design tool built into Toolie. Draw a deck, shed, garage, carport, fence or house extension to scale, or start from one of 140+ templates or your client's PDF plans, see it in 3D and watch a live NZ price from the same engines as the Quote Builder. One tap turns it into a quote, a client drawing set, a build set or a DXF.

Where is my data kept, and who owns it?

Your data sits on cloud infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region (Supabase, Sydney) and is mirrored to every device you sign in on. It's yours — you can export it at any time, we never sell or share it, and our handling aligns with the NZ Privacy Act 2020.

What happens to my data if I cancel?

Nothing dramatic. You can export your jobs, quotes, invoices and contracts before you go, and the local copy on your device keeps working offline. No hostage-taking, no data hold.

Can quotes, invoices and the client portal use my own branding?

Yes — add your logo and brand colour and they flow through quotes, invoices, contracts and the client portal. Custom branding is included from the Crew plan upwards.

Can I build my own job templates and override pricebook items?

Yes — save any quote as a reusable kit, build custom job templates for the work you do often, and override prices on individual pricebook items. Your customisations sync to every device on your account.

Do my clients have to pay to see their job?

No — clients view a branded client portal via a private link you send. They see what you choose to share (schedule, progress, photos, selections, variations, balance) at no cost. Only the builder account pays.

What if I get stuck on site — how does support work?

Email support@toolie.co.nz from any device. NZ business hours, usually same-day. There's also an in-app feedback button that sends straight to us with build info attached, so we can fix things fast.

Will my plan price go up after I sign up?

We give clear notice before any plan-price change, and existing builders typically stay on their current rate at renewal. No surprise jumps mid-period.

Can I pause Toolie over a quiet stretch?

Yes — cancel anytime takes effect at the end of your paid period, your data stays exportable, and resubscribing later picks up where you left off. We don't auto-charge a paused account.

What devices does Toolie run on?

Any modern browser on desktop, plus an installable web app you add to your home screen on iOS 14+ and Android 9+ (PWA). The same data — and same offline behaviour — everywhere you sign in.

How do updates work — will they break my data or workflow?

Updates roll out in the background — open the app and you're on the latest version, no app-store wait. Your data and any offline edits are preserved across updates, and changes are incremental so workflows stay stable.

Can I run more than one company through one Toolie account?

Solo to Builder Pro plans are one company per account. If you run multiple entities (e.g. a holding co + ops co, or several trading names), the Enterprise plan supports multi-entity — email support@toolie.co.nz to size it up.

Quote the next job in the time it takes to read the plan.

Stop juggling apps and spreadsheets. Quote, run the job and stay NZ-compliant in one place, for one flat price — not per user. Start free today.

Try Toolie on a job — no signup →

Coming from Tradify, Fergus, ServiceM8 or another app? Bring your clients, jobs, invoices and staff across.

Questions before you start? Email support@toolie.co.nz — a real NZ builder-focused team, not a bot.