Trades & construction · Use case
Field Operations & Compliance Software for Australian Trades
Mobile-first field tools, digital compliance certificates, and quoting/scheduling integrations for plumbers, electricians, builders and the businesses behind them.
The problem
What we usually see when a tradie reaches out.
Trades businesses run on a stack of mobile-first SaaS — simPRO, AroFlo, Tradify, ServiceM8, Fergus, NextMinute — that handle the basics but rarely fit a specific operation's real workflow. Compliance paperwork (Certificates of Compliance, Electrical Safety Certificates, gas tests, asbestos clearances) often still lives on triplicate paper or PDFs emailed at end-of-day. Quoting still takes too long. Scheduling falls out of sync between office and field. Above $2M turnover, the gaps cost real money — missed billable hours, compliance gaps, slower job throughput.
The landscape
Where the gap lives.
The Australian trades software market is unusually mature — simPRO and AroFlo are local products that scale well into multi-trade businesses, ServiceM8 owns the small-team segment, Tradify and Fergus compete in the middle. Most $2M+ trades businesses already pay for one of them, and switching is rarely worth the disruption. The gap is what those platforms don't do: bespoke compliance workflows for state-specific regulatory requirements, integration with industry-association certificate registers, custom quoting logic for businesses where pricing isn't a flat hourly rate, and field tools that work properly offline on a construction site with patchy 4G.
State regulators are increasingly accepting digital compliance certificates — South Australian electrical work via the Office of the Technical Regulator, Victorian plumbing via the VBA, NSW gas via Fair Trading NSW — but each has specific submission and audit requirements. Off-the-shelf field-ops platforms either don't handle these or handle them generically (which falls over the moment a regulator asks for a specific evidence trail). Custom workflows engineered around the actual jurisdiction become a real moat for the businesses that operate them.
Our approach
How we think about it.
Start with the parts of the operation that the existing field-management SaaS doesn't handle well: digital compliance workflows, custom intake/quoting flows, integrations between field tools and the rest of the stack. We work mobile-first because the field is where the work happens — not at a desk. Engineered for offline-tolerance and low-bandwidth so it works on a real construction site.
Why bespoke
Where off-the-shelf falls short.
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Field-ops SaaS handles generic job management but rarely the state-specific compliance certificate workflows regulators actually require
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Custom quoting logic (zone-based pricing, material complexity loading, after-hours surcharges, multi-trade combination jobs) doesn't fit a one-size form
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Industry-association compliance registers (Master Electricians, Master Plumbers etc.) need bespoke API integrations off-the-shelf platforms don't offer
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Multi-tenant compliance platforms for industry associations themselves are bespoke by definition
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Offline-tolerant field tools require deliberate engineering — most SaaS apps degrade or fail outside connectivity
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Photo evidence + GPS + timestamp + signature workflows for compliance need an audit trail SaaS field tools rarely produce in court-defensible form
What we typically build
Concrete examples.
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Digital Certificate of Compliance / Electrical Safety Certificate / gas test forms with photo evidence, GPS, timestamp and audit trail
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Mobile job management app integrated with simPRO / AroFlo / Tradify / ServiceM8 / Fergus
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Custom quoting workflow that handles your actual pricing logic (zones, materials, complexity loading, after-hours)
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Inspector / regulator portal for digital compliance certificate verification
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Office-to-field schedule sync with offline-tolerant updates and conflict resolution
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Lead-to-quote-to-job-to-invoice automation across CRM and field tools
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White-label compliance certificate platform for industry associations and regulators
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Asset management and warranty tracking tied to job records (HVAC, solar, hot water installs)
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Customer portal for inspection booking, certificate retrieval, and quote acceptance
Common integrations
Platforms we typically connect.
The platforms most tradies engagements involve. Vendor-specific tools (where tradies have specialist software) plus the general-purpose integrations they sit alongside.
simPRO
End-to-end job management for multi-trade businesses (electrical, mechanical, security)
Integration page →
AroFlo
Australian-built field service management, popular with HVAC and plumbing
Integration page →
Tradify
Mid-market job management with strong quoting and invoicing
Integration page →
ServiceM8
Small-team field service, owns the 1-10 staff segment in Australia
Integration page →
Fergus
NZ/AU job management focused on profitability tracking
Xero
Standard accounting integration — invoicing, payroll, GST reporting
Integration page →
MYOB
Alternative accounting platform, common in older businesses
Integration page →
Stripe
Card payments for deposits, online quote acceptance, customer portal
Integration page →
Twilio
SMS notifications for arrival ETAs and appointment reminders
Integration page →
Microsoft 365
Email, calendar, document storage for the office side
Integration page →
Google Workspace
Alternative office stack — common in trades businesses
Integration page →
HubSpot
CRM for businesses doing significant marketing-driven lead gen
Integration page →
Mailchimp
Customer communication and review-request campaigns
Integration page →
Make
Lightweight automation for low-volume workflows between SaaS tools
Integration page →
n8n
Self-hosted automation when data residency or volume matters
Integration page →
Don't see what you use? See the full integrations catalogue or tell us what you run — if it has an API, we connect to it.
Services involved
What this draws on.
Custom Web Apps
Custom-built web applications when off-the-shelf SaaS forces you to compromise.
Typical projects $20K–$120K
Mobile Apps
Cross-platform mobile apps and progressive web apps for businesses already running on the web.
Typical projects $25K–$120K
API Integrations
Wire your business systems together so data flows automatically — no more copy-paste.
Typical projects $8K–$45K
Indicative pricing
Most field-operations engagements fall between $25K and $100K. Smaller compliance-only workflows can be in the $15K–$30K range; full multi-trade platforms scale higher.
Real pricing is set after a scoping call. We give honest ranges up front rather than hiding behind "contact us" — the actual quote may land lower or higher depending on what discovery surfaces.
FAQs
The questions we usually get.
Do we have to leave simPRO / AroFlo / Tradify?
No — most engagements integrate with what you already run. Switching field-ops platforms is rarely worth the disruption; we add the bespoke layer rather than rip-and-replace.
Will it work on-site without good signal?
Yes — we engineer field tools to work offline, queue updates locally, and sync when reconnected. Construction sites are not the place for assumptions about connectivity.
Is digital compliance accepted by Australian regulators?
Yes — most state regulators now accept digital Certificates of Compliance with appropriate audit trails. Each state has specific requirements; we engineer to whichever apply to your jurisdiction.
Can you build white-label versions for our industry association?
Yes — multi-tenant compliance platforms for industry associations are part of what we do. Contact us with the specific compliance type and jurisdiction.
How long until field crews can actually use it?
Most field workflows ship in 8–14 weeks from kickoff, with phased rollouts so a smaller crew tests before the broader team. Training is built into the rollout, not a bolt-on at the end.
Written and delivered by
Andrew Roper — Founder & Technical Director
22+ years of practice across SaaS, ecommerce, healthcare information systems, manufacturing platforms, and government-adjacent compliance software. Every engagement is led personally — not handed off.
Let’s build something
The right system,
built once, properly.
If your business is ready to scale beyond what off-the-shelf tools can support — we should talk.