New: "Should I Pay?" Verdict, Builder Speed Benchmarks & Tribunal Evidence Export

We just shipped the four most-requested features in HomeOwner Guardian. They all share one design principle: give the homeowner a single, clear answer — not a dashboard of numbers they have to interpret.

1. "Should I Pay?" — One Button, One Answer

Every time your builder sends an invoice, the same question hits: "Is it actually safe to pay this?"

Until now, you had to cross-reference your payment schedule against uploaded certificates, check that inspections passed, and verify no critical defects were outstanding. That is a lot of tabs.

The new "Should I Pay?" button sits at the top of your project dashboard. It queries your payment milestones, certificates, inspections, and defect register — and returns a single verdict:

• Green = Safe to Pay. All required certificates uploaded, inspections passed, no critical defects outstanding. The button shows the exact amount and stage name.
• Red = DO NOT PAY. A numbered list of blockers appears — missing certificates, failed inspections, or unresolved critical defects. Tap any blocker to jump straight to the relevant tab and fix it.

Your right to withhold payment until certificates are provided is protected under Australian construction law. Guardian now enforces that right automatically.

2. Camera-First Defect Reporting

The floating camera button on every project page now opens a speed-dial with two options: "Report Defect" and "Progress Photo".

For defects, the flow is: tap the button, snap a photo, add a location and severity — done. The defect is logged with a timestamped photo, ready for your builder. No forms to fill out first, no navigating to the defects tab. See something wrong? Photograph it. That is the entire workflow.

3. Builder Speed vs. Industry Benchmarks

Is your builder slow, or is this just how long construction takes? Homeowners have no frame of reference — until now.

The new Builder Speed tool (under More > Builder Speed) shows a stage-by-stage comparison of your builder's actual pace against Australian residential construction averages:

• Dual bar charts for each stage: actual weeks vs. industry average weeks
• Color-coded: green (on time), amber (slightly behind), red (significantly behind)
• An overall verdict: "3 weeks ahead of schedule" or "2 weeks behind — within normal range"
• Current stage callout with actionable advice

If your frame stage has been going 4 weeks longer than the 4-week average, you now have data to back up a timeline conversation with your builder — not just a feeling that things are slow.

4. Tribunal-Ready Evidence Export

If things go wrong and you need to escalate, Guardian now generates a complete tribunal evidence package in one tap.

The export pulls together all 10 sections a tribunal expects:

1. Project overview and financials
2. Summary of issues (defect counts, failed inspections, missing certificates)
3. Complete defect register with photos and builder responses
4. Variation orders with signature status
5. Inspection history and results
6. Certificate compliance status
7. Payment history and outstanding amounts
8. Communication log timeline
9. Photo evidence index
10. State-specific tribunal and Fair Trading contact details

The export is customised to your state — NSW gets NCAT and NSW Fair Trading contacts, VIC gets VCAT and Consumer Affairs Victoria, QLD gets QCAT, and so on across all 8 states and territories.

You can download it as a file or print it directly. Most homeowners will never need it. But if you do, it is ready in 3 seconds instead of 3 days of gathering paperwork.

Available Now

All four features are live for Guardian Pro subscribers. The "Should I Pay?" button appears automatically on your project dashboard. Builder Speed and Tribunal Export are available under More > Tools.

Not a Pro subscriber yet? Upgrade for $14.99/month — or start free and upgrade when you need these features.