About Subbies

Over twenty years on the tools

Hi I’m Brad, I’ve been a builder for over twenty years, and I’ve run my own business for a good chunk of that. In all that time, the single thing that makes or breaks a job hasn’t been the plans, the weather or the budget, it’s been the subcontractors I had lined up to do the work.

Every builder I know has a list. A handful of subbies you trust to turn up, do a quality job, and not leave you chasing them. That list takes years to build. You don’t get it from a directory or a Google search, you get it from working alongside people and finding out the hard way who’s worth having back.

The problem I kept running into

The trouble starts the moment you step outside that list.

You pick up work in an area you’ve never built in. Or a job comes up needing a trade you don’t usually deal with. Suddenly all those years of relationships count for nothing, and you’re back to ringing around builders you half know, asking if they’ve got a name for you. If they haven’t, you’re rolling the dice.

What Subbies does

Subbies is a platform where builders and subcontractors find each other.

A builder posts a job, the trade, the location, the timeframe it needs completed by. Subcontractors who are interested and available put their hand up. Subcontractors can post too, so builders can see who’s got capacity.

When the job’s done, both sides rate each other across a range of categories.

The builder rates the subbie, and the subbie rates the builder. That matters. Good tradespeople deserve to know they’re walking onto a job where they’ll be treated fairly and paid on time, just as much as builders deserve to know who’s going to show up and do quality work.

Why it matters

One of the worst things in our industry is undercutting on price backed by substandard workmanship. It drags everyone down, the honest operator loses the job, the client gets a bad result, and the whole industry takes the hit.

Subbies is built to push the other way: to put good work, honesty and fair dealing in front of people, where they can be seen and judged on their merit.

Be a part of the Subbies movement. Come and join us.

— Brad, Founder

Subbies is new, and we are building it with the trades who use it. If something is missing, or not working the way it should, tell us — mate@subbies.co.nz