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Already bridging the gap between quality and construction, Visibuild is now closing the loop on post-completion defect management.

“It is not just built for the industry – but with it.” This principle has shaped every stage of Visibuild’s evolution, and its latest offering – the post-completion defects module – is no exception.

Construction teams have long relied on Visibuild to track quality from planning through to completion. But once a project reaches handover, defects liability period (DLP) teams are often left navigating a disjointed process, managing hundreds, if not thousands, of issues without access to historical quality data from construction.

Renee Phelan, co-founder and chief design officer at Visibuild, saw the challenge firsthand.

“Teams were coming to us, asking for a better way to manage the influx of defects after construction,” says Phelan. “They were piecing together solutions with emails, Trello boards and spreadsheets – none of which were designed for the scale and complexity of DLP defect tracking.”

Hamilton Marino director Shaun O’Connell, a longtime Visibuild user, says post-completion often suffers from a drop in motivation.

“We mostly find that we are navigating a phase of construction that is motivated to move on to the next big project and not as motivated to complete the works to the level expected,” says O’Connell. “We feel that keeping the Visibuild platform throughout the post-completion portion of the project – with that same consistent approach – will assist in the closure of defects and reduce the inconvenience once occupiers move in.”

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The DLP typically spans 12 to 24 months post-handover, but it’s only part of the broader warranty landscape. In many projects – particularly large-scale residential or government builds – warranties can extend up to 10 years, with defects surfacing well beyond the initial liability period.

“Our goal wasn’t just to support defect management during the DLP,” says Phelan. “We wanted to create a system that could carry through the entire warranty lifecycle – capturing issues, linking them to construction history, and giving teams the context they need to respond efficiently, even years down the track.”

By providing a long-term, centralised source of truth, Visibuild helps project teams, asset owners and facilities managers navigate defect liability with confidence – whether it’s in the first 12 months or the ninth year of warranty.

One Visibuild client was managing post-completion defects across 11,000 apartments without a system fit for purpose. The management tool in place was disconnected from construction records, leaving critical information – such as pre-existing defects, subcontractor details and site history – trapped in siloed systems. There was no clear way to track what had occurred in each unit or pinpoint accountability.

“We saw this as a clear problem,” says Phelan. “Because we already held all their project data, we knew we could solve it in a way that actually worked for them.”

Rather than building a solution in isolation, Visibuild worked alongside those who would be using it on the ground. Through an industry-led discovery process, the company engaged DLP teams, handover managers and project teams across the high-rise residential sector – gaining direct insight into their frustrations.

“We wanted to understand exactly how they were managing defects,” says Phelan. “So, we sat down with them and mapped out their processes. We found that despite some variations, everyone was trying to achieve the same thing – just without the right tool.”

Armed with first-hand insights into industry pain points, Visibuild set out to simplify the DLP management process – seamlessly integrating it into its existing platform.

“We were not looking to reinvent the wheel,” says Phelan. “We wanted to understand how teams were already managing defects and then build a system that aligned with their processes – only far more efficiently.”

This marked the beginning of an in-depth research and prototyping journey, with product designer Callista Low at the forefront.

“From concept testing to mapping out current workflows and identifying opportunities to streamline them, we examined every step,” says Low. “Then, we shifted focus to high-level interaction details – like what happens when a purchaser logs into the portal to input details. What is that experience like? How intuitive is it?”

Throughout development, Visibuild engaged 23 users across 10 companies, working closely with both existing clients and new builders. The projects spanned high-rise apartment buildings, student accommodation, and commercial and infrastructure projects, ensuring a diverse range of insights.

By walking through different user journeys, Visibuild encouraged customers to ask questions, raise concerns and share ideas. This iterative process allowed the team to refine the module at every stage, ensuring it directly addressed industry needs.

“We’ve been doing a lot of work by conducting site visits, really immersing ourselves in the spaces of our users, observing how they capture and close out defects, and identifying ways we can improve the efficiency of these processes,” says Low.

“The sheer number of defects can be overwhelming, especially when it comes to post-completion. We’re putting a lot of effort into making this process as smooth as possible.”

For O’Connell, one of the most valuable aspects of the new module is how it leverages the existing platform to drive performance.

“Consistency of the product that’s being used throughout the project and the statistics that it provides – that’s what excites us most,” she says. “We feel that the statistics will assist in motivating the participants to complete outstanding defects in a timely manner rather than being embarrassed by slow completion rates.”

User testing reinforced a key priority: seamless communication. Teams valued having a record of every exchange within Visibuild, eliminating the need to track conversations across emails.

“We found that a lot of communication was getting lost,” says Low. “Someone would reply to a purchaser via email, but that response would sit in their inbox, disconnected from the wider team. Given that post-construction teams often operate across different regions, defect tickets were being handled in inconsistent ways.”

To bridge this gap, Visibuild is now exploring a feature that will allow for both private and public comments within the platform.

“This would let internal teams communicate behind the scenes while also enabling direct conversations with purchasers – all within Visibuild,” says Low.

The development process underscored just how much the industry was calling for a connected post-completion defect management solution.

“Other than the launch of Visibuild itself, I have never seen feedback like this before. People were asking how soon they could have it,” says Phelan. “Unlike most alternatives – either ticketing systems disconnected from historical construction data or broad tools like Trello used to list and assign issues – Visibuild’s new module offers something fundamentally different.”

O’Connell also emphasises the importance of Visibuild being shaped by those who understand the construction journey.

“I feel that the platform must be put together by people who understand what it takes to monitor, record and supervise the construction journey. The construction industry suffers from a poor image due to defective workmanship and a perceived lack of quality control,” she says.

“Visibuild allows us to record and see how quality control is being implemented – and for site teams to compare progress against documentation and head contractor expectations. By taking this information through to post-completion, we can provide a story to the end user about what we did and why we did it.”

Phelan adds: “There is nothing else in the industry that does what we do, especially when it comes to linking with construction records. That is why we are so well-placed to deliver this solution for our customers.”

A key feature of the module is its ability to map the location set for any project, including levels, apartment numbers and other critical data. When a ticket is created, teams immediately know which project and space it belongs to. Users input their apartment number, and all associated records are automatically linked.

“With a basic ticketing system, none of that information is available. The person reviewing the ticket would have to cross-reference details in a separate system to understand how it relates,” says Phelan. “That is why our system is so valuable – we can pinpoint which apartment a ticket is for, streamlining the entire process.”

Phelan notes that Visibuild’s customers drove the module’s development. Built by people in the Australian construction industry, Visibuild continues to evolve based on real-world needs.

“Our customers were using Visibuild, and when their projects were finishing, they were asking, ‘Can’t we keep using it?’” says Phelan. “This was not a speculative idea – we built it because the industry asked for it.”

The new module ultimately delivers holistic reporting, bridging the gap between construction handover and post-completion defect management. Traditionally, reporting focused on financials at the point of handover, assessing spend and profit. However, post‑completion defects – often managed by a separate team in a different system – can erode that profit margin.

“Connecting the data is crucial,” says Phelan. “A project might look profitable at handover, but once post-completion defects are factored in, the financial picture can change. Without that connection, reporting is incomplete.”

By integrating these insights, businesses gain a clearer view of where costs are accumulating, enabling them to address issues earlier.

“If a team is repeatedly spending time and resources on a particular issue, it signals a deeper problem in how projects are being delivered during construction,” says Phelan.

In the last edition of Inside Construction, Visibuild co-founder and CRO Ryan Treweek discussed ‘baked-in’ errors – issues that carry over from project to project. By linking post-completion defect insights from the DLP with early-stage planning, Visibuild helps teams break this cycle. Lessons learned do not just get recorded – they actively shape future projects, driving continuous improvement.

Visibuild is not stopping there. The company is developing new portals to streamline defect reporting even further – allowing tickets to be captured directly from a builder’s website or through project-specific portals included in handover packages. A dedicated QR code in every apartment is also in the works, ensuring that defect reports are always linked to the correct location and routed to the right team.

“We are also exploring a centralised space where companies can manage all defects in one place,” says Low. “With post-completion defect management, there is a clear need for an overarching view – something that allows contractors to track issues across the entire company. This is an area we are excited to develop further.”

Phelan sees this module as a foundation for even more connected tools within Visibuild.

“It sets a precedent for identifying gaps in existing workflows and filling them in a way that makes sense for both our customers and our platform,” she says.

By linking historical quality data from construction through to the DLP, Visibuild is embedding quality management into every phase of a project – helping to shape a stronger, more resilient built environment.