Your best people are on site. The paperwork is not.
Construction and engineering businesses have a particular version of the staffing problem. The skills that win and deliver work, the licensed trades, the site supervisors, the project managers, have to be local and have to be physically present. But an enormous amount of the work around them does not. Quantity takeoffs, tender estimates, CAD drafting, contracts administration, procurement, document control, progress claims and compliance paperwork all happen at a desk, on screen, in software.
Right now that desk work is usually done by the same people who should be on site, in the evenings, or by a local administrator paid a full salary to do a mix of skilled and unskilled tasks. Either way the business is paying premium local rates for work that does not need to be local.
Offshore support fits this well because the Philippines has a deep pool of engineering and drafting graduates who work in the same software Australian firms use, and because the work is document heavy, deadline driven and entirely digital.
Construction and engineering roles we place
Why this works in construction specifically
The desk work is genuinely separable from the site work
The software is the same.
Deadlines are relentless and volume is uneven
Continuity matters on long projects
What this usually looks like in practice
Most builders start with one estimator or one drafter, usually because tender volume has outgrown the people doing it at night. That person works your business hours from our Manila delivery centre, in your software, to your drawing standards and your estimating templates, on systems you control.
The first fortnight is spent learning your standards, your suppliers and how your team communicates. After that the work flows in the same rhythm as a local hire, with drawings and takeoffs landing in your inbox each morning. Firms that go well often add a contracts administrator or a document controller within the year, because the first placement has shown how much administrative load was sitting on the project team.
The businesses that struggle are the ones that expect an offshore drafter to know their standards without being given them. A proper handover in the first month is the whole difference.
Empowering Teams, One Dedicated Pod at a Time, Every Day
7 to 10 days
2.8 years
50 to 75 percent
Frequent Inquiries
Do offshore drafters and estimators know Australian standards?
The people we place into Australian construction roles have worked on Australian projects and know the standards, drawing conventions and terminology in use here. That said, every firm has its own templates, standards and preferences, and those need handing over properly in the first weeks. Anything requiring a certified sign off, an engineer’s certification or a licensed person’s approval remains local, and we will be clear about that line rather than blur it.
Can an offshore estimator price Australian labour and materials accurately?
They can build the takeoff and the estimate structure, apply your rates and your supplier pricing, and produce a tender ready document. Local rates, supplier relationships and the judgement about margin and risk stay with your estimating lead. In practice the offshore estimator does the hours of measurement and assembly, and your senior estimator reviews, adjusts and owns the number.
How do they access our project management and drawing systems?
Through user accounts you create in your own systems, at the permission level you choose. Procore, Aconex, Bluebeam, AutoCAD and Revit all support this. Drawing files sit in your environment, not theirs, and access can be revoked instantly.
Can they work in Australian time zones during tender periods?
Yes. Your team member works your business hours as standard, at no extra charge, so tender deadlines and site queries are handled in real time rather than overnight. The Philippines time zone is close to Australia’s, which makes this straightforward.
What about intellectual property and confidential tender information?
Your team member is a properly employed member of our Manila delivery centre with an employment contract that includes confidentiality obligations, working on company provided equipment with security tooling in place. Files and access remain in your systems under your control. This is materially different from sending drawings to a freelance platform, and it is the arrangement your clients and insurers will expect.
Is this suitable for a small builder, or only large firms?
Small and mid sized builders are a large part of our construction work. A residential builder or a small commercial contractor often feels the estimating and administration load most acutely, because there is nobody to absorb it and the owner ends up doing it. The honest caveat is that roles requiring site presence, safety supervision or a licence cannot be offshore, and we will tell you if what you are describing is one of those.
