Find the expensive questions before you start spending.
Considering an owner-built home, kit home, tiny house or alternative building project? I examine the project and property, identify what should be resolved first, and give you a plain-English written risk screen linked to official sources.
The first suitability check is free. Payment is only requested after I confirm the project fits the pilot.
A project can fit on paper and still fail on the block.
Imagine ordering a three-bedroom kit house for an unsewered rural property. The wastewater treatment system and land-application area may consume part of the apparent building envelope.
If that is discovered after the kit is ordered—or after stumps are installed—the house position or even the selected house may no longer work.
“Can I build this kit home?”It is:
“What must be established, in what order, before I commit money?”
A practical decision screen—not a pile of search results.
Your direct answer
A plain-English response to the question you most need answered, with assumptions and missing facts made visible.
Your approval gates
Planning, building, wastewater, access and other dependencies separated so passing one is never mistaken for passing them all.
Your safe sequence
The next three actions, who needs to produce what, and clear “do not spend yet” warnings.
Your source trail
Links to the current council, government and other authoritative sources used, with checked dates.
Your uncertainties
Anything conditional or unresolved is labelled honestly rather than guessed.
Your written report
A concise document you can keep, question and use to guide the next decision.
From a question to a safer next decision.
Check suitability
Tell me what you hope to build, where, and what commitment comes next.
Confirm and pay
If it fits the pilot, I send the detailed intake and secure Stripe payment link.
I research
I examine the project against relevant current official sources.
Receive the screen
Your written screen arrives within three working days after complete intake.
This pilot may suit you if…
- Your project or shortlist is in Queensland
- You are considering an owner-build, kit home, tiny house, cabin or alternative dwelling
- You expect to commit meaningful money within 90 days
- You want to expose dependencies before ordering or building
It is not the right service for…
- Active enforcement or legal disputes
- Retrospective approval of completed unauthorised work
- Engineering, wastewater design or certification
- A guarantee that council or a certifier will approve the project
A curious human behind the research.
Jim Dobbin is semi-retired after a varied career spanning business, photography, aviation and the creative industries. Across those fields, he has always been drawn to design, structure and the satisfaction of making complicated things work.
He now brings that curiosity to software, research and practical problem-solving—particularly the challenge of turning scattered rules and information into a clear sequence of decisions.
James Dobbin · Greater Brisbane, Queensland
ABN 57 787 911 290 · View ABN record
Before you order it, place it or build it—find out what should be resolved first.
Send me four lines about your project, locality, next expenditure and main question. I will tell you whether it fits the founding pilot before you pay anything.