Playbook

1. The operating model in one picture

• The gate is the heartbeat. Every Wednesday at 6 pm the four partners look at the same board and the same ledger; what needs money or scope is decided there, not on site.
• A decision is a number that moved. Each D# says what we decided, who does what by when, which figure changed, the open question and the next gate — and goes to the minutes and the group the same day.
• Packages P0–P15 move through six stages. A card leaves a stage only on evidence: written scope, quotes in the trustee's name, a signed contract, dated photos, a Form or CoTC, then the final payment. Nothing skips a stage.
• One ledger, two numbers. The approved BZ ($270,000) and the current EAC sit side by side; paid and committed come from the bank statement, classified every Monday. Budget cover = BZ ÷ EAC.
• Tbrain is the shared memory. Now, 30 Days, Workfronts, Cash, Compliance and Market each own their numbers; the four partners keep them honest — Rei on compliance and drawings, Rod on the north corner, Jean on site and evidence, Marcos on integration and cash.

2. The nine gates

A gate is a decision point with a written kill criterion. G0–G3 belong to the purchase; G4–G7 to the works; G8–G9 to the exit. Full criteria in Reno OS.

• G0 MandateInside the buy box (ticket ≤ $1.1M, ≥ 400 m² for a renovation, Gold Coast / Brisbane bayside / Sunshine Coast).passed · purchase
• G1 Closed compsAt least three settled sales in six months, within 1 km, same floor-area band. Listings are not comps.passed · purchase
• G2 Feasibility lockMaximum price calculated before any offer. This is the founding lesson: on Springvale the maximum was set by the vendor, not by the lock.lesson · purchase
• G3 QLD due diligenceForm 2 before the offer, B&P focused on termites, City Plan overlays, measured area, title history (Form 21 of any earlier works).passed · purchase
• G4 Capital and structureLoan agreements, Trust, resident trustees, foreign-beneficiary exclusion clause. Baseline budget (BZ) $270,000 approved here.done · 5 Sep
• G5 Scope freezeEvery package with its ratio, contingency declared, fixed quotes from QBCC-licensed trades, BA before any works that need one. Package card adopted; D45 ratified.done · Wed 23 Sep
• G6 Works complianceEvidence collected during the works: Form 4, Form 15/16, CoTC, QBCC licence per trade, PSC after the deck and landscaping. Reviewed at the weekly gate.next · Wed 30 Sep 6 pm
• G7 Mid-works checkpointActual vs allocated, package by package. A variation over 10% of a package is a partners' decision, not a site call.checkpoint · Fri 23 Oct
• G8 Exit strategyAgent chosen through the site-visit window R1, Form 2 pack with the solicitor two months before listing, pre-sale B&P, reserve price in writing.Dec–Jan · program
• G9 Offer decisionAccept, counter or convert to hold-and-rent against the G8 reserve. No offer in six weeks = automatic repricing.campaign · 2027

3. The package card — six stages

Every package over $5k has a card. The live board is on Workfronts; the rules per stage are in Reno OS. What matters here is the evidence that moves a card from one stage to the next.

1. SolutionWritten, measured scope (m², lm, levels); a drawing where packages meet (deck × glass fence × coping); the approvals and evidence the package will produce; the B&P lines (R#) it closes. Leaves on: acceptance criteria written and the package's BZ confirmed.
2. QuotesTwo or more quotes on the same scope and drawing, in the trustee's name (ThriveCo One Pty Ltd ATF Thrive One Trust), ABN and QBCC licence above $3,300, explicit inclusions and exclusions, payment milestones tied to physical delivery. Leaves on: the lowest reconciled quote becomes the package EAC.
3. ContractOne-page comparison (price · scope · licence and HWI · payment terms · buyer's B&P risk) → approval authority G2 → written contract, variations in writing. Leaves on: signed contract; the deposit is paid only against it.
4. ExecutionContract milestones followed on site; a dated photo per milestone; any new scope goes back to stage 1 — it is not resolved on site. Leaves on: the last physical milestone photographed and measured.
5. QA & evidenceThe document the buyer will ask for — Form 16 / Form 4 / CoTC, AS 3740, HWI certificate — plus photos, filed under Remediation/ by R#; a quality walkthrough against the product benchmark. Leaves on: document filed and checked by the integrator plus one partner who is not the owner.
6. Final paymentBalance released; actual cost posted to the ledger against the package BZ; R# lines closed; lesson recorded in Reno OS. Leaves on: reconciliation to the WBS and Δ = EAC − BZ explained by cause (scope · price · omitted · contingency).

4. Two worked examples

5. Change management

Every change goes through a package card, a decision D#, a number that moves and a note in the minutes. That is the whole discipline.

6. Our learning curve

This is the four partners' largest combined investment in Australia: a business loan of about $990k and a $1.2M play targeting $1.8M. We are learning it together, in public, with a method.

• Jean brings an admin background and is on site daily — this is his first renovation, and he is the one who sees every trade, collects the quotes and files the evidence.
• Rei and Rod have done three smaller, less complex renovations; that experience is why Rei leads compliance, the certifier and the builder, and Rod leads the north corner (pool, coping, glass fence, designer).
• Marcos is a non-resident investor-integrator: cash, contracts, minutes, the accountant and this platform — working from Brazil, which is exactly why the project has to be legible at a distance.

Why the platform exists

To make everything auditable and replicable: the next deal should start from this playbook, not from memory. Tbrain is the shared memory (one owner page per number), WhatsApp is the conversation (fast, but not a record), and Drive is the file (quotes, contracts, Forms, photos). A decision lives in all three: made in the group, numbered on Tbrain, evidenced in Drive.

Why we write in English now

We work with certifiers, trades, agents, the accountant and the lender in English. Keeping the platform in Portuguese created a second vocabulary — "frentes", "alçada", "ficha" — that none of them share, and it slowed us down at every hand-off. One vocabulary for everyone: the terms on this site are the ones we use with Apex, Hamilton, Grow and the agents, defined in the glossary.

7. Glossary

Australian construction-management terms as we use them on this site. Forms are explained one by one on Forms.

Work package (P0–P15)

One deliverable with an owner, a budget line and a card: P0 demolition, P3 electrical, P8 painting, P9 deck, P10 pool, P13 granny flat (Hamilton), P14 design and approvals, P15 sale dossier, and so on.

Stage

Where a package card sits: 1 Solution → 2 Quotes → 3 Contract → 4 Execution → 5 QA & evidence → 6 Final payment. A card leaves a stage only on evidence; no package skips a stage.

Gate (G0–G9)

A decision point with a written kill criterion. G0–G3 cover the purchase, G4–G7 the works, G8–G9 the exit. The partners' weekly meeting (Wed 6 pm) is the gate in session.

Decision D#

A numbered decision recorded in five lines: what we decided, who does what by when, the number that moved, the open question, the next gate. Posted in the minutes and the group the same day.

Baseline budget (BZ)

The approved reno budget, $270,000 (15 packages $254k + $16k contingency), set at G4 on 5 Sep. Frozen; changes only by a formal re-baseline by the four partners at a gate.

EAC / MRF

Estimate at completion = paid + committed + estimated to go — the Most Recent Forecast, named by date (MRF-2026-09-21 = $356,084). Updated at every quote, contract, paid milestone or gate.

Budget cover

BZ ÷ EAC. Today 0.76× ($270,000 ÷ $356,084). Below 1.0× the approved budget does not cover the forecast; the gap is a partners' decision (re-baseline or cut).

Break-even sale price (all-in)

The sale price at which the four partners get their capital back: (acquisition + reno + holding + $12k fixed) ÷ 0.975. Owned by The Deal.

ARV (after-renovation value)

What the finished house should sell for, read from comparable sales. Stated as P50 of twin comps with no location premium, with premium, and P90. Owned by Market.

Comparable sales (comps)

Settled sales only — within six months, within 1 km, same floor-area band. A listing or an asking price is not a comp.

Holding costs

What the house costs per month while we own it: Pepper Money interest, Allianz insurance, rates, water, power, fees — about $6,594 a month. Owned by The Deal.

All-in

Complete cost: purchase + transfer duty + legal + buyer's agent + reno with contingency + holding + selling costs. Never compare ARV with "purchase + reno".

Approval authority

Who can commit money: ≤ $1k any partner (notify); $1–5k two partners; > $5k or > 10% of a package, all four at the gate. Governance rule G2.

Evidence

What proves a milestone happened: a dated photo, the Form or CoTC for that aspect, and the reconciliation to the WBS. It comes before payment, never after.

Open item

Something we still owe or are owed, with an owner and a date — a missing invoice, an unanswered question to a supplier, a Form not yet filed. Listed on Workfronts.

Blocker

An open item that stops a package moving to the next stage or a trade starting — for example no written position from Apex before the granny-flat plasterboard.

Zero float

No spare days between a task and the deadline it protects. Form 16 for the fire-rated wall before the plasterboard on Fri 9 Oct, and the PSC on Wed 8 Oct, are zero-float.

Critical path

The chain of dependent tasks that sets the finish date; a day lost on it is a day lost on practical completion. Three paths here: compliance, north corner, interior.

Practical completion (PC)

The works are finished and fit for use, apart from minor defects; target 4 Dec 2026. Followed by Form 21, pre-sale B&P, photos and listing.

Building approval (BA)

The approval a private certifier issues before works that need one — here the granny flat. Retrospective approval is slow and the certifier can order finished walls opened.

Private certifier

A licensed building certifier who issues the BA, inspects stages (Form 16) and the final (Form 21). Ours is Apex, engaged for the granny flat.

RPEQ engineer

A Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland; signs the Form 15 for structural elements — the fire-rated wall, the roof truss and the deck substructure — in a single site visit.

Form 15

Design/compliance certificate from an engineer or designer: the element as designed complies. See Forms.

Form 16

Inspection certificate: a certifier or competent person inspected the built element (framing, fire-rated wall, waterproofing). See Forms.

Form 21

Final inspection certificate that closes a BA. Without it the buyer's bank and insurer may refuse. See Forms.

Form 23

Pool safety certificate (PSC), issued by a licensed pool safety inspector; the deadline here is Wed 8 Oct. See Forms.

Form 26

Pool safety nonconformity notice — the inspector's list of what fails; buys three months to fix. Plan B for the PSC. See Forms.

Form 36

Notice of no pool safety certificate, given at sale; the buyer then has 90 days to obtain a Form 23. Ours started that clock. See Forms.

Form 2

Seller disclosure statement (Property Law Act 2023): title, plan, rates, zoning, pool certificate, owner-builder notice. Built with the solicitor two months before listing. See Forms.

Form 24

Transfer form with the smoke-alarm declaration: interconnected photoelectric alarms (AS 3786) declared at sale. See Forms.

Form 4

Plumbing notifiable work form the plumber lodges within 10 business days of each notifiable job. See Forms.

CoTC

Electrical certificate of testing and compliance, issued by the electrician for each job — including the AC and the smoke alarms.

Home Warranty Insurance (HWI)

The QBCC scheme that covers residential work over $3,300 for six years and six months. The certificate must be in the trustee's name, or it does not exist for the buyer.

QBCC licence

The Queensland Building and Construction Commission licence a trade or builder needs for residential work over $3,300. Verified on the regulator's site before the first payment.

Building & pest inspection (B&P)

The report a buyer commissions before settlement. Ours from March has 27 lines (R#); each closes as remediated, replaced by the works or disclosed. A pre-sale B&P is booked for 14–16 Dec.

Pool safety certificate (PSC)

The Form 23. Needed on sale and on the statutory deadline of Wed 8 Oct here; issued only when the barrier complies. Plan A and Plan B on Compliance.

Like-for-like

Restoring an existing structure to the same footprint and function — here the 94 m² deck. Accepted development, no BA; an extension or new footings would need one.

North corner

The pool, deck and utilities zone at the rear of the block: pool interior, coping, surrounds, deck, frameless glass fence, sewer pump and trench. Rod's workfront.

Individual trades

Running the works with separate licensed trades and no head contractor. It saves margin but makes us the integrator: sequencing, evidence and warranties sit with us.

Full working drawings

A complete set of construction drawings (~$7k quoted) that every trade builds from. Under D45 we chose not to commission them; Rei prepares the technical drawings the certifier asked for.

Loose scope

Running packages from partial drawings and written acceptance criteria rather than full working drawings. Works when the safeguards hold and criteria are written per package before quoting.