Case Study: How Stonegate Developments Eliminated Contractor Disputes on a 24-Unit Project

Stonegate's project manager was spending 6–8 hours per week on contractor follow-up — chasing confirmations, resolving disputes about what had been agreed, and manually updating the tracking spreadsheet.

The variation dispute situation was the most acute problem. Four disputes were active simultaneously:

- $24,000 dispute with the hydraulic contractor over scope of underground drainage - $18,000 dispute with the electrician over additional conduit runs - $31,000 dispute with the builder over a structural change instruction - $14,000 dispute with the tiler over bathroom specification changes

All four disputes stemmed from instructions issued via WhatsApp or verbal agreement, with no written confirmation from the contractor.

Stonegate implemented BuilderHQ's Contractor Management module in August 2025, mid-project. The onboarding team configured the platform in 2 days and migrated all active instructions and contractor details.

From that point, all new instructions were issued through the platform. Contractors received instructions via email with a confirmation link — no app required. Variations were submitted through the platform's variation request workflow, with mandatory scope description and pricing before approval.

For the 4 active disputes, the platform couldn't retroactively create documentation — but it provided a clear framework for resolution by documenting the current state of each dispute and the agreed resolution.

Over the final 6 months of the project:

Disputed instructions: Zero new disputes after platform implementation. All 4 existing disputes were resolved within 3 weeks.

Contractor confirmation rate: 96% of instructions confirmed within 24 hours (automated reminders sent at 12 hours and 24 hours).

PM time on contractor follow-up: Reduced from 6–8 hours per week to 1.5 hours per week.

Variation documentation: 100% of variations documented with scope description, pricing, and contractor acknowledgement before work commenced.

Project completion: The project was delivered 1 week ahead of the revised schedule (still 2 weeks behind the original, but the trajectory reversed after platform implementation).

'We implemented BuilderHQ mid-project out of desperation — we were drowning in disputes and the PM was spending half his time on the phone chasing people. Within 3 weeks, the disputes were resolved and the confirmation rate was above 95%. The variation workflow alone has saved us from at least 3 disputes on the next project. We won't start another project without it.'