How long does it really take?

About 5 minutes. There are 12 questions, 13 if you work in property, and nearly all of them are one tap.

Do I have to give my email address?

No. The name and email at the end are both optional and your answers are saved either way. If you do leave an address, it is not added to any mailing list.

What happens to my answers?

They are stored on our own database and read by me, and they decide what gets built on Dudils next. Nobody is named, and no answer is passed to a builder, an agent or anyone else.

I am not in New South Wales. Is it still worth answering?

Yes. The block checker only covers New South Wales so far because that is where the planning data is open. The questions are about building and buying anywhere in Australia, and where people are is part of what we want to know.

I am partway through building. Which one do I pick?

Pick building your own home. Its questions work whether you have signed a contract or are still looking at land, and you can skip anything that has not happened to you yet.

Will you send me the results?

I am not promising a write up, so please do not answer on that basis. If you leave an email address, it is so I can come back to you about your own answers, and that is the only thing it is used for.

5 minutes, and it is anonymous unless you say otherwise

Tell us how housing actually works in Australia

5 minutes, 12 questions, and eight versions so you only answer the ones written for you. What we learn goes into a free tool that anyone can use.

Start the survey

Most people find out which way their house faces after they have moved into it. The living room is dark at four in the afternoon in June, the heater runs from May, and the west facing bedroom is unusable in February. By then it costs a renovation to change something that cost nothing to get right on the day the house was placed on the block.

I am Shea Cullen, a registered architect, and I built Dudils because that keeps happening to people who did everything they were told to do. They went to display villages, they compared inclusions, they read the contract. Nobody showed them the plan on their own block, facing the way their own block faces.

What I do not have is numbers. I know what I see in my own practice. I do not know how often a plan turns out not to fit, what that costs when it happens, or whether anybody is asked about the sun before they sign. Nobody publishes that, so this survey asks it.

Which one are you?

Pick the one that fits best. It decides which questions you get, and it is the only one you have to answer before the survey starts.

What you are agreeing to

12 questions, one screen at a time

Nearly all of them are a tap. Every single one can be skipped, there is a Back button on every screen, and a progress bar so you can see the end.

Eight versions, not one

The first thing you do is say who you are. Someone who has just built gets asked what the variations came to. A developer gets asked how many sites they assess for every one they buy. An agent gets asked what buyers ask them that they cannot answer. Nobody sits through questions written for somebody else.

Your name and email are optional

You can send the whole thing blank at the bottom and it still counts. If you do leave an address, it goes on no list. It is there so I can come back and ask you to talk it through properly, and you can say no when I do.

Nobody is named

Your answers are read by me and they decide what gets built on Dudils next. Nothing is quoted against a person, and no answer is passed to a builder, an agent or anyone else.

Why us asking

Every plan on Dudils has been looked at by one architect, me. That is 7,531 plans assessed so far, of which 4,444 were good enough to publish, from 78 builders.

The search is free and it has no ads on it. In New South Wales you can type in an address and see the plans that fit that actual block, drawn on it, facing the way it faces.

I am Shea Cullen, Nominated Registered Architect NSW 9748, and I run Good Architect on the Central Coast.

Answer it if

You are choosing a block or a plan right now, and you would like the next person to have it easier than you are finding it.
You have just been through it, and something about it cost you money or months that you think was avoidable.
You do this for a living, as a developer, planner, agent, broker or builder, and you have opinions about what actually goes wrong.

Questions people ask first

How long does it really take?: About 5 minutes. There are 12 questions, 13 if you work in property, and nearly all of them are one tap.
Do I have to give my email address?: No. The name and email at the end are both optional and your answers are saved either way. If you do leave an address, it is not added to any mailing list.
What happens to my answers?: They are stored on our own database and read by me, and they decide what gets built on Dudils next. Nobody is named, and no answer is passed to a builder, an agent or anyone else.
I am not in New South Wales. Is it still worth answering?: Yes. The block checker only covers New South Wales so far because that is where the planning data is open. The questions are about building and buying anywhere in Australia, and where people are is part of what we want to know.
I am partway through building. Which one do I pick?: Pick building your own home. Its questions work whether you have signed a contract or are still looking at land, and you can skip anything that has not happened to you yet.
Will you send me the results?: I am not promising a write up, so please do not answer on that basis. If you leave an email address, it is so I can come back to you about your own answers, and that is the only thing it is used for.

5 minutes, and then you are done

You will not be asked for anything else, and there is nothing to buy at the end of it.

Start the survey