For new-build owners
New build: 30 trades, one budget, zero surprises.
Whether trade by trade or with a general contractor: on a new build, costs arise in dozens of places at once — and 69.3% of German home builders end up over budget (POCASIO 2023). BOB gives every trade, change order and DIY share a fixed place, so the total is never a guess again.
Where it breaks
Groundworks and outdoor works break the budget
The two most common cost drivers (49% and 46% of over-budget builds, POCASIO 2023) are rarely fully covered in a contractor’s contract — they hit your budget on the side.
The spreadsheet dies in month three
Maintained at the start, outdated from the shell phase: when invoices arrive faster than rows, nobody keeps count — until the bank asks.
Change orders hide in the small print
Extra costs are agreed by handshake on site and resurface in the final invoice — when negotiating is over.
How BOB helps
A build template with risk flags
The new-build template brings every trade — and flags the notorious budget breakers like groundworks and outdoor works with a note and source, so you plan them realistically.
Reserve as a mandatory trade
BOB automatically creates a reserve and recommends 10–15% of the planned total. It cannot be deleted — transfers out of it stay visible, your buffer never vanishes quietly.
Change orders with date, reason and approval
Every increase is recorded as a change order and needs your approval before it raises the contract sum. The final invoice can no longer contain anything you have not seen.
DIY work honestly calculated
Sweat equity as its own items with material and time shares — keeping the saving realistic and bankable.
How to start: cost calculator for the range → “Turn into a cost plan” → adjust the template, set your cap, upload the first quotes. Ten minutes in, the payment guard checks your first progress invoice.
Both. With single trades you run many small contracts — BOB keeps quotes, contract and invoices together per trade. With a GC there is one main contract with a payment plan (5% security, 90% cap) plus side costs and DIY around it. The templates cover both routes.
BOB recommends 10–15% of the planned total. That is not a fear premium but statistics: the average overrun is €57,600 (POCASIO 2023) — a planned reserve turns that into a transfer instead of refinancing.
Yes — upload XLSX or CSV, BOB detects columns like trade, amount and vendor and builds the plan. The BOB template is even recognised without a mapping step. Anything unclear you assign once by hand.
The Build Pass: €129 once for 24 months — every feature for the duration of a build, no subscription. To try it, Free is enough (one project, 10 document scans a month); the first 14 days after your first document run at full scope automatically.