The TradeForm Knowledge Base is the reference base for Australian construction and business compliance. Every entry is drafted from primary sources, signed off by a named subject-matter expert, and dated. The same data feeds every product in the TradeForm family.
Why we built it
Construction in Australia runs on rules that change by state, by year, and by contract. A NSW builder doesn't get the same answer as a Queensland builder. A 2020 build runs under different defects rules than a 2025 build. Generic AI answers miss this. Generic Google answers miss this. So we built a knowledge base that doesn't.
How an entry is made
We start with the question a builder, surveyor, or homeowner would Google. We pull the primary sources: the Act, the regulator's guidance, the standard, the case. An AI drafts a first pass in plain English, with citations to every source. A named reviewer with the qualifications to speak on the topic reads it, edits it, and signs off. The reviewer's name and qualifications sit on the entry page.
How an entry stays current
We watch the source pages. When the NCC publishes an amendment, when a state changes its Home Building Act, when an award is updated, the entries that cite that source get flagged for re-review automatically. On top of that, every entry has a topic-based re-verification cadence so even unwatched sources don't go stale.
Why we don't republish the standards
The National Construction Code and Australian Standards are copyrighted. We don't republish them. We summarise in our own words and link to where you can read the original. The citation is the source of truth. We are the readable layer on top.
How AI uses it
The TradeForm app, TradeLens, and any other TradeForm product retrieve grounded context from this knowledge base before answering a user. So when the AI in a TradeForm product says "in NSW, the defects liability period is...", it's pulling from this base, with a citation you can click. We make the same retrieval API available to anyone building with AI — see the REST API and MCP server docs.
How to contribute
We're a small team. If you spot an error, send a note to the reviewer on the entry page. If you're an SME in a topic we cover and you want to author entries, get in touch — we add named reviewers as the scope of the base grows.