Help
How BuildConnect works, in short. If your question is not here, email support@buildconnect.africa and a person will reply.
- What does it cost to post a job?
- Nothing. Homeowners use BuildConnect free of charge, and BuildConnect takes no commission on the work you agree with a contractor. You are under no obligation to accept any quote, and you pay the contractor you choose directly — we do not process or hold that payment.
- What does "Verified" mean on a contractor profile?
- A contractor cannot be listed until they pass our checks. Those checks include identity verification and business registration validation. A Verified badge means the contractor cleared them; a Verified plumber (or electrician, or builder) chip on a specific trade means our team has additionally reviewed and approved a licence or credential for that trade. A trade listed without a chip is one they have told us they do, but that we have not separately checked.
Verification is there to make the platform safer, but it is not an endorsement or a guarantee of a contractor's workmanship, and it does not replace your own judgement. Read their reviews, ask questions, and get the scope in writing before work starts. - How long until I get quotes?
- Contractors working in your area are notified as soon as your job is posted. We email you the moment a quote arrives — you can turn that email off under Notifications if you would rather just check the app. Contractors choose which jobs to bid on, so the number of quotes varies with the trade and your area.
- What happens when I accept a quote?
- The contractor you accepted is notified and can start arranging the work with you. Every other quote on that job is automatically declined, and the job moves to In progress. The agreement for the work itself is directly between you and that contractor. Accepting cannot be undone from the web — if you accepted the wrong quote, email us straight away.
- Who sees my address and phone number?
- Contractors browsing open jobs see the title, description and trade only. They do not see your address or the job's map location — that is withheld at the database level and released only once you accept a quote, and only to the contractor whose quote you accepted. The contractors you did not choose never receive it.
- Something has gone wrong with a job. What do I do?
- Email support@buildconnect.africa with your job title and what happened. The work itself is a contract between you and the contractor, and under our Terms of Service disputes go to mediation first. We investigate every report, and a contractor can be suspended or removed from BuildConnect for poor or unsafe work.
- How do I see or delete the data you hold about me?
- Email support@buildconnect.africa and we will respond within 30 days, as POPIA requires. You can ask for access to your data, correct it, object to processing, withdraw consent, or have it deleted. The full detail, including our PAIA manual and our Information Officer, is in the Privacy Policy.
- I am a contractor. What can I do on the website?
- Sign in with the same email and password you use on the app. The website lets you browse open jobs, send quotes, track which of your quotes are still pending, and see the jobs you have won — including the address, which is released to you once your quote is accepted.
Messaging, invoicing, uploading your verification documents and managing your subscription stay in the mobile app for now. Each of those places on the website tells you so and links you to it.
This page explains how the product works. Where it differs from the Terms of Service or the Privacy Policy, those documents apply.