roughly

How Roughly works

What it covers

34 trades, from concreting and tree work to plumbing, electrical and solar, plus a page of ACT and Australian Government rebates. Each trade has the Canberra rules that change the answer built in: approvals, licences, asbestos, shared fences, protected trees and who fixes what.

Where the numbers come from

Every ballpark is worked out from published Canberra price guides, never from a particular business's prices. We show a range (low to high) and a typical figure, because real jobs vary. Where we add our own allowance, such as for tricky access, we say so on the estimate. Rules and rebates come from the official sources: ACT legislation, ACT Government pages, WorkSafe ACT, Icon Water and Evoenergy. Every source shows the date we last checked it, and we recheck them every three months.

Who runs Roughly

Roughly is run by Crosstalk Studios, a small Canberra studio that also makes baseDNA, website and business software for local trades. Being upfront about that matters: the businesses we suggest for a real quote use our software.

Getting a real quote

After your estimate you can ask for a real quote. If you tick the box, we send your details and the estimate to the one business named on the form, and no one else. We don't sell your details, add you to a mailing list or call you ourselves.

The businesses we work with today: North Canberra Concrete (concreting) and Olive Branch Tree Service (tree work). For other trades, Roughly gives the ballpark only.

What we learn from estimates

We keep anonymous counts of what people price (for example “a 40 m² driveway”), with no names or contact details. It helps us see what jobs Canberra needs and keep the ranges honest.