Enterprise DNA

Instead of Visual Approvals

Paying Visual Approvals per approval? Own your certification desk.

We build your version around how your certifiers assess, inspect and lodge. We bring your Visual Approvals register across, set your state rules and run it for you.

Visual Approvals lists Accelerate at $725 a month plus GST for five users and 40 approvals, then $27.50 for each building approval over the allotment. That is $8,700 a year before the extra approvals.

Get your version built See it working
  • check_circleYour data in a database you own
  • check_circleOpen source, no lock-in
  • check_circleBuilt and run by Enterprise DNA

The Visual Approvals bill

What a certification practice pays for, line by line

Visual Approvals publishes its plans. Most of the bill grows with how busy you are, not with what the software does for each job.

payments

A monthly plan

Foundation is $300 a month plus GST for two users and 20 approvals. Accelerate is $725 a month for five users and 40 approvals.

trending_up

A charge on every extra approval

Each building approval over your monthly allotment is $27.50 under 100 a month, and $22.50 from 100 to 200. A good month costs more.

person_add

Paying for each new user

An extra user licence is a one-time $275 plus GST, capped by plan. Growing the team means moving plan.

draw

Signatures and messages as add-ons

E-sign, SMS and the quote portal each carry a setup fee, and sends beyond the included number are charged.

cloud

Storage on top

Plans and documents are stored for an annual fee, with a charge for each terabyte over the first.

lock

Your register in their system

Visual Approvals lists standard and custom reports, but publishes no export format. Your job history lives where the subscription lives.

Your own certification desk

The job file, the state rules and the money in one place

COUNCIL

Every approval reaches council on time

Each decision starts the clock your state sets, counted the way the law counts it.

  • check Queensland: five business days, skipping weekends and the public holidays you add
  • check Victoria: seven days after the permit is issued
  • check New South Wales: two days after determination
  • check Late lodgements stay on the record, so an audit finds nothing new

INSPECTIONS

No final with a stage uninspected

The required stages for each state and building class are listed against every job.

  • check A final certificate is refused while any required stage has no passed inspection
  • check A frame passed with no slab inspection is flagged the same day
  • check Failed inspections with no reinspection booked come to the top
  • check A stage that does not apply is recorded with the reason, never quietly dropped

PRACTICE

Registrations, conflicts and requests in view

The things a regulator asks about are on the list before anyone asks.

  • check Registrations expiring in the next 60 days
  • check A design role or financial interest recorded when the job opens
  • check A decision blocked while the applicant still owes information
  • check Each change saved with who made it and when

MONEY

Fees, quotes and the month in numbers

Know what is quoted, approved, invoiced and owed without running a report.

  • check Fee proposals waiting more than two weeks for an answer
  • check Fees not yet invoiced and invoices not yet paid, by builder
  • check Approvals issued each month by type, the number a per-approval plan charges on
  • check Inspection records, fee proposals and job file summaries in your own branding

Make it yours

Design your own Visual Approvals replacement

Everything starts from the open-source base. Then it gets your name, the parts you run, your rules and your data from Visual Approvals. Try it here, and we build the real one.

2. What it runs

3. Make it fit

4. Your colour

Your business · your Visual Approvals replacement Your version
YB Your business

auto_awesome

Answered from your own database

Build my version

We build it from the open-source base, bring your Visual Approvals data across and run it for you.

What it looks like

Ask it like you would ask a colleague

Real answers from the demo data that ships with Building Certification for Claude Code. It runs in Claude Code inside the Claude app, so it feels like any chat you already use.

forum

Building Certification for Claude Code

Connected to your own database

Which approvals still have to reach council, and how long do we have?

J-0001

Jurisdiction
NSW
Council
Harbourview Council (demo)
Decided on
2026-11-08
Due on
2026-11-10
Days left
-2

J-0012

Jurisdiction
QLD
Council
Riverbend City Council (demo)
Decided on
2026-11-09
Due on
2026-11-16
Days left
4

Ask it anything

Ten questions to ask your job file

Each one is answered today from the free version and the demo practice.

chat_bubble Which approvals have not reached council inside our state's clock?
chat_bubble Which jobs have a later stage passed but an earlier required stage never inspected?
chat_bubble Which final certificates went out with a required stage uninspected?
chat_bubble Which failed inspections have no reinspection booked?
chat_bubble Which booked inspections never had a result recorded?
chat_bubble Which fee proposals have waited more than two weeks for an answer?
chat_bubble Which applicants are late with information we asked for?
chat_bubble Whose registration lapses in the next 60 days?
chat_bubble Which jobs on site have gone quiet for 90 days?
chat_bubble How many approvals did we issue each month, by type?

Switching

How to switch from Visual Approvals

A move usually involves exporting your applications, checking how your fields and rules map, then running both systems side by side before you stop using Visual Approvals.

  1. 1

    Export your application register

    Run the Visual Approvals report that lists your applications and save it as a spreadsheet, usually CSV if your plan allows it. Visual Approvals does not publish an export format, so check with them about what your account can export. If your reports will not provide a spreadsheet, ask Visual Approvals for your data.

  2. 2

    Load a test run first

    Bring the report into Building Certification and start with the test run. It writes nothing, so you can check the results before records are added. The importer matches usual column names and can use a mapping when yours differ. Keep the original report available while you check the mapping and results.

  3. 3

    Review the import flags

    Check which rows need attention before relying on the new records. The import keeps every original row and flags new certifiers until their registration details are entered. The register import does not bring across inspection history, lodgement dates or payments, so plan to enter those after the import if you need them in the new system.

  4. 4

    Run both systems side by side

    For a short period, keep Visual Approvals available while you use the new database for live work. Compare the job records and check that your team can follow the new process for approvals, inspections and council lodgements. Use this period to spot missing information or field mappings that need adjusting before you make the new system your main record.

  5. 5

    Switch off Visual Approvals

    Once you have checked the imported records and your team is working from the new database, stop entering new work in Visual Approvals. Confirm that any history you chose to bring across has been recorded, then end or cancel the Visual Approvals service through its usual process. Keep any records you still need according to your practice's record keeping requirements.

construction

Where the real effort goes

The main work is usually mapping your own fields and rules, then deciding how much history to bring across. The register import covers applications, while inspections, lodgement dates and payments are entered after it. For open jobs, the customised version can also include inspection history, payments and documents. If you have Enterprise DNA install and run it, they handle this migration work with you.

Not ready for a call?

Get your Visual Approvals switch plan by email

We will send you the step-by-step plan for moving your business off Visual Approvals, what the move really involves, and how we would do it for you.

One email with your plan. No spam, and you can unsubscribe any time.

Three ways to own it

Do it yourself, have it customised, or have it run for you

Open source

Do it yourself

Free, open source

  1. 1 Clone the repo, run npm install and npm run demo
  2. 2 Open it in Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode or Cursor and type /attention
  3. 3 Save a Visual Approvals register report as CSV, if yours allows it, and test the import with --dry-run
  4. 4 Check the state rules in docs/compliance.md and add your public holidays
Get it on GitHub

Built around your business

We customise it

One setup fee, then a retainer for ongoing work

  • check Your stages, fee rules and document layouts
  • check Your Visual Approvals register and open jobs brought across and checked
  • check An inspection app for site, or a web screen, if your team wants one
  • check Your accounting system, document store and council lodgement routine connected
Get your version built

Omni by Enterprise DNA

We run it for you

One setup fee, then a retainer

  • check Installed with your access, backups and records agreed
  • check The Monday review, lodgement deadlines and reinspections prepared each week
  • check Kept current as your team, states and rules change
  • check Run through Omni by Enterprise DNA beside the rest of your practice
Book a 30-minute review

Questions

Instead of Visual Approvals, answered

What does Visual Approvals cost? expand_more

Its pricing page lists Foundation at $300 a month plus GST and Accelerate at $725 a month plus GST, with Advantage priced on application. Building approvals over the monthly allotment are $27.50 each under 100 a month. E-sign, SMS, storage and extra users are charged on top. The free version has no licence fee. Enterprise DNA agrees one setup fee, then a retainer, to build and run your version.

Do the deadlines and stages match our state? expand_more

The free version carries the Queensland and Victorian lodgement times and inspection stages from the legislation, and the New South Wales ones from official guidance, each with its source. Your certifier confirms them before you rely on them. It is a working check for your practice, not legal advice, and we set your exact rules when we build your version.

Can our inspectors still write up on site? expand_more

Visual Approvals has an inspection app that works offline. The free version records results after the visit. If your inspectors record on site, Enterprise DNA builds that into your version, with photos going to the document store you already use.

Can we bring our jobs across? expand_more

Yes, from a report of your applications saved as a spreadsheet. A test run comes first and changes nothing. Every original row is kept, and the same file cannot be brought in twice. If your reports will not give you a spreadsheet, getting the records out is part of what Enterprise DNA does in the customised version, along with inspection history, payments and documents on open jobs.

What happens to the NSW Planning Portal and council lodgement? expand_more

Nothing changes in how you lodge. The free version records the date you lodged and tells you when a deadline is close or missed. It never submits anything itself.

Bring your Visual Approvals invoice and one job file to Sam

Spend 30 minutes with Sam. Bring last quarter's invoice, your approvals count and one live job. We will show your deadlines and stages in the demo, and what your own version needs.

Book a 30-minute review Get the free version

Building Certification for Claude Code is free and open source, published by Enterprise DNA.

Done paying for Visual Approvals?

Get your version built