For premium building product manufacturers outside Australia

Get specified in Australia without hiring in Australia.

An outsourced specification rep for Australia's finest homes, from A$5m to A$100m, in every state and territory. In front of the architects, interior designers and builders who specify them within 30 days, for about a third of the cost of a hire.

Book a 20 minute call See the programme Fixed prices. No commission only. No lock in beyond six months.

A$150k to 190kThe fully loaded cost of one in house spec rep in Australia, before the 12 to 24 months it takes to pay back

8 a monthQualified specifier conversations on live projects. The floor on every retainer, not the target

5 statesWhere I win specifications today for a premium Australian manufacturer, on architect designed homes

The reality

Your distributor sells what is asked for. Nobody is asking for you.

Most overseas brands enter Australia through an importer or a distributor. The distributor carries thirty lines, its reps sell whatever an architect already wants, and the showroom waits for people to walk in. Your product sits in the catalogue.

The specification goes to the brand whose rep sat in the architect's office last Tuesday with a sample, a Revit file and a straight answer on the NCC evidence. Then, at builder stage, an "or equivalent" substitution takes out the brands that nobody is defending.

Hiring that person costs A$150,000 to 190,000 a year and a year or two to pay back. This is the alternative.

What I represent

Sixteen categories that decide how Australia's finest homes look, feel and perform.

I carry a maximum of three non competing lines at once. Each category below has its own gates in Australia, and knowing them is what gets a European product past the technical review and into the schedule.

Kitchen and bath

Kitchens and joinery systems

Chosen at concept by the architect and interior designer. Won on lead time certainty, a local installer and a sample in the studio.

Appliances and range cookers

Drawn into the kitchen plan by the designer, not the builder. Needs Australian electrical and gas certification and local service cover.

Tapware, baths and basins

WaterMark, WELS and the lead free LF mark decide whether a European tap can be specified at all.

Interiors

Door and joinery hardware

Chosen on the schedule months before a joiner is appointed. Won with sample boards and finish libraries in the designer's office.

Internal doors and glass partitions

Pivot and flush doors define the interior. Needs evidence of suitability, Revit content and an installer the builder trusts.

Staircases

Engineered at design stage and certified against the NCC for balustrades and loads, so the decision is made early.

Timber floors

Durability, Illegal Logging due diligence and a sample board on the desk when the finishes schedule is written.

Tiles, stone and surfaces

AS 4586 slip ratings for wet and outdoor areas, and a sample library the designer can pull from.

Wallcoverings, plaster and paint

The interior designer's call on every project. Group numbers for linings and low emission evidence close the specification.

Envelope

Window and sliding systems

An AS 2047 test report, energy performance against the NCC, and an installer the builder will warrant.

Facades and cladding

Non combustibility under AS 1530.1 since the cladding bans, then bushfire ratings on coastal and rural sites.

Shading and blinds

Detailed into the facade and ceiling early. Wind ratings and concealed box details win the drawing.

Living, wellness and access

Fireplaces

Flue detailing at design stage, Australian emissions standards for solid fuel and gas certification for Australia.

Outdoor living, pergolas and kitchens

On every coastal and Queensland project. Wind, corrosion and bushfire ratings decide what can be specified.

Saunas, steam and spa

Now expected above A$5m. Decided early because of plant space, drainage and electrical loads.

Home lifts

Common in multi level coastal and city homes, and fixed at design stage because of the shaft and pit.

Not represented: lighting, lighting control, home automation and electrical products.

Who this is for

Premium brands that belong in Australia's best homes, and are not yet in the schedules.

This is for you if

You make products in one of the categories above, priced and positioned for architect designed homes rather than volume building.
You sell into Australia through a distributor, an importer or a dealer network, and nobody employed by you is in front of specifiers.
Your turnover is roughly A$5m to A$300m, and a full time Australian hire is a bigger bet than the market has earned yet.
You want projects in schedules and a pipeline you can see, measured monthly, rather than a promise about revenue in two years.

This is not for you if

You make lighting, lighting control or electrical products. I have an existing client in that category and I do not take competing lines.
You have no Australian stock, no importer and no compliance evidence yet. The diagnostic is built for exactly that gap, and I will tell you so on the call.
You want commission only. A rep paid nothing for twelve months behaves like it, and architects can tell.
You already have a specification team in all three states.

The programme

Three stages. Fixed prices. Measured on what a spec rep controls.

Stage 1

Specification Diagnostic

A$3,500Fixed fee, 14 days

Compliance gap list against NCC 2022 and NCC 2025, state by state: the evidence you hold and the evidence you are missing
Audit of your distributor, importer or dealers, and what they do and do not do for specification
Twenty named practices and builders in NSW, VIC and QLD who specify your category, with the decision maker identified
Price and substitution risk against the Australian brands you will be swapped for
Ninety day specification plan with owners and dates
A clear go or no go recommendation for your board

A written plan and a 60 minute presentation. Yours to run with anyone, and credited in full against month one of the retainer.

Stage 2

Specification Retainer

A$6,500Per month, six month minimum

A floor of eight qualified specifier conversations a month on live projects
A live project pipeline: named projects at concept and design stage, decision maker identified, updated weekly
Samples, Revit and CAD content, NATSPEC worksection and ArchiPro listing, coordinated with your distributor
CPD and lunch and learn sessions booked and delivered
Substitution defence at builder stage, so the product you were specified for is the product that gets ordered
Monthly specification report, a weekly ten line update and one 45 minute call a week

Twelve to fifteen hours a week on your line. Invoiced monthly in advance. Thirty days notice after the minimum term.

Stage 3

Scale or hire

A$6,500Per month, rolling

Continue month to month once the pipeline is proven
Add WA, SA or ACT coverage from the same base
Or hand over to a permanent Australian hire, with the pipeline, relationships and CPD programme already built, and help recruiting them

Most brands know by month six whether Australia justifies a full time person. The retainer is how you find out without betting the salary first.

A success fee of three percent of invoiced sales on projects I source, for the first twelve months of each project, sits in a separate letter. It rewards the outcome without pretending a spec rep controls a builder's order date.

How it starts

From first call to first specifier meeting in 30 days.

Week 0

The call

Twenty minutes on your range, your Australian route and the gates that apply. You leave with a clear view either way.

Weeks 1 to 2

The diagnostic

Compliance gaps, channel audit, twenty named targets and a ninety day plan, presented to your team.

Weeks 3 to 4

Set up

Samples, Revit and data in hand, your distributor aligned, the first practices contacted.

Day 30

In the room

First specifier meetings on live projects, and the pipeline sheet you will see every week from now on.

The cost

Against every other way of putting a person in front of Australian specifiers.

Good mid level specification people in Sydney and Brisbane are scarce, and the ones with real A&D networks field several offers at once. Specification work shows results over twelve to eighteen months, while most in house roles are judged monthly, which is why good reps leave. Generic outsourced business development agencies cost as much and have never read a reflected ceiling plan.

In house figures from Australian A&D recruitment data for 2025 to 2026, including superannuation, car allowance and on costs. Agency figures from published Australian outsourced business development pricing.

In house specification rep, fully loaded	A$12,500 to 16,000 a month
Time for an in house hire to pay back	12 to 24 months
Generic outsourced sales agency	A$6,000 to 15,000 a month
Commission only agent	Nothing upfront, and rarely in front of a specifier
Specification Retainer	A$6,500 a month
Time to first specifier meetings	30 days

Compliance

The gates an Australian architect checks before your name goes in a schedule.

Most overseas brands lose the specification before the design conversation starts, because the evidence they hold is the wrong shape for Australia. The diagnostic maps these against your range. On retainer, I carry the answers into every meeting.

NCC A5G3Evidence of suitability. CodeMark Australia, an accredited lab report (NATA or ILAC), an engineer's certificate or a Product Technical Statement. A European test certificate on its own is not evidence.

NCC 2025Adopted in ACT and Victoria from 1 May 2026, deferred to 1 May 2027 in NSW and Queensland. Evidence has to hold against both editions through 2027.

WaterMark and WELSMandatory for tapware, showers, valves and sanitaryware. Since 1 May 2026, copper alloy products in contact with drinking water need the lead free LF mark at 0.25 percent or under.

AS 1530.1 and AS 5113Non combustible external walls on Type A and B construction. NSW and Victoria ban most polyethylene core composite panels outright.

AS 2047 and AS 1288Windows need a full accredited test report and a visible compliance label, with safety glass to AS/NZS 2208. Glass certification alone does not prove the window.

AS 5637 Group numberInternal linings need a Group 1 to 3 rating from full scale or correlated cone testing. Unsprinklered buildings add smoke limits.

AS 4586 slipP ratings for flooring and tiles. Mandated on stairs and ramps, and routinely demanded everywhere else.

E0 and Green StarE0 formaldehyde is the de facto floor for board products. From 2026, five star Green Star projects need upfront carbon reductions, which makes an EPD close to compulsory on commercial tenders.

Timber and biosecurityThe Illegal Logging Prohibition Rules, in force since March 2025, require a written due diligence system. BICON import conditions and approved treatments apply to timber and natural products.

Specification channelNATSPEC branded worksections, ArchiPro and Archify listings, Revit content, sample libraries, and AIA Refuel and DIA accredited CPD. The infrastructure that turns a meeting into a schedule entry.

Track record

I do this job today. The only difference is whose product is in the bag.

Specification consultant to a premium Australian lighting manufacturer

Winning specifications with architects, interior designers and builders across NSW, Victoria, Queensland, ACT and Western Australia. Takeoffs from reflected ceiling plans, schedules, control integration with home automation specialists, and the builder stage conversations that stop substitution.

Project intelligence before the tender

Built and run a pre tender intelligence service for Australian commercial fitout contractors, tracking club redevelopments, hospitality venues and retail rollouts across NSW, ACT and Victoria with named decision makers. The same method builds the live pipeline on every retainer.

Export development across Asia Pacific

Founder of Your Export Solutions, representing British food and drink brands across Singapore and Southeast Asia, with supplier registrations held at major retail groups. More than a decade of selling other people's products into markets they do not live in.

Why Bali and not Sydney

Australian specifiers work by email, Teams and site meetings, and the person who answers in twenty minutes with the right test report wins more schedules than the person with the nearest office. I work Australian hours every working day, and I am on the ground across Australia when a project or a CPD programme needs it.

On retainer

What a week looks like once we start.

Monday

Pipeline review. Every live project with your product in play: its stage, the decision maker, the next action and the substitution risk, checked against new tenders and planning approvals.

Tuesday to Thursday

Specifier meetings, sample follow up, plan and schedule reviews, same day answers on compliance, CPD sessions, and builder conversations wherever a specification is under pressure.

Our weekly call

Forty five minutes with your export or sales director. What moved, what I need from the factory, and decisions on pricing or samples.

Friday

A written update of no more than ten lines. At month end, a one page report: conversations held, projects added, specifications won and specifications defended.

Questions

Straight answers.

Will this upset our distributor?

It will make them money. A spec rep creates demand that the distributor fulfils. I work alongside your Australian partner, keep them in every project and never take an order away from them. The brands that struggle are the ones whose distributor is expected to do specification and does not.

How do you measure success when specification cycles run twelve to eighteen months?

On what a spec rep controls: conversations with named specifiers on live projects, projects where your product is in the schedule, CPD sessions delivered and substitutions defended. Revenue follows those numbers with a lag, and the monthly report shows the lag closing.

Can you represent more than one brand?

Yes, which is how architectural agents in Australia work. I carry a maximum of three non competing lines. An architect gets a reason to see me that is bigger than one product, and you get a rep who is already in the room.

What do you need from us?

Technical data and every test report you hold, samples, Revit and CAD files, Australian pricing and trade terms, an introduction to your distributor, and one named person at the factory who answers technical questions within three working days.

What if we want someone in Sydney full time eventually?

Then the retainer is how you earn it. By month six you will know whether the pipeline justifies the salary. If it does, you hire into a built pipeline, built relationships and a running CPD programme, and I help you recruit.

Why not pay you on commission?

Because commission only puts the whole risk of a twelve month specification cycle on the rep, and the rep responds by chasing quick orders instead of the project that pays in 2028. The success fee rewards the outcome. The retainer pays for the work that creates it.

Next step

Twenty minutes to find out whether Australia is worth it.

Where your product sits today, which compliance gates apply to your range, who is specifying your category, and whether the diagnostic is the right next move. If it is not, I will say so.

Book a 20 minute call

Or email giles@taarland.com

Calls run in European and UK mornings and in Australian business hours.