The short version
- We collect what you type into the quote form or the block check, the files you attach, and what you send us by email.
- We use it to answer you, check your block, price your job and, if you go ahead, build it.
- Your enquiry comes to us as an email. Files you upload sit on Cloudflare for 180 days, then delete themselves.
- Follow-up emails are opt-in only: four at most, only if you tick the box, and every one has a one-click unsubscribe.
- The site uses Google Analytics (through Google Tag Manager) and the Meta Pixel to count visits, measure our ads and show our ads to people who have visited the site before. You can block both.
- We don't sell your information. We share it only with the services that run the site and our email, and, on a live job, with the trades, certifier or suppliers that job needs.
- Email howdy@bigsmall.au to see, fix or delete what we hold about you.
Who we are
Big Small Haus Pty Ltd is a licensed builder (QBCC 15506005) at 30 Light St, Fortitude Valley QLD 4006. We build granny flats, second homes, renovations and extensions, and install modular homes across South East Queensland. In this policy, we, us and our mean Big Small Haus Pty Ltd.
We use the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 as the standard for how we handle personal information. This page explains our practice in plain English. It isn't legal advice, and it doesn't change any right you have under the law.
What we collect
When you ask for a quote or a block check
The quote form asks for your name, email, mobile and the site address, whether you own the land, and what you're after. Depending on the job, it also asks about the block (size, slope, truck access), the build (type, size, who it's for, a modular maker and model if you've bought one, a delivery date), where you're up to (plans, approval, budget, timing, finance), how you found us, links and notes. The block check asks for a shorter set: name, email, mobile, address, whether you own the land, what you're after and notes.
You can attach up to eight photos or PDFs, 25 MB in total. Only images and PDFs are kept; other file types are dropped.
Both forms also carry two hidden fields that stop spam: one that only a bot would fill in, and the time the form was opened. We use them to filter out bots, nothing else.
When you email us
Whatever you put in the email, and your email address. If you email howdy@bigsmall.au or reply to us, the email sits in our inbox like any other.
When you visit the site
Google Analytics and the Meta Pixel record which pages you view, how you arrived, your device and browser type, a rough location worked out from your IP address, and whether you sent a form. They use cookies and similar identifiers to do it (see below). Cloudflare, which hosts the site, also processes your IP address and request details to deliver pages and keep the site secure.
We don't ask for, and don't want, sensitive information such as health details, and we don't collect bank or card details through the site.
Why we collect it and how we use it
- To answer your enquiry and give you a straight answer on whether the job fits.
- To check your block: we look up the address on council and state mapping and on Google Maps for zoning, lot size, overlays and access.
- To price the job, and, if you go ahead, to plan, approve, build and hand it over, including warranty and defects work.
- To keep the records a builder has to keep, such as contracts, approvals, insurance and tax records.
- To see which pages help people and which ads bring enquiries, so we spend less on the ones that don't.
- To keep the site and forms free of spam and abuse.
We don't send newsletters. The only marketing emails we send are the follow-up emails below, and only to people who tick the box asking for them.
Follow-up emails (only if you tick the box)
The quote form, the block check forms, the install cost calculator and the rent calculator each have a box, unticked unless you tick it, that says: "Send me a few useful emails about this kind of job. Four at most, unsubscribe any time." Tick it and we send up to four emails about your kind of job, on days 2, 5, 10 and 21. Leave it and you get none. The maker partner form never signs anyone up.
- What we keep: your email address, your name, the suburb from your address, which kind of job it is (granny flat or renovation), which emails have gone out and when, and whether you said the home is for rent.
- Proof you asked: the date and time you ticked the box, which form it was on, the exact words next to the box, the page, your IP address and your browser type. The Spam Act 2003 puts the onus on us to prove consent, so we keep this.
- Where: in Cloudflare's key-value storage (Cloudflare Workers KV), and the emails are sent through Cloudflare's email service from website@mail.bigsmall.au. Replies come to our quote inbox.
- Every email says who we are, with our ABN and address, and has a one-click unsubscribe link. It works straight away: no login, no second step. You can also reply "unsubscribe" or email howdy@bigsmall.au.
- If you reply and we're talking about your job, we take you out of the sequence by hand so it doesn't talk over a real conversation.
Where it goes
Your form isn't stored in a database (unless you tick the follow-up emails box, below). When you press send, the site turns it into one email to our quote inbox, sent through Cloudflare's email service. The email is set up so we can reply to you directly. Our email runs on Google Workspace, so the message is kept in our Google mailbox.
Files you upload are stored in Cloudflare's storage under a long random link, and that link goes in the email to us. The link isn't published anywhere and search engines are told not to index it, but anyone who has the exact link can open the file, so don't upload anything you wouldn't email. Smaller files are also attached to the email itself. Cloudflare deletes the stored copy automatically after 180 days.
Who we share it with
We don't sell, rent or trade your information. We share it only with:
- Cloudflare, which hosts the site, sends the form emails and the follow-up emails, and stores uploaded files and the follow-up email list.
- Google, which runs our email (Google Workspace), Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics.
- Meta (Facebook and Instagram), through the Meta Pixel, to measure our ads and show them to past visitors.
- On a job you've asked us to price or build, and only as far as that job needs: the trades, engineer, surveyor, certifier, council, modular maker, suppliers and insurers working on it. For example, the certifier needs your name and address to issue an approval, and QBCC home warranty insurance is taken out in your name.
- Anyone the law requires us to give it to, such as a regulator, a court or the tax office.
Each of these services handles data under its own privacy terms. We don't let them use your enquiry details for their own marketing.
Storage outside Australia
Cloudflare, Google and Meta run global networks. Your information may be stored or processed outside Australia, including in the United States and other countries where they have servers. We pick large providers with published security and privacy commitments, but we can't promise that overseas law gives the same protection as Australian law.
How long we keep it
| What | How long |
|---|---|
| Files uploaded through the forms (Cloudflare copy) | 180 days, then deleted automatically |
| Follow-up email list (if you ticked the box) | While the emails are going out. When the four are sent, or you unsubscribe, your record is kept two more years as proof you asked for them, then deleted automatically |
| Unsubscribe list | Kept for good, so we never email you again. It holds a one-way fingerprint (a hash) of your address, not the address itself |
| Quote and block check emails that don't become a job | Up to two years, so we can pick up where we left off if you come back, then deleted |
| Records for a job we build | As long as the law requires builders to keep them, and for the warranty and defects periods, then deleted |
| Google Analytics data | Kept by Google under the retention setting on our account, then deleted |
| Meta Pixel data | Kept by Meta under its own data policy |
Ask us to delete your enquiry sooner and we will, unless it's part of a job we have to keep records for.
Cookies and tracking
Our own code doesn't set cookies. The two tracking tools do:
- Google Tag Manager loads Google Analytics, which sets cookies (names starting with _ga) to tell one visit from the next and count pages viewed.
- The Meta Pixel sets a cookie (_fbp) and sends page views to Meta so we can see which ads lead to enquiries and show our ads to people who've visited.
The site works the same with these cookies blocked. The forms don't need them.
How to opt out of tracking
- Block or clear cookies in your browser settings, or browse in a private window.
- Use a content blocker that blocks Google Analytics and the Meta Pixel.
- Install Google's Analytics opt-out browser add-on.
- Change the ads you see in your Meta ad preferences and in Google's My Ad Center.
Keeping it safe
The site runs over HTTPS, so forms are encrypted on the way to us. Our email accounts use Google Workspace security, and only the people who work on your enquiry or job read it. Uploaded files delete themselves after 180 days. No system is perfectly secure; if we learn of a breach that's likely to cause you serious harm, we'll tell you and do what the law requires.
Seeing, fixing or deleting your information
Email howdy@bigsmall.au and tell us what you'd like: a copy of what we hold about you, a correction, or deletion. We'll confirm it's you, then reply within 30 days. There's no charge. If we can't do something, for example because the law makes us keep a job record, we'll tell you why in writing.
Complaints
If you think we've mishandled your information, email howdy@bigsmall.au with the details. We'll look into it and reply in writing within 30 days. If you're not happy with our answer, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
Changes to this policy
We update this page when the site or the way we work changes, for example a new form or a new tracking tool. The date at the top tells you which version you're reading. If a change affects information we already hold about you in a big way, we'll tell you by email.
Contact
Big Small Haus Pty Ltd, ABN 42 639 862 365, QBCC licence 15506005. 30 Light St, Fortitude Valley QLD 4006. Email howdy@bigsmall.au.