Mr Hastie's experience from decades in the building industry showed clients wanted to be kept better informed and have accessible communication with their builder.
From the builder's side, there was always a passion to give clients exactly what they wanted throughout the building process.
But sometimes clients were unhappy with the finished product: it might not have the ''wow factor''; the architect might not have grasped what they wanted; or there were cost overruns, he said.
Ever since he was 13, Mr Hastie knew he wanted to be a builder. The lightbulb moment came when he helped his father rebuild a shed that had burnt down on the farm where they lived.
Over the next 35 years, he learned to be a builder, construction manager and project manager and how to listen to people's wants and needs and understand their vision for their building projects, he said.
What frustrated him most was seeing clients not happy when they are handed the keys to their new home.
''Listening to the arguments of what was expected versus what was delivered and the disheartenment of not being delivered what they expected,'' he said.
It got Mr Hastie thinking that there must be a better way and he started looking for an online, cloud-based system to make the process easier and provide clients of Precision Builders Otago with full disclosure.
During his research, he found that up to 73% of projects failed, through running over budget, over time, not meeting the scope of works or the client's expectations, or not being finished at all.
He spent about two and a-half years working with a United States-based developer to come up with what they call the Precisely system.
Whether the project was a new house build, alterations or renovations, Precisely showed everything to do with the project in one place, accessible 24 hours a day.
A client could view how the project was tracking, photographs could be shared, budgets showed financial tracking, a work schedule was provided, all selections for the likes of fittings, paint colours and carpet were logged, and all communications, including emails, were recorded.
Other approved relevant parties, such as architects, sub-contractor and banks, could be invited to monitor progress.
Mr Hastie cited an example of doing insurance work following flooding earlier this year in South Dunedin. A Nelson-based insurance assessor was able to log on and view progress without needing to continually contact Mr Hastie.
''The best thing is it's transparent. It's all there in black and white. Nobody can argue with it. We give you what you want,'' he said.
While there were still some things to be added to the program, it was working well from a client's point of view and he believed it to be the only such system in Otago.
''It's pretty easy to follow all the way through. You don't have to go and do a diploma to work out how to use it. It's all easy and simple,'' he said.
Not only did it put a client's mind at ease but it also streamlined the process from the management side.
Building projects were a major investment for people, even renovations, and they needed to have the ''wow factor'' when they were completed, he said.
Building was a competitive industry and Precision Builders Otago had a point of difference. As the business grew, there was a need to employ more staff but the hardest thing was get those with the right aptitude, he said.
