Fastbrick Robotics chief executive Mike Pivac said the robots would be able to build a house faster and more accurately than traditional methods.

"The home buyer is the real beneficiary of this. The time it takes to build a standard home is six to eight weeks, so the home buyer will save $20,000 to $30,000," he said.

"We've had commercial interest from 45 countries. The UK and Europe are strong market places for us at the moment. There are skill shortages there which have put upward pressure on house pricing and brick suppliers are very keen for automated systems to transition into the industry over the next few years."

Fastbrick's shares were issued at 2¢ and were trading at 2.7¢ at 3PM.

While the robots will put some bricklayers out of a job, Mr Pivac said the idea was to have them work alongside the robots, and to fill the skill shortage in the industry.

Fastbrick Robotics' Hadrian 109 robot will be able to lay the bricks for a four-bedroom house in two days. Supplied

"Bricklaying is seen as an unattractive trade for young people," he said.

"We have had many bricklayers come and see what we're doing and they're quite excited to work alongside a machine, which would take the heavy lifting out of their jobs and also give them the opportunity to extend their career."


Worker benefits

Mr Pivac said the average age of a bricklayer leaving the industry was late 40s, so they currently have to find new jobs between 50 and 70.

The project first began in 2006, but was abandoned during the global financial crisis. About two and a half years ago Mr Pivac picked it up again with the support of the industry.

To date Fastbrick Robotics has spent $7 million on the robots.

"What makes our technology special is that it's likely to be the first robot we see working outside of a controlled environment," Mr Pivac said.

"We're the first movers in the space... I expect we'll start to see a lot of automation enter not just construction, but other industries now that the technology is available to do it."

Eventually the company hopes the robots will be able to lay 1000 bricks in an hour.

It will be competing against US-based Construction Robotics, which has built a machine that works with bricklayers to complete jobs like laying bricks and applying mortar.

With these robots humans are indispensable, but the robots will be commercially available sooner.