diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b91ee9308..8b958631a 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ htmlcov
 .cache
 .npm-debug.log
 Dockerfile-e
-build/
 .vscode
 *.iml
 .DS_Store
diff --git a/static/js/services/build/build.service.impl.spec.ts b/static/js/services/build/build.service.impl.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a2e748206
--- /dev/null
+++ b/static/js/services/build/build.service.impl.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+import { BuildServiceImpl } from './build.service.impl';
+
+
+describe("BuildServiceImpl", () => {
+  var buildServiceImpl: BuildServiceImpl;
+  var build: {phase: string};
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    buildServiceImpl = new BuildServiceImpl();
+    build = {phase: ""};
+  });
+
+  describe("isActive", () => {
+    var phases: string[];
+
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      phases = ['complete', 'error', 'expired', 'cancelled'];
+    });
+
+    it("returns false if given build's phase matches an inactive phase", () => {
+      phases.forEach((phase: string) => {
+        build.phase = phase;
+
+        expect(buildServiceImpl.isActive(build)).toBe(false);
+      });
+    });
+
+    it("returns true if given build's phase does not match inactive phases", () => {
+      build.phase = 'initializing';
+
+      expect(buildServiceImpl.isActive(build)).toBe(true);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe("getBuildMessage", () => {
+    var buildMessages: {phase?: string, message: string}[];
+
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      buildMessages = [
+        {message: ""},
+        {phase: null, message: ""},
+        {phase: 'cannot_load', message: 'Cannot load build status'},
+        {phase: 'starting', message: 'Starting Dockerfile build'},
+        {phase: 'initializing', message: 'Starting Dockerfile build'},
+        {phase: 'waiting', message: 'Waiting for available build worker'},
+        {phase: 'unpacking', message: 'Unpacking build package'},
+        {phase: 'pulling', message: 'Pulling base image'},
+        {phase: 'building', message: 'Building image from Dockerfile'},
+        {phase: 'checking-cache', message: 'Looking up cached images'},
+        {phase: 'priming-cache', message: 'Priming cache for build'},
+        {phase: 'build-scheduled', message: 'Preparing build node'},
+        {phase: 'pushing', message: 'Pushing image built from Dockerfile'},
+        {phase: 'complete', message: 'Dockerfile build completed and pushed'},
+        {phase: 'error', message: 'Dockerfile build failed'},
+        {phase: 'expired', message: 'Build did not complete after 3 attempts. Re-submit this build to try again.'},
+        {phase: 'internalerror', message: 'An internal system error occurred while building; the build will be retried in the next few minutes.'},
+        {phase: 'cancelled', message: 'This build was previously cancelled.'},
+      ];
+    });
+
+    it("returns the correct message for the given phase", () => {
+      buildMessages.forEach((buildMessage) => {
+        expect(buildServiceImpl.getBuildMessage(buildMessage.phase)).toEqual(buildMessage.message, buildMessage);
+      });
+    });
+
+    it("throws an error if given phase is not supported", () => {
+      var phase: string = "not-a-phase";
+
+      try {
+        buildServiceImpl.getBuildMessage(phase);
+        fail("Should throw error");
+      } catch (error) {
+        expect(error.message).toEqual(`Invalid build phase: ${phase.toString()}`);
+      }
+    });
+  });
+});
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/static/js/services/build/build.service.impl.ts b/static/js/services/build/build.service.impl.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ace6ef7fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/static/js/services/build/build.service.impl.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+import { BuildService } from './build.service';
+import { Injectable } from 'ng-metadata/core';
+
+
+@Injectable(BuildService.name)
+export class BuildServiceImpl implements BuildService {
+
+  private inactivePhases: string[] = ['complete', 'error', 'expired', 'cancelled'];
+
+  public isActive(build: {phase: string}): boolean {
+    return this.inactivePhases.indexOf(build.phase) == -1;
+  }
+
+  public getBuildMessage(phase: string): string {
+    var message: string;
+    switch (phase) {
+      case null:
+      case undefined:
+        message = '';
+        break;
+
+      case 'cannot_load':
+        message = 'Cannot load build status';
+        break;
+
+      case 'starting':
+      case 'initializing':
+        message = 'Starting Dockerfile build';
+        break;
+
+      case 'waiting':
+        message = 'Waiting for available build worker';
+        break;
+
+      case 'unpacking':
+        message = 'Unpacking build package';
+        break;
+
+      case 'pulling':
+        message = 'Pulling base image';
+        break;
+
+      case 'building':
+        message = 'Building image from Dockerfile';
+        break;
+
+      case 'checking-cache':
+        message = 'Looking up cached images';
+        break;
+
+      case 'priming-cache':
+        message = 'Priming cache for build';
+        break;
+
+      case 'build-scheduled':
+        message = 'Preparing build node';
+        break;
+
+      case 'pushing':
+        message = 'Pushing image built from Dockerfile';
+        break;
+
+      case 'complete':
+        message = 'Dockerfile build completed and pushed';
+        break;
+
+      case 'error':
+        message = 'Dockerfile build failed';
+        break;
+
+      case 'expired':
+        message = 'Build did not complete after 3 attempts. Re-submit this build to try again.';
+        break;
+
+      case 'internalerror':
+        message = 'An internal system error occurred while building; ' +
+                  'the build will be retried in the next few minutes.';
+        break;
+
+      case 'cancelled':
+        message = 'This build was previously cancelled.';
+        break;
+
+      case 'incomplete':
+        message = 'This build was not completed.';
+        break;
+
+      default:
+        throw new Error(`Invalid build phase: ${phase.toString()}`);
+    }
+
+    return message;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/static/js/services/build/build.service.ts b/static/js/services/build/build.service.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8cdabbfae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/static/js/services/build/build.service.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+/**
+ * Service which provides helper methods for reasoning about builds.
+ */
+export abstract class BuildService {
+
+  /**
+   * Determine if the given build is active.
+   * @param build The build object.
+   * @return isActive If the given build is active.
+   */
+  public abstract isActive(build: {phase: string}): boolean;
+
+  /**
+   * Generate a message based on a given phase.
+   * @param phase The phase type.
+   * @return buildMessage The message associated with the given phase.
+   */
+  public abstract getBuildMessage(phase: string): string;
+}