diff --git a/api/util/apps.go b/api/util/apps.go
index 5b81efb..57fbfaa 100644
--- a/api/util/apps.go
+++ b/api/util/apps.go
@@ -107,6 +107,16 @@ func EnvVarToString(envs apps.EnvVars) string {
 	return strings.Join(keyValuePairs, ";")
 }
 
+func EnvVarByName(envVars apps.EnvVars, name string) *apps.EnvVar {
+	for _, e := range envVars {
+		if e.Name == name {
+			return &e
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 type GitAuth struct {
 	Username      *string
 	Password      *string
diff --git a/update/application.go b/update/application.go
index b171fc1..e76cd13 100644
--- a/update/application.go
+++ b/update/application.go
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ import (
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 )
 
+// BuildTrigger is used to request a retry-build for the application.
+const BuildTrigger = "BUILD_TRIGGER"
+
 // all fields need to be pointers so we can detect if they have been set by
 // the user.
 type applicationCmd struct {
@@ -27,6 +30,7 @@ type applicationCmd struct {
 	BuildEnv       *map[string]string `help:"Environment variables names which are passed to the app build process."`
 	DeleteBuildEnv *[]string          `help:"Build environment variables which are to be deleted."`
 	DeployJob      *deployJob         `embed:"" prefix:"deploy-job-"`
+	RetryBuild     *bool              `help:"Retries build for the application if set to true." placeholder:"false"`
 }
 
 type gitConfig struct {
@@ -137,10 +141,15 @@ func (cmd *applicationCmd) applyUpdates(app *apps.Application) {
 	}
 	app.Spec.ForProvider.Config.Env = util.UpdateEnvVars(app.Spec.ForProvider.Config.Env, env, delEnv)
 
-	var buildEnv map[string]string
-	if cmd.Env != nil {
+	buildEnv := make(map[string]string)
+	if cmd.BuildEnv != nil {
 		buildEnv = *cmd.BuildEnv
 	}
+
+	if cmd.RetryBuild != nil && *cmd.RetryBuild {
+		buildEnv[BuildTrigger] = time.Now().UTC().Format(time.RFC3339)
+	}
+
 	var buildDelEnv []string
 	if cmd.DeleteEnv != nil {
 		buildDelEnv = *cmd.DeleteBuildEnv
diff --git a/update/application_test.go b/update/application_test.go
index 70ccadd..90459b1 100644
--- a/update/application_test.go
+++ b/update/application_test.go
@@ -125,6 +125,8 @@ func TestApplication(t *testing.T) {
 				assert.Equal(t, *cmd.DeployJob.Name, updated.Spec.ForProvider.Config.DeployJob.Name)
 				assert.Equal(t, *cmd.DeployJob.Timeout, updated.Spec.ForProvider.Config.DeployJob.Timeout.Duration)
 				assert.Equal(t, *cmd.DeployJob.Retries, *updated.Spec.ForProvider.Config.DeployJob.Retries)
+				// RetryBuild should be not set by default:
+				assert.Nil(t, util.EnvVarByName(updated.Spec.ForProvider.BuildEnv, BuildTrigger))
 			},
 		},
 		"reset env variables": {
@@ -209,6 +211,26 @@ func TestApplication(t *testing.T) {
 				assert.Nil(t, updated.Spec.ForProvider.Config.DeployJob)
 			},
 		},
+		"retry build": {
+			orig: existingApp,
+			cmd: applicationCmd{
+				Name:       pointer.String(existingApp.Name),
+				RetryBuild: pointer.Bool(true),
+			},
+			checkApp: func(t *testing.T, cmd applicationCmd, orig, updated *apps.Application) {
+				assert.NotNil(t, util.EnvVarByName(updated.Spec.ForProvider.BuildEnv, BuildTrigger))
+			},
+		},
+		"do not retry build": {
+			orig: existingApp,
+			cmd: applicationCmd{
+				Name:       pointer.String(existingApp.Name),
+				RetryBuild: pointer.Bool(false),
+			},
+			checkApp: func(t *testing.T, cmd applicationCmd, orig, updated *apps.Application) {
+				assert.Nil(t, util.EnvVarByName(updated.Spec.ForProvider.BuildEnv, BuildTrigger))
+			},
+		},
 	}
 
 	for name, tc := range cases {