Builder deposits: the ACT
The limit here is no statutory limit. What is true everywhere — and why the cap is not the protection — is on the main page.
The ACT is the only jurisdiction on this site with no statutory cap on a building deposit at all. Every other state and territory sets one. Here, what you can be asked for is whatever the contract says.
No ceiling on the ask, a low ceiling on the recovery
Industry practice is usually up to 10% of the contract price, but practice is not law and a builder asking for more is not breaking a rule. The limit that does exist sits on the other side of the transaction: home owners warranty insurance will return a lost deposit only up to $10,000 where the work is not completed.
Put those two facts together and the ACT has the widest gap in the country between what can lawfully be asked and what can be recovered. On a $700,000 build, a 10% deposit is $70,000 and the cover returns $10,000 of it. The remaining $60,000 is unsecured against a company that may not exist in a year.
What to do with that
Since there is no cap to point at, the deposit is a negotiation rather than a legal question, and the only real protections are the ones you build into the contract. Keep the deposit as close to the insured figure as the builder will accept. Make every later payment follow completed work rather than preceding it. And ask what the deposit is actually funding — a deposit covering materials already ordered is a different proposition from one funding the builder's overheads.
the ACT: the numbers
- Maximum deposit
- No statutory limit on the initial deposit
- Common industry practice
- Usually up to 10% of the contract price
- Home owners warranty cover for a lost deposit
- Up to $10,000 if the work is not completed
- Statutory warranties apply to work over
- $12,000
Read from ACT Planning, Entering into a contract with a builder in the ACT on 13 October 2026. We publish the date we read it so you can see how old this is — these limits change, and Access Canberra is the authority on what applies to your contract.
Questions about the ACT deposits
Is there a maximum deposit in the ACT?
No. The ACT has no statutory limit on the initial deposit. Industry practice is usually up to 10% of the contract price, but practice is not law and a larger request breaks no rule.
How much would I get back if the builder failed?
Home owners warranty insurance returns a lost deposit only up to $10,000 where the work is not completed — so on a large build most of a typical deposit is unsecured.
What should I do instead?
Treat the deposit as a negotiation, since there is no cap to point at. Keep it as close to the $10,000 insured figure as the builder will accept, make later payments follow completed work, and ask what the deposit is actually funding.