What's in a building contract

Most Australian residential work runs on an industry standard form, commonly from the HIA or the Master Builders association in your state. The form is not the risk. What has been filled into it, struck out of it or appended to it is.

Read these clauses properly

The contract sum, and what sits outside it. Provisional sums and prime cost items are allowances, not prices. Check how each was set.

Progress payments. The stages and the percentage at each. Most states cap the deposit a builder may take on a residential contract, and the cap differs by state and sometimes by contract value — check the figure with your own regulator rather than assuming the contract complies.

Variations. How they are priced, who signs them, and whether work can proceed without a signature. The answer should be no.

Delay and extensions of time. What entitles the builder to more time, what notice they must give, and whether liquidated damages apply if they exceed it.

Rise and fall. A clause allowing the price to move with material costs. Common after 2022. Know whether yours has one.

Defects and the warranty period. What must be rectified, in what timeframe, and how a dispute escalates.

Termination. What each side can do if the other fails. Read this before you need it.

The documents that come with it

The drawings, the specification, the inclusions schedule and the engineering. Where the contract and the drawings disagree, the contract usually says which wins — find that clause.

Get it reviewed

By a solicitor who does building contracts, not a generalist and not your builder's recommendation. It costs a fraction of one variation and it is the cheapest risk reduction available on a project this size.

We do not review contracts. We tell you to get one reviewed, which is a different and more useful thing.

The documents the contract refers to

The contract is not only the signed pages. It incorporates the plans, the specification, the engineering, the schedule of provisional sums and prime cost items, and the exclusions. Those attachments are where the actual scope lives, and a dispute is almost always about them rather than about the terms.

Check that every document referred to is actually attached, that plan revision numbers match what you approved, and that the specification is the one you were quoted on. A contract that refers to a drawing revision you have never seen is a problem to solve before signing, not after.

Clauses worth reading twice

Variations. How they are priced, what margin applies, and whether written approval is required before work proceeds.

Progress payments. What each stage means and whether it represents completed work.

Extensions of time. What causes entitle the builder to more time, the notice period for claiming, and whether you are told in writing.

Liquidated damages. What you receive if the build runs past the contracted date, and what has to happen first for that to apply.

Defects and the liability period. How long, how defects are notified, and the builder's right to return and rectify.

Termination and dispute resolution. What each party may do, and what process applies before anyone can escalate.

What should not be blank

Dates, the contract sum, the payment schedule, the list of attached documents, the provisional sums schedule and the insurance details. A blank on a signing page is a decision deferred to whoever fills it in later.

Cooling off and statutory protections

Residential building contracts in most Australian states carry statutory implied warranties and, commonly, a cooling-off period — but the length, the conditions and what they cover differ by state and by contract value. Confirm the current position with your own state regulator rather than relying on general commentary, including this page. The registers are listed in how to check a builder's licence.