Progress payments in New South Wales
Here, no percentages are set, but the law restricts what form a progress payment may take at all. What a progress payment is, and how the stages of a build line up, is on the main guide.
New South Wales does not set stage percentages. Only Victoria and the Northern Territory do. Here the amounts are whatever your contract says, and the law constrains how they may be claimed rather than how large they may be — so the check below is a different one.
New South Wales: what the law sets
- Deposit
- Maximum 10% of the contract price
- Stage percentages
- Not prescribed — set by the contract
- Permitted form 1
- Fixed amount or percentage on completion of a stage described in plain language
- Permitted form 2
- As work is performed and costs incurred, at fixed intervals or as invoiced, backed by documentation
- Permitted form 3
- A combination of the two
- Large job contract
- Over $20,000
Read from NSW Government, Contracts for residential building work on 26 October 2026. NSW Fair Trading is the authority on what applies to a particular contract, and a figure here is a ceiling rather than an entitlement.
New South Wales regulates the shape, not the size
There is no table of stage percentages in New South Wales. What the law does instead is restrict the kinds of progress payment a contract over $20,000 may use at all. There are three permitted forms, and a payment that is none of them does not belong in the contract.
The first is a fixed amount or percentage payable when a described stage is complete — and the stages must be described in plain language, which is a requirement about the words, not just the numbers. The second is payment as work is performed and costs incurred, at fixed intervals or as invoiced, supported by invoices, receipts or other documentation. The third is a combination.
What this is worth checking for
A payment schedule that is simply a list of dates, with no stage attached and no invoices behind it, is not one of the three permitted forms. That is a defect in the contract you can point at before signing, and it is a more useful check in New South Wales than arguing about whether 20% at frame is too much — because the state has not said what too much is.
The deposit is the one hard number: 10% of the contract price, and a deposit above that may not be recoverable under Home Building Compensation cover.
Questions about paying a builder in New South Wales
Is there a maximum percentage for each stage in NSW?
No. The contract sets the amounts. What the law sets is the permitted forms a progress payment may take, and a requirement that stages be described in plain language.
What is the maximum deposit in NSW?
10% of the contract price. Paying more than that may affect what you can recover under Home Building Compensation cover.
When must I have a written contract?
When the price is over $5,000 including GST, or where the price is unknown but the reasonable market cost of labour and materials exceeds $5,000.