Builder deposits: the Northern Territory
The limit here is 5% of the total contracted price. What is true everywhere — and why the cap is not the protection — is on the main page.
The Northern Territory is the only jurisdiction here that prescribes the whole payment ladder in regulation, not just the deposit.
A standard schedule, set in law
Regulation 41H caps the deposit at 5% of the total contracted price. Regulation 41HA then sets standard progress payments for each stage that follows: no more than 10% after base, 20% after frame, 25% after enclosed, 30% after fixing and 7% after practical completion.
That is unusual and genuinely useful. Everywhere else the deposit is capped and the rest of the schedule is whatever the contract says, so a homeowner comparing two contracts is comparing two inventions. In the Territory there is a published default to compare against, and a schedule that departs from it is immediately visible as a departure rather than hiding in the ordinary variation between builders.
How to use the ladder
Lay the payment schedule in your contract beside the standard one and look at the shape, not just the total. Front-loading shows up as a larger-than-standard percentage early, and that is the risk that matters: money paid ahead of built work is the money you cannot get back if the company fails. Where a contract departs from the standard schedule, the departure has to be agreed and documented — so ask what the reason is, and get the answer in writing.
the Northern Territory: the numbers
- Maximum deposit
- 5% of the total contracted price
- After base stage
- No more than 10% of the total contracted price
- After frame stage
- No more than 20%
- After enclosed stage
- No more than 25%
- After fixing stage
- No more than 30%
- After practical completion
- No more than 7%
Read from Building Amendment (Financial Assets and Residential Building Contracts) Regulations 2012 (NT), regulations 41H and 41HA on 13 October 2026. We publish the date we read it so you can see how old this is — these limits change, and NT Consumer Affairs is the authority on what applies to your contract.
Questions about the Northern Territory deposits
What is the maximum deposit in the NT?
5% of the total contracted price, under regulation 41H. A prescribed building contractor must not request or receive more than that.
Is the rest of the schedule regulated too?
Yes — uniquely among the jurisdictions here. Regulation 41HA sets standard progress payments: no more than 10% after base stage, 20% after frame, 25% after enclosed, 30% after fixing and 7% after practical completion.
How should I use the standard schedule?
Lay your contract's schedule beside it and compare the shape, not the total. Front-loading shows up as a larger-than-standard percentage early, and money paid ahead of built work is what you cannot recover if the builder fails.