Cooling off: Tasmania
In Tasmania, 5 business days from the receipt day, not the signing day. The three things that quietly remove the right are on the main page.
Tasmania's provisions are set out in the Act in unusual detail, and the detail is worth having, because the clock here is defined by a term most people have never heard.
The receipt day
The five business days run from the receipt day, not from signing. Section 33(1) defines it as when you receive the signed contract and the residential building consumer guide — and where those arrive on different days, the later one is the receipt day.
Section 33(4) then does something genuinely protective: if five business days pass after signing and no receipt day has happened, you may still withdraw, and section 33(5) confirms that a receipt day arriving later does not take that right away. In other words the period cannot be run out by simply not sending you the documents.
What removes the right, and what withdrawing costs
Section 34 takes the right away in two situations: a previous contract between the same parties on substantially the same terms for the same building or land (s 34(3)), and formal legal advice received about the contract before you entered it (s 34(4)). Telling the contractor afterwards that you had such advice counts too.
If the consumer guide was never provided at all, section 35(2) gives a separate seven-day window from when you became aware of it. On a withdrawal under section 33, the contractor may retain $100 plus reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred before withdrawal (s 37(1)); beyond that you are not liable for withdrawing (s 37(7)). The notice itself must be signed, in writing, and must state the section you are relying on (s 36).
Tasmania: the position
- Cooling-off period
- 5 business days after the receipt day (s 33(3))
- The receipt day
- When you receive the signed contract and the consumer guide — if they arrive on different days, the later one (s 33(1))
- If 5 business days pass after signing with no receipt day
- You may still withdraw, and a later receipt day does not remove that right (s 33(4)–(5))
- If the consumer guide was never given
- Withdraw within 7 days of becoming aware it should have been (s 35(2))
- What the contractor may retain
- $100 plus reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred before withdrawal (s 37(1))
- No right to withdraw if
- A previous substantially similar contract between the same parties (s 34(3)), or formal legal advice received before signing (s 34(4))
Read from Residential Building Work Contracts and Dispute Resolution Act 2016 (Tas), sections 33 to 38 on 23 October 2026. We publish the date we read it so you can judge how current it is. Consumer Affairs Tasmania is the authority on what applies to your contract — and on a deadline measured in days, asking them beats reading us.
Questions about cancelling in Tasmania
When does the Tasmanian cooling-off period start?
From the receipt day, not from signing. Section 33(1) defines that as when you receive the signed contract and the consumer guide — and where they arrive on different days, the later one counts.
What if the builder simply never sends the documents?
Section 33(4) covers it: if five business days pass after signing with no receipt day, you may still withdraw, and s 33(5) confirms a later receipt day does not remove that right. The period cannot be run out by withholding paperwork.
Can I lose the right?
Section 34 removes it where there was a previous substantially similar contract between the same parties, or where you received formal legal advice about the contract before entering it — including if you told the contractor afterwards that you had.
What does withdrawing cost?
Under s 37(1) the contractor may retain $100 plus reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred before withdrawal. Beyond that, s 37(7) says you are not liable for withdrawing. The notice must be signed, written, and state the section relied on.