The bigger the job, the more a Sydney builder owes you
General information about NSW home building law, not legal advice. Not a government website. For your own job, Building Commission NSW is on 13 27 00.
Over $5,000, the builder needs a licence and must give you a written contract. Over $20,000, compensation cover has to be in place before any money changes hands. So says the NSW Government. Find your job’s price along the ground, then read up.
Index
or less:
specialist
work onlyOver $5,000,
to $20,000Over $20,000Any price, for specialist work
Price of the job, including GST
Over $20,000
Small job contract, then a large one Consumer Building Guide before you sign Written contractOver $5,000
Statutory warranties Deposit of 10% at most LicenceAny price, for specialist work
From the Home Building Act 1989 and the Home Building Regulation 2014.
Before you sign
For a job over $20,000, the law puts a checklist for you inside the contract itself. The NSW Government prints the full checklist, and it is a good order of checks for a job of any size.
Eight of the 17 questions in the checklist that a written home building contract for work worth more than $20,000 must contain:
- Have you checked that contractor holds a current contractor licence?
- Is the name and number on the contractor’s licence the same as on the contract?
- Does the contract clearly state a contract price or contain a warning that the contract price is not known?
- Are you aware of the cooling off provisions relating to the contract?
- Is the deposit within the legal limit of 10%?
- Does the contract include details of the progress payments payable under the contract?
- Do you understand that you are not required to pay the contractor a deposit or any progress payments until the contractor has given you a certificate of insurance under Part 6 or 6B of the Home Building Act 1989 (except where the work is of a kind that does not require insurance)?
- Has the contractor given you a copy of the Consumer Building Guide, which provides key information about your rights and responsibilities under NSW’s home building laws and where to get more information?
The same page adds: “If you answer NO to any of the questions in the checklist, you may not be ready to sign a contract.”
From the NSW Government’s checklist for home owners signing a building contract worth more than $20,000.
For a smaller job the checklist is not in the contract, but the habits still hold. The NSW Government’s advice for any job: get more than one written quote, ask for references and examples of past work, and don’t pay any money without a written contract.
From NSW Government, Checking your contractor or tradesperson is qualified.
Where these numbers come from
The two figures on the stack are set in NSW law, and both include GST. The Home Building Act 1989 sets the duties, and the Home Building Regulation 2014 sets most of the dollar amounts. These pages read the Act as in force in January 2026 and the Regulation as in force in December 2025, from archived copies of NSW legislation.
- Over $5,000. The Act’s definition of residential building work leaves out work, other than specialist work, whose reasonable market cost is $5,000 or less (Home Building Act Schedule 1, clause 2, with the amount in Regulation clause 12). Above that line the licence, contract and deposit rules apply.
- Over $20,000. The Regulation sets $20,000 as the amount above which the cooling-off period applies (clause 7), the limits on progress payments apply (clause 11) and compensation cover is required (clause 53).
- Any price. Specialist work, such as electrical wiring, plumbing, drainage and gasfitting, needs a licence whatever it costs, the NSW Government’s licensing page says.
Building Commission NSW is the NSW Government agency that regulates residential building work under the Home Building Act 1989, says the Consumer Building Guide. The State Insurance Regulatory Authority regulates home building compensation cover.