The register comes before the price
Building work is licensed by each state, and each state publishes a free public register, so the first check on any builder is not the quote but the register entry for the legal entity that will sign the contract. In Victoria a person must not enter into a major domestic building contract to carry out domestic building work unless they are a registered building practitioner whose registration authorises that work — Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 s 29, with a penalty of 500 penalty units for an individual and 2,500 for a body corporate (at $209.10 a unit from 1 July 2026, up to $104,550 and $522,750). Section 29(3) also strips an unregistered contractor of any labour margin or profit under the contract.
The entity matters as much as the person. A registration belongs to a named practitioner or company; the contract must state that practitioner’s registration number (s 31(1)(f)) and, for a company, its ACN (s 31(1)(fb)). Queensland’s regulator puts the same point plainly: the contractor’s name on the contract must match the name the QBCC licence is registered under. So the check is a three-way match — the name on the proposal, the name on the register and the entity on ABN Lookup — before any discussion of price. Our guides to the VC253 design brief and the rooming house pathways assume this check has already been done.
- —Status: the registration or licence is current today, not merely at the date on the quote
- —Class: the registration authorises the work — a limited domestic builder class does not cover a new dwelling
- —Conditions: any limits, conditions or supervision requirements attached to the entry
- —History: the disciplinary and prosecution register for the same name
- —Entity: legal name, ACN or ABN and GST status on ABN Lookup match the proposal
Victoria: the Building and Plumbing Commission register
The Building and Plumbing Commission is the regulator the Building Legislation Amendment (Buyer Protections) Act 2025 stood up on 1 July 2025 by bringing together the Victorian Building Authority, Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria and the domestic building insurance arm of the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority. Its Find and check a practitioner tool searches by practitioner name, business name, registration or licence number, location or type of work, and shows whether the person or company is registered, what type of work the registration allows, and whether it carries conditions or limits. The BPC’s own instruction is not to rely on advertising, business cards, quotes or what someone tells you.
A second search matters as much. The Prosecution and Disciplinary Register records disciplinary action, prosecutions and court outcomes, and suspensions, cancellations or conditions imposed on a registration or licence. It is not a complaints log — the BPC notes that not every complaint, enquiry, inspection or compliance activity appears — but an entry against the name on your proposal is a fact to raise before signing, not after. Representing or implying registration in a category or class one does not hold is itself an offence under the Building Act 1993 s 169, at the same 500 and 2,500 penalty units as contracting unregistered.
- —Search at bpc.vic.gov.au → Find and check a practitioner (page last updated 10 July 2026), then the Prosecution and Disciplinary Register for the same name
- —Ask for, in writing, the registered practitioner’s name and registration number that will appear in the contract under s 31(1)(f)
- —Check the class covers the building you are buying — a new Class 1a dwelling or a Class 1b rooming house — because a limited class is limited to the work it names
“The register is the one reference a builder cannot hand you. Read it before you read the price.”
Queensland and New South Wales: the QBCC and NSW Fair Trading registers
In Queensland the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 s 42 makes it an offence to carry out, or undertake to carry out, building work without a contractor’s licence of the appropriate class, and a person who does so is not entitled to payment for it (s 42(3)). The QBCC’s threshold is building work valued over $3,300 including labour, materials and GST, with plumbing, gas fitting, fire protection and several other trades licensed at any value. The QBCC licensee register on myQBCC gives what the regulator calls a complete licence history; separate registers list suspended licences, cancelled licences and excluded individuals, and — because Queensland building approvals are issued by private building certifiers rather than councils — a Building Certifier Register for the certifier as well.
In New South Wales a contractor licence is required for residential building work over $5,000 in labour and materials, and for specialist work at any value (Home Building Act 1989 s 4). The NSW Fair Trading check at verify.licence.nsw.gov.au shows the holder’s name, licence number, categories and expiry, its current status, any cancellation or suspension under the Act, conditions endorsed on the licence, public warnings issued under s 23, formal cautions, penalty notices and prosecution results. That is a wider disclosure than either Victoria or Queensland publishes, so read the whole entry rather than the status line.
| State | Regulator and register | Licence required for | What the entry shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | BPC — Find and check a practitioner; Prosecution and Disciplinary Register | Any major domestic building contract, i.e. over $10,000 (DBCA 1995 s 29) | Registration status, class and permitted work, conditions or limits; disciplinary and prosecution outcomes |
| Queensland | QBCC licensee register on myQBCC; suspended, cancelled and excluded-individual registers; Building Certifier Register | Building work over $3,300 incl. GST (QBCC Act 1991 s 42) | Licence class and status with the complete licence history |
| New South Wales | NSW Fair Trading licence check — verify.licence.nsw.gov.au | Residential building work over $5,000 (Home Building Act 1989 s 4) | Categories, expiry, status, cancellations, conditions, s 23 public warnings, cautions, penalty notices, prosecutions |
The Victorian contract: what the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 fixes
Once the price of domestic building work exceeds $10,000 — the amount fixed by regulation 6 of the Domestic Building Contracts Regulations 2017 for the definition in s 3(1) — the agreement is a major domestic building contract and Part 3 of the Act applies. Before it is signed the builder must give the owner the contract information statement approved under s 29A, which is Consumer Affairs Victoria’s Domestic Building Consumer Guide; failing to do so carries 60 penalty units. Consumer Affairs Victoria states the same rule in plain words on its contract-preparation page: give the client the guide before they sign.
The contract must be in writing, set out all its terms, describe the work in detail, include plans and specifications with enough information to obtain a building permit, name the parties, state the registered practitioner’s registration number and a company’s ACN, give the start and finish dates, state the price, set out the prescribed information about the statutory insurance scheme, carry a conspicuous cooling-off notice, a definitions section, the implied warranties and the approved checklist (s 31(1); 50 penalty units). It is of no effect until both the builder and the owner sign it (s 31(2)).
The owner may withdraw at any time before the end of 5 clear business days after receiving a copy of the signed contract, by written notice given or served on the builder (s 34). The builder may keep $100 plus any out-of-pocket expenses the owner approved and must refund everything else. There are two exceptions: the parties previously signed a contract in substantially the same terms for the same home or land, or the owner received independent advice from an Australian legal practitioner before signing (s 34(4)). If the contract omits the cooling-off notice, the owner may withdraw within 7 days of becoming aware it should have been there (s 35).
Money is capped twice. A builder must not demand or receive, before starting any work, a deposit of more than 5 per cent of a contract price of $20,000 or more, or 10 per cent of a smaller price (s 11; 100 penalty units, and the owner may avoid the contract). Progress payments are capped at the completion of each stage in the table below (s 40; 50 penalty units, with a court able to order a refund). Section 40(4) lets the parties agree a different schedule only in the manner the regulations set out — so a non-standard schedule is lawful, but it must come with the prescribed warning and your agreement, and you should ask which one you are signing.
| Stage (s 40(1) definition) | Contract to build all stages | Contract to fixing stage | Contract to lock-up stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base — footings poured or slab completed, depending on floor type | 10% | 12% | 20% |
| Frame — frame completed and approved by the building surveyor | 15% | 18% | 25% |
| Lock-up — external cladding and roof fixed, flooring laid, external doors and windows fixed | 35% | 40% | — |
| Fixing — internal cladding, architraves, skirting, doors, shelves, baths, basins, sinks, cabinets fitted | 25% | — | — |
Variations, prime cost items, provisional sums and the six implied warranties
A builder who wants to vary the plans or specifications must give a notice describing the variation, the reason for it, its effect on the work and on any permit, any delay and its cost, and may not act on it without the owner’s signed consent attached to that notice — unless a building surveyor has required the change by building notice or order for reasons beyond the builder’s control (s 37). A variation the owner asks for may proceed without paperwork only if it needs no permit change, causes no delay and adds no more than 2 per cent to the original price; otherwise the builder must answer with a costed notice, or a refusal with reasons, and obtain a signed request (s 38).
The Act also defines the only two ways an unpriced item can lawfully sit in a contract. A prime cost item is a fixture or fitting not yet selected, or whose price is not known, at signing; a provisional sum is an estimate of the cost of particular work (s 3(1)). Each must be a reasonable estimate on the information available (ss 20, 21; 35 penalty units for an understated one) and each needs its own schedule with a description, a cost breakdown showing quantities and unit cost, and the rule for any excess (s 22). “Or similar” beside an item is therefore not a specification: it is either a named product or a prime cost item with a schedule, and a proposal offering a third category is offering something the Act does not recognise.
- —Work carried out in a proper and workmanlike manner and in accordance with the plans and specifications (s 8(a))
- —Materials good and suitable for their purpose and, unless the contract says otherwise, new (s 8(b))
- —Work carried out in accordance with all laws, including the Building Act 1993 and its regulations (s 8(c))
- —Reasonable care and skill, and completion by the date or within the period the contract states (s 8(d))
- —A home suitable for occupation when the work is complete (s 8(e)), and fit for any purpose the owner told the builder it must serve (s 8(f))
- —The warranties run with the building — a later owner may sue on them as if a party to the contract (s 9)
Insurance: Home Warranty in Victoria from 1 July 2026, and the Queensland and NSW schemes
For Victorian contracts signed on or after 1 July 2026, Part 9A of the Building Act 1993 — inserted by the Buyer Protections Act 2025 and in operation from that date — replaced domestic building insurance with a statutory Home Warranty scheme run by the BPC as sole provider. It attaches to an insurable domestic building contract: a domestic building contract, other than one for a residential apartment building, under which the builder will receive more than $20,000 (s 3(1); s 137J). The builder must pay the premium to the BPC within 10 business days of signing or before work starts, whichever comes first (s 137O), the BPC then issues a notice of cover (s 137T), and the building surveyor must not issue the building permit until it has (s 24A(1)(c)). Cover is first-resort — incomplete, defective or non-compliant work the builder is unable or unwilling to fix — up to $400,000 per home.
Contracts signed before 1 July 2026 keep the domestic building insurance policy issued under the old scheme, which applied over $16,000 and responded only if the builder died, disappeared or became insolvent; those policies remain current on their terms. Queensland’s Home Warranty Scheme, run by the QBCC, covers residential construction work over $3,300 including GST: the licensed contractor must collect the premium from the owner and pay it to the QBCC within 10 business days of the contract or before work starts (QBCC Act s 68B(2)), and cover runs to $200,000 for non-completion, defective work and subsidence over 6 years and 6 months. In New South Wales, home building compensation cover is required on work over $20,000 and must be in place, with a certificate given to the owner, before any deposit is taken or work starts (Home Building Act 1989 s 92).
| State | Scheme for a contract signed today | Applies to work over | Document to hold before paying |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | Home Warranty — BPC, Building Act 1993 Part 9A (contracts from 1 July 2026) | $20,000 | BPC notice of cover (s 137T); the building permit cannot issue without it |
| Queensland | Queensland Home Warranty Scheme — QBCC Act 1991 Part 5 | $3,300 incl. GST | Evidence the premium was paid to the QBCC (s 68B(2)) |
| New South Wales | Home building compensation cover — Home Building Act 1989 s 92 | $20,000 | Certificate of HBC insurance before any deposit or work |
What a compliant proposal names
A proposal is the document you test against the register and the Act before a contract exists, so it should already carry the identifiers the contract will have to carry. If any item below is missing, the honest reading is not that the builder forgot; it is that the number on the page has not yet met the site, the specification or the law, and will move when it does. The list applies equally to a 30 m² studio and to a nine-room Rooming House 300: the contract form does not change with the size of the building.
- —The registered practitioner’s name and registration or licence number for the state, matching the register entry — the same number the contract must state under DBCA s 31(1)(f)
- —The contracting entity’s legal name and ACN or ABN, matching the register and ABN Lookup — not a trading name alone
- —A specification by brand and model for every fixture, fitting and finish, or a prime cost schedule under s 22 for anything not yet selected — never “or similar” without a priced basis
- —Site-specific items priced as separate lines: soil classification and slab engineering, sewer and stormwater connection, crane or truck access, retaining, service upgrades, overlay requirements
- —The permit path in writing: whether a planning permit is required, who the relevant building surveyor is, and that the building permit and occupancy permit are inside the scope
- —The delivery method — on-site build, prefabricated modules or a material kit installed by licensed trades — and who carries the work at each stage
- —The payment schedule, either the s 40 stages and percentages or a stated alternative with the regulation warning, and a deposit inside the s 11 cap
- —The insurance the contract will carry: a Home Warranty notice of cover in Victoria, the QBCC premium in Queensland, an HBC certificate in New South Wales
- —A statement that the Domestic Building Consumer Guide (or the QBCC or NSW Consumer Building Guide) will be given before signing, and the cooling-off notice the contract must contain
Red flags
- —The registration number is missing, or belongs to a person who is not a director or nominee of the company on the quote
- —The company name on the proposal differs from the register entry or from ABN Lookup, or the ABN is cancelled
- —A deposit above the s 11 cap, or any payment requested before the Home Warranty premium has been paid and a notice of cover issued
- —“Or similar” or “builder’s range” throughout, with no prime cost schedule and no brand names
- —A progress schedule that does not follow the s 40 stages and carries no regulation warning, or a lock-up claim before the external doors and windows are in
- —No Domestic Building Consumer Guide before signing, or no cooling-off notice in the contract — s 35 then gives you 7 days from discovering the omission
- —A suggestion that you obtain an owner-builder certificate of consent so the work is not under a building contract — the Building Act 1993 s 25B threshold for that certificate rose from $16,000 to $20,000 on 1 July 2026, and it takes the work outside the domestic building contract the Home Warranty scheme attaches to
- —A claim that a granny flat or a rooming house needs no building permit — a Class 1a dwelling and a Class 1b rooming house always do
- —Any entry on the Prosecution and Disciplinary Register, the QBCC suspended or excluded lists, or a s 23 public warning in New South Wales that the builder did not mention
How DollarBuild handles it
DollarBuild issues every proposal in writing with the registered building practitioner’s name and registration or licence number for the state the lot is in, the contracting entity and its ACN and ABN, a brand-level specification with a prime cost schedule for anything unselected, site-specific items as separate lines, the permit path, the delivery method — material kit, prefab or local build — and a payment schedule inside the Act, for the Studio 30, Three-Bedroom 60, Three-Bedroom 80 and Rooming House 300 alike. The registration and licence numbers are not yet published on this website; they are provided with the proposal, before contract, so that they can be checked on the registers above exactly as this article describes. The same register list appears on the homepage of E2ES, a company founded by the same team as DollarBuild, which is why it is disclosed here rather than cited as an independent source.
Questions people ask
How do I check whether a builder is registered in Victoria?
Use the Building and Plumbing Commission’s Find and check a practitioner tool at bpc.vic.gov.au — search by name, business name, registration number, location or type of work. It shows whether the person or company is registered, what work the registration allows and any conditions or limits. Then search the same name on the BPC’s Prosecution and Disciplinary Register. Under the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 s 29 only a registered building practitioner whose registration authorises the work may enter a major domestic building contract.
Does the BPC register show complaints against a builder?
Not complaints as such. The Prosecution and Disciplinary Register records disciplinary action, prosecutions and court outcomes, and suspensions, cancellations or conditions on a registration or licence; the BPC states that not every complaint, enquiry, inspection or compliance activity appears. Treat a clean register as necessary rather than sufficient, and still ask for the practitioner’s name and registration number in writing before you sign.
How do I verify a QBCC licence in Queensland?
Search the QBCC licensee register on myQBCC, which the QBCC describes as a complete licence history, and check the suspended, cancelled and excluded-individual registers as well. The name on the contract must match the name the licence is registered under. A contractor’s licence of the appropriate class is required for building work valued over $3,300 including GST (Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 s 42), and unlicensed work is not entitled to payment (s 42(3)).
How do I check a builder’s licence in New South Wales?
Use the NSW Fair Trading licence check at verify.licence.nsw.gov.au. It shows the holder’s name, licence number, categories and expiry, the current status, any cancellation or suspension under the Home Building Act 1989, conditions, public warnings under s 23, formal cautions, penalty notices and prosecution results. A contractor licence is required for residential building work over $5,000 in labour and materials (s 4), and for specialist work at any value.
What must a building contract in Victoria contain?
For work over $10,000 the contract must be written, set out all terms, describe the work in detail, include plans and specifications sufficient for a building permit, name the parties, state the registered practitioner’s registration number and a company’s ACN, give start and finish dates and the price, set out the prescribed insurance-scheme information, and carry a cooling-off notice, a definitions section, the implied warranties and the approved checklist (Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 s 31(1)). The builder must give you the Domestic Building Consumer Guide first (s 29A).
How long is the cooling-off period on a building contract?
In Victoria, 5 clear business days after you receive a copy of the signed contract, exercised by written notice; the builder may keep $100 plus approved out-of-pocket costs (Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 s 34). It is lost if you took independent legal advice on the contract first or previously signed substantially the same contract for the same land. A Queensland level 2 contract of $20,000 or more carries 5 business days after you receive the signed contract and the Consumer Building Guide (QBCC Act Schedule 1B s 35); NSW gives 5 clear business days on contracts over $20,000 (Home Building Act 1989 s 7BA).
What is the maximum deposit a builder can ask for?
Victoria: no more than 5 per cent of a contract price of $20,000 or more, or 10 per cent of a smaller price, before any work starts (Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 s 11; 100 penalty units, and the owner may avoid the contract). Queensland: 10 per cent on a level 1 contract, 5 per cent on a level 2 contract of $20,000 or more, and 20 per cent where more than half the contract price is off-site work such as prefabrication (QBCC Act Schedule 1B s 33). New South Wales: 10 per cent (Home Building Act 1989 s 8).
What are the progress payment stages in Victoria?
On a contract to build all stages, s 40 of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 caps claims at 10 per cent at base stage, 15 per cent at frame stage once the building surveyor has approved the frame, 35 per cent at lock-up once cladding, roof, flooring, external doors and windows are fixed, and 25 per cent at fixing stage once internal linings, architraves, doors, cabinets, baths and basins are fitted; the balance follows completion. A different schedule is allowed only if agreed in the manner the regulations set out (s 40(4)).
What insurance must a Victorian builder have from 1 July 2026?
Home Warranty under Part 9A of the Building Act 1993. On a domestic building contract worth more than $20,000 the builder must pay the premium to the Building and Plumbing Commission within 10 business days of signing or before work starts (s 137O); the BPC issues a notice of cover (s 137T) and the building surveyor cannot issue the building permit without one (s 24A(1)(c)). Cover reaches $400,000 and responds to incomplete, defective or non-compliant work the builder will not or cannot fix. Contracts signed before 1 July 2026 stay on their domestic building insurance policy.
What does “or similar” in a builder’s specification mean?
Legally, nothing useful. The Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 recognises a specified item or a prime cost item — a fixture or fitting not yet selected or priced at signing — which must be a reasonable estimate (s 21) and carry its own schedule with a description, a cost breakdown showing quantities and unit cost, and the rule for any excess (s 22). Ask for the brand and model, or for the s 22 schedule; a proposal that offers neither has not priced the item.
References
- 1.Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 (Vic) — authorised version 094, in force 1 July 2026 (ss 3, 8, 9, 11, 20–22, 29, 29A, 31, 34, 35, 37, 38, 40) — checked 19 September 2026
- 2.Domestic Building Contracts Regulations 2017 (Vic) — reg 6 fixes $10,000 for the major domestic building contract definition — checked 19 September 2026
- 3.Building Act 1993 (Vic) — authorised version 152, in force 16 September 2026 (s 24A(1)(c), s 25B, s 169, Part 9A ss 137J, 137O, 137T) — checked 19 September 2026
- 4.Building Legislation Amendment (Buyer Protections) Act 2025 (Vic), No. 17/2025 — BPC provisions commenced 1 July 2025, statutory insurance scheme 1 July 2026 — checked 19 September 2026
- 5.Building and Plumbing Commission — Find and check a practitioner (practitioner search + Prosecution and Disciplinary Register) — checked 19 September 2026 (page dated 10 July 2026)
- 6.Building and Plumbing Commission — Home Warranty insurance coming soon (14 May 2026): replaces DBI from 1 July 2026, over $20,000, up to $400,000 — checked 19 September 2026
- 7.Consumer Affairs Victoria — Preparing a major domestic building contract — checked 19 September 2026
- 8.Consumer Affairs Victoria — Domestic Building Consumer Guide (the s 29A contract information statement) — checked 19 September 2026
- 9.Consumer Affairs Victoria — New protections for homeowners set to build (23 June 2026) — checked 19 September 2026
- 10.Consumer Affairs Victoria — Laws about home building contracts — checked 19 September 2026
- 11.Department of Treasury and Finance (Vic) — Indexation of fees and penalties: penalty unit $209.10 from 1 July 2026 (Gazette S234, 5 May 2026) — checked 19 September 2026
- 12.Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 — current as at 1 February 2026 (s 42, s 68B, Schedule 1B ss 33, 35) — checked 19 September 2026
- 13.QBCC — Who must hold a QBCC licence ($3,300 threshold) — checked 19 September 2026
- 14.QBCC — What is home warranty insurance (over $3,300; up to $200,000; 6 years 6 months) — checked 19 September 2026
- 15.QBCC — Our lists and registers (licensee register, suspended and cancelled licences, excluded individuals, building certifiers) — checked 19 September 2026
- 16.QBCC — Level 2 renovation, extension and repair contract: home owner’s booklet (July 2023; Schedule 1B deposits, cooling-off, Consumer Building Guide) — checked 19 September 2026
- 17.NSW Government (Fair Trading) — Checking your contractor or tradesperson is qualified (licence over $5,000; verify.licence.nsw.gov.au) — checked 19 September 2026
- 18.NSW Government (Fair Trading) — Contracts for building or renovating ($5,000 and $20,000 tiers, 10% deposit, cooling-off, HBC cover) — checked 19 September 2026
- 19.NSW Government — Insurance cover for building work (HBC cover over $20,000 before deposit or work) — checked 19 September 2026
- 20.Australian Business Register — ABN Lookup (entity name, ABN status, GST registration, business names) — checked 19 September 2026
