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Your questions answered · Dealing with a builder

Should we be an owner-builder
in Queensland?

Being your own builder sounds like the way to save the margin. Sometimes it is. It's also a legal role with a permit, a course, a list of responsibilities that are yours the moment you sign the form, and a warning that travels with the house for six years if you sell. Here's what the QBCC says it involves, so the decision is an informed one.

Nathan Brain, carpenter and builder at Sabre 17 September 2026 5 min read
A homeowner in a hi-vis vest seen from behind, standing alone on a slab with a clipboard, a delivery of frames beside themThe honest versionOwner-builder?
Illustration in the style of Sabre's story frames, not a photograph of a real person.

Part of a bigger picture: the whole checklist for choosing a builder in Queensland.

What is an owner-builder, legally?

Someone who carries out, or manages, building work on their own land without holding a QBCC contractor's licence, under a permit instead. The QBCC's eligibility: you must be an owner named on the title, a director of the company that owns it, or an occupier with the owner's written consent.

The key word is manages. Most owner-builders don't swing the hammer. They hire the trades and run the job, which is the part a licensed builder is licensed for.

What does the permit involve?

  • The threshold. A permit is required if the project is worth more than $11,000 (a higher threshold applies to farm buildings).
  • The course. Most applicants must complete an owner-builder course, or hold an exemption (current QBCC licensees and certain professionals).
  • The frequency. The QBCC issues one permit per six years, with exemptions possible in some circumstances.
  • The record. An administrative notice attaches to the property title and stays there for seven years.

What do you take on?

The QBCC's list, in its words, is that you become the head contractor and must:

  • Engage and coordinate all contractors.
  • Obtain the necessary building approvals and inspections.
  • Ensure compliance with safety standards on site.
  • Use licensed trades for restricted work — plumbing, gas fitting and the like.
  • Rectify any defective work.

Add to that what a builder does that doesn't appear on any list: sequencing forty trades so none of them waits on another, buying materials at the right time, reading the certifier's requirements, and being the one who answers when the concrete truck is at the gate and the pump hasn't arrived.

Why does the Home Warranty Scheme not apply?

“Owner-builders are not eligible for insurance through the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme.”

Queensland Building and Construction Commission, About owner-building, reviewed 7 May 2024. The scheme insures work done by licensed contractors. An owner-builder is neither, and nobody underwrites the gap.

In practice that means there's no cover if a trade walks off, no cover for defects in the work you managed, and no scheme to help finish if you can't. Your individual licensed trades carry their own obligations for their own work, but the house as a whole is yours.

What happens when you sell?

If you sell within six years of completing the work, you must give the buyer a written notice that includes the statutory warning that the building work is not covered by insurance under the QBCC Act. Buyers, and their solicitors, read that, and it tends to show up in the price. The notice on the title makes it hard to miss.

When does it make sense?

Honestly: for a person with building or project experience, time to be on site most days, a simple job on a straightforward block, and the financial room to carry the risk the scheme would otherwise carry. A shed, a straightforward extension, a small lowset on a flat clear lot.

A knockdown rebuild on the Bayside is usually not that. It has licensed asbestos removal, demolition, disconnections, a flood level, a soil test with a letter on it, a two-storey frame, and a certifier who wants the right certificate at every stage. That's the job a builder's licence is for, and the one where the margin you'd save is also the thing standing between you and the risk.

Common questions

Can we owner-build and still hire a builder for the hard parts?

You can engage licensed contractors for any part; that's what an owner-builder does. What you can't do is hand the head-contractor role to someone else while holding the permit. If a builder is running the whole job, they should be the licensed contractor on a contract, with the scheme cover that brings.

Is the course hard?

It's an approved course covering the responsibilities above. Passing it makes you eligible for the permit; it doesn't make you a builder. The QBCC publishes the list of course providers.

Do we save the builder's margin?

You avoid paying it. Whether you save it depends on what your time is worth, what the trades charge someone who isn't a repeat customer, what you buy wrong, and what the scheme would have covered. Nobody can put a number on that for you, and we won't.

Will Sabre quote for part of an owner-built job?

Ask. Some parts of a job are sensible to contract out as their own licensed job. Nathan will tell you which, and he'll also tell you if he thinks the whole thing should be one contract.

Sources: Queensland Building and Construction Commission, About owner-building (reviewed 7 May 2024), Apply for an owner-builder permit and Sell an owner-builder property. Read 17 September 2026. Thresholds and rules change; check the QBCC's current pages. This is a plain-English guide, not legal or financial advice.

Keep reading

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The regulator, the public register and the Home Warranty Scheme, in plain words. How to look any builder up in five minutes — including us.

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What insurance should a builder have, and what does it cover you for?

Four kinds. The Queensland Home Warranty Scheme protects you; contract works, public liability and workers' comp protect the house, the neighbours and the workers. What each covers and what to ask to see.

 A certifier in a white shirt and hard hat seen from behind, checking a timber frame with a clipboard, the roof trusses aboveFive sign-offsThe certifier

How do progress inspections and certifiers work in Queensland?

A private building certifier approves the plans and inspects at the mandatory stages: excavation, footings, slab, frame and final. Who engages them, what each stage checks, and the paperwork you can ask for.

Where most families start

A walk through your house with Nathan.

If you're weighing it up, tell Nathan. He'll tell you honestly which parts of a rebuild an owner-builder can run and which ones bite.

Book your walk-through with Nathan Call 0422 831 306

Already thinking about a rebuild? The free block check is on the same page.

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