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Your questions answered · Dealing with a builder

What happens if a builder
goes under mid-build?

It's the question nobody asks the builder to their face and everybody asks the internet at midnight. In Queensland the answer is better than most states, because there's a scheme built for exactly this. It has conditions, it has a clock, and there are two ways to weaken it before you ever need it. Here's the whole thing, in the QBCC's words.

Nathan Brain, carpenter and builder at Sabre 17 September 2026 5 min read
A house stopped at frame stage, the site fence padlocked, weeds coming up through the slab, a quiet Bayside streetThe fear behind every questionIf the builder goes under
Illustration in the style of Sabre's story frames, not a photograph of a real job.

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

When does the non-completion cover apply?

The QBCC's own list, for a fixed-price contract with a licensed contractor:

  • The contract has been validly terminated because of the contractor's default.
  • The contractor has died.
  • The contracting company has been deregistered.
  • The contractor is insolvent and the QBCC has cancelled their licence.

Note the word validly. The Consumer Building Guide warns that incorrect termination may have serious legal and financial consequences and reduce your protection under the scheme. If a builder stops turning up, the way you end the contract matters. Get advice before you send the letter.

What's the clock?

The claim must be lodged “within 3 months from the date the contract ends,” and the contract itself must end within two years of the contract date or the date work started.

Queensland Building and Construction Commission, Home warranty for non-completion claims. Three months is not long when a family is dealing with a stalled house. Start the paperwork the week the contract ends.

What does it pay?

  • If no work began: your deposit back, up to the maximum the law allowed the builder to take.
  • If work began: the difference between the unpaid balance of your contract and the reasonable cost of completing the work, within the scheme's maximum. In plain words: the scheme is there to get you to the house you contracted for, not to hand over cash.
  • Extras: a capped amount for alternative accommodation (higher if optional additional cover was taken), and cover up to a stated limit for fire or storm damage to the incomplete work, and for vandalism or theft with an excess per incident.

The current caps are on the QBCC's page and change from time to time; read the live figures rather than a blog.

What shrinks it?

Two things, both within your control on the day you sign.

Paying ahead. The QBCC says the payment is reduced if you paid more than the maximum deposit required by law, or paid ahead of schedule under the contract. The scheme assumes you paid as the contract said. If you paid the frame stage before the frame was up, that money is yours to lose. The payment rules are here.

A cost-plus contract. Protection for non-completion under the scheme is not available on cost-plus or construction management contracts. The regulator says so on its own pages, and it's the biggest single reason to be wary of them. Why is here.

What are the warning signs before it happens?

  • The licence. The QBCC register shows status and history. A suspension, or conditions, is a flag before you sign. Check it again if the job goes quiet.
  • Requests to pay early or outside the contract. The QBCC has published a public warning about exactly this. A builder asking for the next stage before the stage is done is a builder with a cash problem.
  • Trades disappearing. Subcontractors who stop coming are often subcontractors who haven't been paid.
  • Silence. A builder who stops answering the phone is telling you something. Write to them, dated, so the record starts.

What do you do on the day?

  1. Don't pay anything further.
  2. Write to the builder asking for their position in writing, with a reasonable time to respond.
  3. Call the QBCC (139 333) and describe the situation. Ask about the non-completion process and the licence status.
  4. Get legal advice before terminating. The guide says so twice, and the validity of the termination decides the claim.
  5. Lodge the claim within three months of the contract ending, with your contract, your payment records and your Notice of Cover.

Common questions

Does the scheme pay for the defects in the work the failed builder did?

Defective work is a separate head of cover with its own time limits. The non-completion claim deals with finishing; a defects claim deals with fixing. The defects clocks are here.

Can we just hire another builder and keep going?

Talk to the QBCC first. The scheme's process involves assessing the work and the cost to complete, and moving ahead without it can affect the claim. It's a phone call before it's a decision.

What if we signed a cost-plus contract?

Then the non-completion cover isn't available, and your options are legal ones. The regulator's warning about cost-plus exists for this moment. Get advice.

How do we check a builder's history before it gets to this?

The QBCC's online licence search shows the class, the status and the history for any licence number. How to read it is here. Ours is 15486557.

Sources: Queensland Building and Construction Commission, Home warranty for non-completion claims (reviewed 25 October 2021), Time limits for cover and claims, Contracts and agreement types (reviewed 27 June 2025), Warning about making payments outside of building contract terms, and the Consumer Building Guide (version 3). Read 17 September 2026. Caps and conditions change; read the QBCC's current page before relying on any of this. Not legal advice.

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Where most families start

A walk through your house with Nathan.

Ask Nathan the uncomfortable question at the walk-through. The right answer includes the licence history, the payment schedule and the Notice of Cover, and he'll give you all three.

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