What's in a Queensland building contract,
in plain English?

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

The schedule: where your numbers live

The first few pages. This is the part filled in for your job, and it's where almost everything you'll ever need to check is written:

• The parties — you, and the licensed contractor with their QBCC licence number.
• The site — your address and lot.
• The contract price, shown prominently on the first page if fixed, with any allowances and provisional sums listed.
• The deposit and the progress payment stages and amounts.
• The start date (or how it's set) and the date for practical completion (or how it's calculated, such as a number of days from commencement).
• Liquidated damages, if any, per week of lateness.
• The defects liability period.
• Insurances, including the Home Warranty premium.

“For contracts priced at $20,000 or more, the contract price, if fixed, must be shown prominently on the first page of the contract schedule. If the contract price is not fixed, the method for calculating it, including any allowances, must be stated in the contract schedule.” The contract must also contain a warning about any provisions that may alter the price.

Queensland Building and Construction Commission, Consumer Building Guide, version 3, effective July 2023 (section 2 of Schedule 1B). If the price isn't on the front page, ask why.

The general conditions: the rules

The thick part. These are the standard terms the form's publisher wrote, and they cover the same ground in every form because Schedule 1B sets the minimum: how variations work, how extensions of time are claimed, what practical completion means, how defects are reported, what happens if either side wants to end the contract, and how disputes are handled. They change little from job to job. What changes is the schedule and the special conditions.

Special conditions: what's been changed

A short section, sometimes empty, where the parties agree to alter or add to the general conditions for this job. Read every word of it. A special condition can move risk from the builder to you — on site conditions, on delays, on who pays for what — and the QBCC's checklist asks you to confirm you've read the special conditions before signing. If one isn't clear, ask what it's for.

The plans and specifications: what you're buying

The drawings and the written specification are part of the contract, and they define the house. The specification lists the materials, the fittings, the finishes, the brands and the standards. If something isn't in the plans or the specification, it isn't in the price, and adding it later is a variation.

This is the section families skim and shouldn't. The guide's words: do not sign before receiving the contract, plans and specifications. Read the specification against what you think you're getting.

The clauses to read twice

• Allowances and provisional sums. Where the price can move. Why is here.
• Deposit and progress payments. Against the legal caps and the work-on-site rule. Here.
• Variations. In writing, before the work. Here.
• Extensions of time. The grounds, and how quickly you must respond to a claim.
• Practical completion and defects. What it means, the defects document, the defects liability period. Here.
• Termination. How and when either side can end it. The guide's warning: incorrect termination can have serious consequences and reduce your Home Warranty protection. Get advice before you use it.

What has to happen before you sign?

1. The builder gives you the Consumer Building Guide (required for contracts at or over $20,000).
2. You receive the full contract, plans and specifications.
3. You check the licence on the QBCC register.
4. You sign, and within 5 business days the builder gives you the signed copy.
5. Your cooling-off period of five business days runs from the day you receive both the signed contract and the guide. Withdrawing costs, in the guide's words, generally $100 plus the contractor's reasonable out-of-pocket expenses.

Common questions

Sources: Queensland Building and Construction Commission, Consumer Building Guide (version 3, effective July 2023) and Domestic building contracts (reviewed 26 June 2024); Schedule 1B, Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991. Read 17 September 2026. This is a plain-English guide, not legal advice; a solicitor reads contracts for a living and the guide suggests one if you still have concerns.