NSW contract guide

The owner said yes. The price is in the small-job band.

The owner accepted $12,400 including GST for a bathroom. This is the written contract for that band: more than $5,000 and not more than $20,000. A builder hiring you is not this page.

Scope. Section 7AAA and regulation clause 5, for contracts from 1 March 2015. The Act’s word is “exceeds”, so $5,000 exactly is under the line and $20,000 exactly stays here. The NSW Government page says “between $5,000 and $20,000”. NSW only. Not legal advice. Who the rules apply to is on the overview.

Put these on the contract

Section 7AAA says it is in writing, dated, and signed by or on behalf of each party, and that it contains:

the parties’ names, including the licence holder’s name as it appears on the licence
the contractor licence number
a description of the work
any plans and specifications
the price, if you know it

Give the owner the Consumer Building Guide before they sign (section 7AA). A developer contract is outside that step. Give them a signed copy within 5 clear business days (section 7B).

A quote they have not signed is not this contract. A quote can be the contract if it is signed and it has the items above.

What does not start at $5,000

Deposit. 10% for residential building work (section 8), not because you crossed $5,000. It does not apply between two licence holders.
Cooling-off and insurance. Both use $20,000. A small job has no 5-day cooling-off (section 7BA) and section 92 does not require cover while the price does not exceed $20,000. Two staged contracts between the same parties are added together.
Not this form. You and the builder both licensed for the work: subcontract. A shop fitout that is not residential building work does not become a small job because the invoice is $9,000. Specialist work that is not residential building work is outside section 7AAA. A burst pipe that cannot wait is the section 6(2) case, not a booked bathroom.

On the day

The owner is the hirer, not a licensed builder.
The price including GST is over $5,000 and not over $20,000.
Your contracting name and licence number match the licence.
The work, and what is not included, is written down. Attach the specs you are building to.
Deposit at or under 10% where section 8 applies.
Consumer Building Guide before they sign. Signed copy within 5 clear business days.
If a change would push the total over $20,000, stop and price the whole job again. See variations.

Illustration only. Not a contract and not a customer job.

Bathroom, $12,400 including GST

Hirer: the owner.
Scope: strip the fit-off, waterproof the shower to the named system, tile the walls to 2.1 metres with their tile, fit the specified tapware. No painting, no electrical, no structural work.
Deposit $1,240. A $2,000 deposit would be over 10%.
$4,000 after waterproofing, $4,000 after tiling, $3,160 when they can use the room.
They want a niche after tiling starts. $670 including GST and one day, signed before you cut it. New total $13,070. Still this band.

The NSW Government publishes a free sample home building contract for this band. You can fill that in yourself. Full Whack’s small-jobs file is its own contract from your answers, not that sample with the boxes typed over. Over $20,000 with the owner, Full Whack uses the NSW home building contract. A variation that would take a homeowner job over $20,000 is refused, and you are told to start a new contract for the whole job.

Questions tradies ask

Can I take a 20% deposit on an $8,000 home repair?

Where section 8 applies, no. The cap is 10% of the contract price. The $5,000 line is not the deposit line.

Does a $9,000 shop fitout use this contract?

Not because of the price. If it is not residential building work, write the scope and the price in an ordinary contract. It is not this form.

Related guides

Sources

Read on 8 November 2026. General information about NSW rules, not legal advice. A later amendment can change a section.

Write it for this job

NSW publishes free sample home building contracts for work with the homeowner. Fill one in yourself if that is the job. Full Whack asks who is hiring you and writes the matching file. The first one is free. It is not a check that the job complies.

Start a contract

Opens the contract start page. No card on that page.