NSW contract guide

The builder hired you

The builder sent the address. The owner is not your client. The homeowner contract is the wrong piece of paper, even when the work is inside a house and the price looks like a small job.

Scope. NSW only. Sections 7 and 7AAA do not apply when both parties hold a contractor licence for the work in the contract. The Act’s note calls that a subcontract between licensees. A sign on the ute that says builder is not that test. Not legal advice, and not a rule for other states.

Subbie to a builder, or direct to the owner

You licensed for the plaster, the builder licensed to contract for that work, and the builder is the one hiring you: homeowner forms stay with the owner. $6,800 or $28,000 does not change that. If the owner hired you directly, use the price bands instead.

The 10% deposit cap in section 8 has the same limit. Do not copy it onto this subcontract just because the site is a home. Specialist work that is not residential building work is also outside sections 7 and 7AAA. A commercial client who hires you with no builder in between is not this page either.

Agree this before you unload

The builder’s contracting name, and yours, each matching a contractor licence for this work.
The site, what is included, and what is not. “Make it good” is how extras disappear.
The price, GST included, and whether you claim once or by stage.
When the claim is due. Do not leave it as “when we get paid”.
How a change is agreed: the work, the price, the days, before you do it, unless it is urgent safety work.

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

40 square metres of plaster for a builder

Hirer: the licensed builder. You are licensed for the plaster. Not the owner.
Scope: 40 square metres, level 4 finish. No painting, no cornice, no framing.
Price: $6,800 including GST, one claim when the stopping is finished. Full Whack’s subcontract makes that claim due 10 business days after you serve it. An earlier date the law requires still applies. The terms say payment does not wait until the owner pays the builder.
They want a bulkhead. $640 including GST and one day, agreed before you build it.

Same rooms and same $6,800, but the owner hires you and the work is residential building work. That is the small-job contract, not this one.

Their paper, or yours

The NSW samples are home building contracts for the owner. They are the right free form when the owner hired you. They are not a subcontract.

If the builder hands you their subcontract, read who pays, when, and what happens to an extra. Full Whack does not replace their paper. If you are writing the subcontract, Full Whack’s version puts the work, the exclusions and the price in the schedule, sets the 10-business-day claim above, and lets you record a signed variation after the contract is issued. It is not a review of the builder’s terms. The homeowner variation rule is a different contract.

Questions tradies ask

It’s a house. Do I use the homeowner contract?

Not when the builder holds a contractor licence, you hold one for this work, and the builder is the party hiring you. Your contract is with the builder.

They say I get paid when they get paid.

Full Whack’s subcontract says payment does not depend on the builder being paid up the chain. If you are signing their contract, that sentence is the one to read before you start. This page does not cross it out.

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.