Most advice on choosing a builder is about taste: do you like their houses, do you get on. That matters, and I come back to it at the end. But the checks that protect you are not matters of taste. They are public records, and you can read them yourself before you sign anything.
1. Check the licence yourself
In NSW, a contractor licence is required to carry out, advertise or contract for residential building work valued at more than $5,000 in labour and materials, including GST. Licences are on a public register, and a register entry shows the licence class, whether it is current, its expiry date, and any conditions or disciplinary record.
Three things to check, not one:
- The licence is current and covers the work. A licence has a class. For a house, you are looking for building work, not a single trade.
- The name matches the contract. If the contract is with a company, the company should hold the contractor licence. The person running your job may also hold their own qualified supervisor certificate.
- The record is clean, or you understand anything that is on it.
To show what this looks like, here are my own records. CKS Projects Aust Pty Ltd holds NSW contractor licence 258735C, class Builder, current to 8 May 2029. I hold Qualified Supervisor Certificate 69005S, class Builder, current to 24 June 2028, with no conditions and no disciplinary record. Any builder should be able to point you to the same.
2. Get the insurance certificate before you pay
For residential building work over $20,000, your builder must give you evidence of home building compensation cover for your specific property. In NSW the cover is issued by icare's Home Building Compensation Fund (HBCF) as a Certificate of Insurance. icare is direct about the timing: the builder must give it to you before work starts, or before you pay any money under the contract, including a deposit.
When you receive it, check that it shows your name, the property address and your contract details. Then check it on the HBCF Certificates Register at Verify NSW, which icare says shows whether a policy was issued, the insured builder, the property address, and whether any claims have already been paid.
No certificate, no deposit
icare warns that homeowners without cover will be unable to claim if their builder becomes insolvent, disappears, dies or has their licence suspended. If a builder asks for money before the certificate exists, stop there.
3. Know what the cover actually pays for
HBCF cover is a last resort, not general building insurance. You can claim only after one of four trigger events: the builder has become insolvent, has died, has disappeared and cannot be found, or has had their licence suspended for not complying with a court or NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal order to pay you money.
| Loss | Cover |
|---|---|
| Incomplete work | Loss of your deposit, and the cost to complete the work, up to the policy limit |
| Major defects | Up to 6 years from when the work was completed |
| Other defects | Up to 2 years from when the work was completed |
| Policy limit | $340,000 (policies issued before 1 February 2012: $300,000) |
Look at that limit against the price of a new home. The cover is valuable, but it is not the whole value of your contract, which is another reason the payment rule below matters.
4. Check the contract against the rules
A contract over $20,000 must be in writing, signed and dated by both parties, and include the contractor's licence details, a description of the work with plans and specifications attached, the statutory warranties and a prominently displayed price. You have five clear business days to cool off after you are given a copy. The overview on this site sets out the full list, and NSW publishes standard contracts to compare against.
On a difficult block, read the contract for what it assumes about the ground. What happens if the excavation finds rock, or water? A clear answer written in before you sign is worth more than any allowance discovered afterwards.
5. Keep payments behind the work
The deposit is capped at 10 percent. Contracts over $20,000 must have a progress payment schedule, and progress payments must match the work carried out. Before you pay a claim, check the stage is actually done. The stages page lists what each stage involves and which ones the certifier has to inspect.
6. Then look at the work
Once the public records check out, the rest is judgement. Ask to see finished homes on land like yours, not just the best photographs. Ask to speak to owners, and ask them the question that matters: what happened when something went wrong? Every build has a problem somewhere; how the builder dealt with it is what you are really choosing.
And ask who you will actually deal with. On my jobs it is me, from the first site assessment. That is not the only good model, but you should know which one you are signing up for.
The checklist
- Licence on the register: current, the right class, the same name as the contract.
- HBCF Certificate of Insurance for your property, received before any payment or work.
- Certificate checked on the HBCF Certificates Register at Verify NSW.
- Written contract with the required contents; cooling-off period understood.
- Deposit no more than 10 percent; progress payments tied to completed stages.
- Finished work seen, and past owners spoken to.
- Home construction in the Illawarra, explained: the seven stages, approvals, BASIX and warranties.
- Stages of a new home build, from slab to handover: what happens on site and when it is inspected.
Sources
Checked on 28 September 2026.
- NSW Government, General building work: the $5,000 licence threshold.
- icare, What is icare HBCF and why do I need it?: the certificate before work starts or any payment, and what to check on it.
- icare, HBCF: what am I covered for?: trigger events, cover, periods, policy limits and the Verify NSW certificates register.
- NSW Government, Contracts for residential building work: contract contents, cooling-off, deposit and progress payments.
General information from a builder, not legal or insurance advice. Confirm current requirements with NSW Fair Trading and icare.