Questions to Ask a Home Builder Before You Sign
The questions that reveal how a build will actually run — covering licensing, pricing, site management, communication, and what happens after handover.
Licensing, insurance, and financial standing
What is your QBCC licence number, what class is it, and does it cover work of this type and value? Is the licence held by the entity that will sign my contract?
Will statutory home warranty insurance be taken out for my job, and when will I receive the certificate? Can I see current public liability and contract works insurance certificates?
How long have you been operating under this entity? A builder with a short trading history under a new company name is worth asking about, even where the explanation is entirely reasonable.
Pricing and the contract
What is included and, more importantly, what is excluded? Ask specifically about driveway, fencing, landscaping, floor coverings, window furnishings, air conditioning, and site works.
What provisional sums and prime cost items are in the contract, and how were those allowances calculated? Are they based on my actual site and my actual selections, or on standard figures?
How are variations priced and approved, and will I always see a written price before work proceeds? What happens if I disagree with a variation price?
How the site will actually run
Who is my day-to-day contact, and who supervises the site? How often will they be on it? How many other jobs will be running at the same time as mine?
Are your trades regular subcontractors you work with repeatedly, or are they engaged job by job? Consistent trades usually mean consistent quality.
How will you communicate progress, and how quickly can I expect an answer to a question? Can I visit the site, and under what arrangements?
Timeline and completion
What is the realistic construction programme, and what are the main risks to it on my site? What grounds allow an extension of time under the contract?
What does practical completion mean in this contract, and how is the defects process handled? How long is the defects liability period?
What happens after handover — who do I call in six months if something needs attention, and what does the warranty cover?
The answers that should reassure you
Good answers are specific. A builder who has genuinely priced your job can talk about your block, your soil report, and your selections rather than speaking in generalities.
Be wary of pressure to sign quickly, reluctance to put things in writing, quotes that are dramatically lower than others without an explanation you can verify, and vague responses about who is actually running the site.
You are choosing someone you will work with for months on the largest purchase most people make. Take the time to ask, and expect straight answers. We are happy to sit down and go through every one of these questions before you commit to anything.
Questions about your specific block
What site classification have you priced the footings to, and have you done a soil test on this block? If the answer is an assumption, the largest single cost variable in the project is unpriced.
What overlays apply to this address, and what do they require? Flood, bushfire, character and vegetation overlays each carry consequences, and a builder who has not checked the property report has not assessed your site.
How will concrete trucks and cranes reach the work, and has pumping been allowed for? On sloping or long-approach blocks this is a real cost per pour rather than a one-off.
Questions about the contract
How many provisional sums and prime cost items does the contract carry, what does each cover, and what happens if the actual cost exceeds them? Ask to see what each allowance actually buys before signing, not after.
What is the deposit, and is it within the 5 per cent cap that applies to domestic building contracts over $20,000 in Queensland?
How are variations priced and approved, and will they always be documented in writing before work proceeds? A verbal variation is a dispute waiting to happen.
What is the defects liability period, and what happens if something appears after it ends?
Questions about how the job will run
Who supervises the site day to day, how many other projects are they running, and who do I contact when something needs a decision?
What is the construction programme, in stages, and how will progress claims align to it?
Can I visit an active site and speak to a client whose house you finished in the last year? A builder confident in their work will arrange both without hesitation.
Straight answers to these questions tell you more about how the build will go than any brochure will.