Contracts, security of payment, insurance, warranties and running a building business.
What variations and extensions of time are, how AS 4000, AS 2124 and residential contracts handle them, why notice time bars matter, and the written variation rules for home building in NSW, Victoria and Queensland.
A plain-English guide for tradies and builders going out on their own: who licenses builders in each state and territory, financial requirements, choosing a structure, ABN, GST and TPAR, insurance, cash flow, WHS and employment duties, and your right to be paid.
A plain-English guide to the security of payment Act in each state and territory: making a payment claim, the deadline for a payment schedule, adjudication, which home building contracts are excluded and Queensland’s trust accounts.
When you need an owner-builder permit in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, WA, Tasmania, the ACT and the NT, what training each requires, how often you can be an owner-builder, the rules when you sell, insurance, and your safety duties when you engage trades.
What the statutory warranties in residential building contracts promise, how long they last in NSW, Victoria and Queensland, when home warranty insurance is required in each state and territory, and what it actually covers.
Which modern awards cover building and trade businesses, the National Employment Standards, when minimum wages change, apprentice obligations, record keeping, the wage theft offence, payday super and the right to disconnect.
What a subcontract should cover, how the Fair Work Act’s whole of relationship test separates contractors from employees, the licence, insurance and tax checks to run, and how WHS duties are shared on site.
How to build an estimate from the drawings up, price overheads and margin properly, handle contingencies, prime cost items and provisional sums, quote GST-inclusive prices to consumers and manage cost escalation.
A plain-English guide to the main construction insurances in Australia: public liability, contract works and professional indemnity, plus where workers compensation and home warranty insurance fit, what contracts require and when a licence depends on cover.
A plain-English checklist for builders, trades and owners: the standard form contracts in use, the written contract, deposit and cooling-off rules for home building in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and WA, and the clauses on scope, price, variations, time, defects and disputes.