12 Questions to Ask Every Builder Before You Sign Anything

Most homeowners interview builders by asking about price and timeline. Fair — but those are the two easiest answers to fudge. The questions below are harder to dodge, and the way a builder reacts to them tells you as much as the answers themselves.

Licence & Insurance

1. Can I see your licence — and is the person on it running my job? Verify it on the NSW Fair Trading register. Then ask who actually manages the site day-to-day. If it's not the licence holder, ask to meet whoever it is.

2. Can you show me your HBC insurance certificate? Home Building Compensation cover is mandatory in NSW for jobs over $20,000. No certificate, no contract.

3. Who are your subcontractors and how long have they worked with you? Stable trade relationships are the single best predictor of build quality.

Money

4. What provisional sums are in this quote, and what happens if they're exceeded? This is where "fixed price" quietly becomes variable.

5. What's NOT included? Make them list it. Driveway? Landscaping? Flooring? Connection fees?

6. What were your last three projects' final costs versus contract price? An honest builder will talk about this openly.

7. What's your payment schedule — and is it tied to completed stages? Progress payments should follow work done, not calendar dates.

Process

8. Who do I call when something goes wrong, and how fast do you respond? Get specific. "My mobile, same day" is an answer. "Our office will log a ticket" is also an answer.

9. How do you handle variations? Every variation should be priced and signed before the work happens — never invoiced as a surprise.

10. What does your site look like mid-build? Ask to visit a current project. Tidy site, tidy build.

11. What happens at handover — and after? Statutory warranty in NSW is 6 years structural, 2 years non-structural. Ask how defects get handled in practice.

12. Why should I build with you instead of the cheaper quote? Every builder should have a real answer that isn't "quality".