AU deposit ceiling

Each state has its own residential-building deposit cap. NSW (Home Building Act 1989 s8): 10%. VIC (Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 s11): 10% for under-$20k contracts, 5% for $20k+. QLD (QBCC Act 1991): 10% on Level 1 contracts ($3,300–$19,999), 20% on Level 2 ($20,000+). WA (Home Building Contracts Act 1991 s7): 6.5%. SA (Building Work Contractors Act 1995 s33(b)): the lesser of 10% or $1,000. TAS (Residential Building Work Contracts and Dispute Resolution Act 2016): 10%. ACT (Building Act 2004): up to 20% on smaller contracts; larger jobs use progress payments. NT has no statutory cap; ~10% is customary. These caps apply to residential building work only — service callouts (plumbing, electrical, cleaning) sit outside this regulation and use customary deposits (typically 10–30%).

The Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 (VIC) recognises that small jobs need cash up front (10% on a $5k bathroom is reasonable) but large contracts shouldn't tie up customer capital (5% on a $200k extension still gives the builder $10k working capital). Other states picked a single ceiling across the threshold; VIC alone splits.

The contract is unenforceable for the excess and the customer can require you to refund the over-cap portion. State Fair Trading bodies investigate complaints and can issue penalty notices. Even if you intended to allocate it to materials, the cap is on the *deposit* — what you take before any work or materials change hands. Bill larger material expenses as a separate progress claim once the contract is properly under way.

No. The state caps quoted here apply to residential building work (work on a private dwelling). Commercial contracts are negotiated and governed by the Building & Construction Industry Security of Payment Acts (each state has its own version). Most commercial contracts use progress claims tied to certified milestones rather than upfront deposits.

Generally no — the cap applies to whatever the customer pays *before* meaningful work or off-site preparation begins. If you need a $5,000 materials order on a $50,000 VIC contract that caps deposit at $2,500, structure it as: (a) deposit of $2,500 (5%) on signing, (b) progress claim of $2,500 on delivery of materials to site or supplier-confirmed order. The contract should describe the trigger for claim (b) so the customer isn't surprised.

The deposit caps apply to licensed builder contracts. Owner-builders engaging a tradesperson directly (not a head contractor) are still subject to the residential-building deposit cap if the work is residential building work as defined by the Act. A tradesperson doing a stand-alone service call (e.g. a plumber unblocking a drain) isn't doing 'building work' under the Act and the cap doesn't apply.

No — the caps + descriptions are from publicly-published Fair Trading / building authority materials and are kept up to date best-effort. Statutes change. Always verify against your state authority before relying on a number for a real contract. Consider getting a building-law-savvy lawyer to review your standard contract template once.