Check a builder in South Australia before you sign.

How do you check a builder is licensed in South Australia?

To check a builder in South Australia, search CBS Find a licence holder, the register run by Consumer and Business Services, by name, business name or licence number. It returns whether a current building work contractor's licence is held and the licence number on record, so an unlicensed name on a quote is the first thing to reconcile. The register is free and public, and you do not need the builder's permission to look.

Consumer and Business Services sits within the Attorney-General's Department and licenses building work contractors and registers building work supervisors under the Building Work Contractors Act 1995. A building work contractor's licence authorises an individual or business to carry out or organise (contract for) building work. A building work supervisor's registration authorises a person to supervise building work: all building work must be supervised by a registered building work supervisor, and a company must nominate one. Sole traders typically hold both.

The single most useful thing the register shows you is the name a licence is actually held under. A licence held by one entity does not cover work you contract through a different trading name or a related company. Match the exact name and licence number on the register to the name that will sit on your building contract and take your deposit.

Do you need Building Indemnity Insurance in SA, and who pays for it?

In South Australia, Building Indemnity Insurance is required for domestic building work that needs development approval and is valued at $20,000 or more, and the builder must put it in place before any physical work begins. It is last-resort cover for the homeowner that responds only where the builder dies, disappears, or becomes insolvent, and it covers both non-completion and defects. The policy is issued by a private insurer, backed by the South Australian Government Financing Authority, and is paid for by the builder, not by you directly.

The $20,000 trigger is recent. Until 10 November 2025 the threshold sat at just $12,000, one of the lowest in the country, and on that date it was raised to $20,000, which now also marks the line for what counts as minor domestic building work. From the same date the policy limit is prescribed at $250,000. So a policy taken out under the current rules covers the homeowner up to $250,000 where the builder dies, disappears, or becomes insolvent.

This is why the cover matters before the deposit is at stake. A deposit is only protected once the Building Indemnity Insurance policy is in place, so a request for money on a job of $20,000 or more before the policy exists is a gap you can close before you sign, not after. You can confirm a policy exists and then reconcile the name on it against the licensed entity you are actually contracting with.

What do SA contract, deposit and cooling-off rules require?

In South Australia, a domestic building work contract must be in writing where the work is valued at more than $20,000, and the maximum deposit is $1,000 for work valued up to $20,000, or 5% of the contract value where the work exceeds $20,000, plus permitted preliminary costs such as insurance premiums and engineering or surveying fees. Work under $20,000 is minor domestic building work, which is exempt from the written-contract and Building Indemnity Insurance requirements, though licensing and statutory warranties still apply.

South Australia also gives you a statutory cooling-off period of 5 clear business days after signing, during which the building owner may terminate the contract by written notice to the builder under section 36 of the Building Work Contractors Act 1995. This is a consumer right that is not universal across Australia, and it gives you a defined window to complete your checks after signing rather than only before.

The deposit cap and cooling-off period are consumer protections, not guidelines. A request for a deposit above 5% on a standard home build, or above $1,000 on work valued up to $20,000, is outside the SA rules and is worth pausing on. The contract should also name the licensed entity, carry the licence number, and line up with the Building Indemnity Insurance policy where the work is $20,000 or more.

How does owner-builder work differ in South Australia?

In South Australia, owner-builders cannot take out Building Indemnity Insurance, so a buyer of an owner-built home does not have the last-resort cover a builder's policy provides. This is a structural difference from buying a home built under a licensed contractor's policy, and it is worth establishing early who actually held the licence for the work.

South Australia also frames the line between an owner-builder and a contractor around a specific rule: a person who builds or improves and then sells or rents two or more buildings within five years is treated as a building work contractor and must be licensed. If a home you are looking at was built or improved by someone crossing that line without a licence, the record is worth reconciling against the CBS register.

Where do building disputes go in South Australia?

In South Australia, Consumer and Business Services receives and assesses complaints about builders and tradespeople and may assist negotiations or convene a conciliation conference. Where matters are not resolved, the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT) hears disciplinary actions against building work contractors and supervisors and reviews certain decisions under the Building Work Contractors Act 1995.

Knowing the path in advance changes how you read a builder before you sign. A builder whose licensed entity differs from the one on the quote, or whose licence you cannot confirm on the CBS register, is harder to pursue later. The point of checking first is to make the decision while you still hold the deposit and, in South Australia, while your cooling-off window is still open.

What does a Property Assurance check cover in South Australia?

A free Property Assurance check reads the public registers for the builder you name and reports what they hold, sourced and dated. Company identity and external administration signals come from national records, so they are part of the instant check everywhere. Whether the SA builder licence itself is read in the instant pass or checked by an analyst depends on the state.

Where a check is marked analyst check, it is not yet part of the instant automated pass. If the builder does not fully match automatically, leave the name with us and an analyst runs the Consumer and Business Services (CBS) register and the wider checks by hand for the full report. You can also search the register yourself on the CBS Find a licence holder register.

What are the builder licence classes in South Australia?

South Australia issues building licences in classes, and the class sets what work the holder is authorised to do. Matching the class to the work in your quote is part of reading a licence properly, not just confirming one exists.

What does our own SA data hold?

South Australia builder records are not yet in our automated register index, so we do not publish a count here rather than imply coverage we do not hold. When you run a check for a South Australia builder, our analyst team reads the Consumer and Business Services (CBS) register and the national company records by hand and reports what they find, sourced and dated.

What is worth checking before you sign in South Australia?

Before you sign a building contract or pay a deposit in South Australia, a short list of checks reconciles the sales material with the public record. None of these characterise a builder. They confirm the paperwork matches the entity.

• The name on the CBS licence matches the company and ABN that will sign your contract and take the deposit.
• For domestic work of $20,000 or more that needs development approval, a Building Indemnity Insurance policy is in place before any physical work begins, because the deposit is only protected once the policy exists.
• The deposit asked for is within the SA cap: $1,000 for work up to $20,000, or 5% of the contract value where work exceeds $20,000, plus permitted preliminary costs.
• You have noted the statutory 5 clear business days cooling-off period, which lets you terminate by written notice to the builder after signing under section 36.
• The trading name in the sales material resolves to a real, current licensed entity on the CBS register, not a related name with no licence of its own.

Questions about checking a builder in South Australia

How do I check if a builder is licensed in SA?

Search CBS Find a licence holder, the register run by Consumer and Business Services, by name, business name or licence number. It shows whether a current building work contractor's licence is held and the licence number on record. Our free check also matches the trading name to the company and ABN records and reports the licence numbers on record.

Do you need Building Indemnity Insurance in SA?

Yes, for domestic building work that needs development approval and is valued at $20,000 or more. The builder must put the policy in place before any physical work begins, and it is last-resort cover for the homeowner that responds only where the builder dies, disappears, or becomes insolvent. The threshold was raised from $12,000 to $20,000 on 10 November 2025, and the policy limit is $250,000 from the same date.

How much deposit can an SA builder ask for?

In South Australia the maximum deposit is $1,000 for work valued up to $20,000, or 5% of the contract value where the work exceeds $20,000, plus permitted preliminary costs such as insurance premiums and engineering or surveying fees. A written contract is required where the work is valued at more than $20,000.

Is there a cooling-off period on SA building contracts?

Yes. South Australia gives a statutory cooling-off period of 5 clear business days after signing a domestic building contract, during which the building owner may terminate by written notice to the builder under section 36 of the Building Work Contractors Act 1995. This is a consumer right that is not universal across Australia.

Can an owner-builder get Building Indemnity Insurance in SA?

No. Owner-builders in South Australia cannot take out Building Indemnity Insurance, so an owner-built home does not carry the last-resort cover a licensed builder's policy provides. Separately, a person who builds or improves and then sells or rents two or more buildings within five years is treated as a building work contractor and must be licensed.

Who regulates builders in South Australia?

Consumer and Business Services (CBS), within the Attorney-General's Department, licenses building work contractors and registers building work supervisors under the Building Work Contractors Act 1995. CBS assesses complaints and may convene a conciliation conference, and the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT) hears disciplinary actions and reviews certain decisions.

What does a free SA builder check show me?

Our instant check matches the builder name to the company and ABN on the ASIC and Australian Business Register records and reports the count of any external administration signals in the ASIC dataset. The SA licence register is checked by an analyst on request. Every fact is sourced and dated, and we never rate or score anyone.

What does the SA licence register not show?

The register records whether a current licence is held, not the quality of a builder's work, and it does not by itself connect the licence to the company taking your deposit, the directors behind it, or matters on other registers. That connective work is what the full report and an analyst check add.

How do I check a builder's insurance in SA?

South Australia has no insurance search by builder name. Ask the builder for the certificate of Building Indemnity Insurance and confirm it on the issuing provider's verifier (Assetinsure or QBE) using the policy number or property details. Cover must be in place before a deposit is taken on residential work of $20,000 or more, and since November 2025 the cover limit is $250,000. Confirm the builder's licence separately by name on the Consumer and Business Services register.