Owner-Builder Companion

Standing Obligations

Insurance & Legal Obligations

These apply from before you break ground and stay relevant throughout the build — not tied to one stage. Compiled from NSW Government sources (SIRA, SafeWork NSW, the Long Service Corporation) and construction-law summaries that cite them directly.

1. Home Building Compensation Fund (HBCF) — the big one people get wrong

  • There is no HBCF/home warranty insurance product for owner-builders' own labour. It genuinely does not exist to buy, even if you wanted it.
  • You remain personally, legally liable for defects in your own work for 6 years (12 years for structural defects) — with no insurance safety net behind it.
  • Any licensed contractor you hire directly for a contract sum over $20,000 (including materials they supply) must have their own HBCF cover and give it to you. It's on you to check they've actually provided it before work starts.

2. Selling within 6 years — two separate disclosure traps

  • Sell within 6 years of completing owner-builder work valued over $20,000: you must give the purchaser a signed certificate stating the work was done by an owner-builder, and its completion date.
  • Sell within 7 years and 6 months of obtaining your owner-builder permit: the contract of sale must include a consumer warning telling the buyer the work isn't insured.

3. Insurance you must arrange yourself

  • Public liability insurance — for a new build over $500,000, $10 million cover is standard practice.
  • Contract works insurance — covers the build itself against damage during construction.
  • Workers' compensation insurance — required if you pay more than $7,500/year in wages, including payments to contractors/subcontractors who may be classified as "deemed workers."
  • Professional indemnity insurance — worth arranging if engaging consultants (architects, engineers, etc.).

4. WHS — you likely become the "principal contractor"

  • If the work is over $20,000 and involves more than one trade, you're deemed the principal contractor under WHS law and must prepare a WHS Management Plan. Full principal contractor duty kicks in at $250,000+.
  • Real, concrete obligations: install required site signage, ensure Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) exist for high-risk activities, and induct everyone on site — workers, delivery people, visitors — on hazards, controls, and emergency procedures.
  • Penalties for getting this wrong are severe: fines up to 30,000 penalty units, imprisonment, and prohibition notices that can halt work entirely.

5. Long Service Levy — a mandatory payment, easy to miss

  • 0.25% of the build cost, for works costing $250,000 or more (including GST), minimum levy $50.
  • Must be paid before building work begins — not during, not after.
  • Owner-builders can get up to a 50% discount, calculated on the amount of voluntary (their own) labour in the job.

Risk Management Pack

Print-sign-store checklist covering every item above, with signature/date fields for your own records — saved in your own browser as you go.

Open the Risk Management Pack →

Official WHS Forms — SafeWork NSW

SafeWork NSW publishes a free, official Housing Industry Site Safety Pack — 10 ready-to-use forms including your Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS), site-specific risk assessment, and WHS policy templates. We link directly to the official pack rather than reproduce it — our job is to explain which form you need and when, matched to your build stage, not replace the government's own documents.

Get the official Housing Industry Site Safety Pack →
See a worked example of every form (example only) →