Owner builder insurance in Queensland

What QBCC requires

The Queensland Building and Construction Commission does not make insurance a condition of an owner builder permit. What it does is leave you outside the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme. Licensed contractors pay a premium into the scheme for residential work over $3,300, and it protects the home owner against non-completion and defective work. Owner builders are not eligible, so nothing protects you if the work is defective, and nothing protects a later buyer either.

QBCC does require you to comply with Queensland work health and safety laws for everyone on site, and to use licensed contractors for plumbing, drainage, gasfitting, termite management and electrical work. Those obligations drive most of the insurance decisions below.

Cover that is prudent

None of this is compulsory under the QBCC Act, but each policy covers a risk that would otherwise sit with you personally.

• Contract works (construction) insurance covers the structure, materials and work in progress against fire, storm, theft and vandalism until the job is finished. Standard home insurance usually excludes a house under construction or major renovation, so check with your insurer before you start.
• Public liability covers injury to visitors or damage to neighbouring property caused by the work. Licensed contractors carry their own, but it does not extend to you as the person running the site.
• Workers’ compensation: if you employ anyone directly, even a labourer paid by the day, you must hold a WorkCover Queensland accident insurance policy. Subcontractors with their own ABN and insurance are usually not your workers, but check WorkCover’s tests.
• Voluntary workers: family and friends helping for free are not covered by WorkCover. Some insurers offer voluntary workers personal accident cover as an add-on to an owner builder policy.
• Tools, plant and hired equipment are often excluded from contract works cover unless they are listed.

Home warranty and selling the property

Because the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme does not cover owner builder work, if you sell within six years of finishing you must give the buyer a written notice before the contract is signed. It must describe the work, name you as the permit holder, and carry the prescribed warning that the building work is not covered by insurance under the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991. The buyer signs one copy and returns it to you.

If you skip the notice, the law assumes you have given a warranty that the work was properly carried out, and you can be liable for building faults in future. QBCC also records an owner builder administrative advice on the land title, which stays there for seven years. Buyers and their solicitors will see it.

Where to get quotes

Most mainstream home insurers do not write owner builder policies. Specialist brokers and underwriters offer packaged owner builder policies that combine contract works, public liability and voluntary workers cover for the period of the permit, usually priced on the value of the work. Get quotes before you lodge with QBCC so the premium is in your budget, and read the exclusions for unoccupied periods, existing structures and asbestos.

For workers’ compensation, contact WorkCover Queensland directly. For occupation-specific cover such as electrical or plumbing work, the licensed contractor’s own insurance applies to their work, not yours.