📝 Contract Template

Building Contract (HIA Style) Template

Residential building contract with variations, progress payments, defects period. Standard HIA format.

What a residential building contract has to settle

• The parties, the land, and the title description — not just a street address
• The contract sum, and whether it is fixed price, cost plus, or subject to a rise-and-fall clause
• The plans and specifications, listed by revision number, as the documents that define the work
• Prime cost and provisional sum items, with the allowance for each stated
• The progress payment schedule, tied to defined stages
• Start date, building period, and the grounds on which an extension of time may be claimed
• The defects liability period and how defects are notified and rectified
• Insurance: who holds contract works, public liability, and the statutory home warranty cover

Residential building is regulated separately in every state

Domestic building work is the most heavily regulated contracting there is, and the rules are state law rather than national. Cooling-off periods, the maximum deposit you may take, mandatory warranties, the wording of certain notices and the insurance you must hold before you start all differ between jurisdictions. A contract that is compliant in one state can be unenforceable in another. Industry standard forms exist precisely because of this — use the one for the state the work is in, and have it reviewed.

• Confirm the deposit you take is within the statutory cap for that state
• Put the home warranty insurance certificate in place before work starts, where it is required
• Record every variation in writing, signed, before the work is done — unsigned variations are often unrecoverable

Where these contracts usually come apart

• Provisional sums that were set optimistically and blow out without a written variation
• Extensions of time claimed late, or not claimed at all, and liquidated damages then applied
• A final claim made before practical completion is properly reached

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General information only — not legal, tax or financial advice. For contracts and tax documents, confirm your obligations with a qualified professional or the relevant authority.