In the ACT, the statutory warranty sits in every contract to sell a residential building, not only in contracts to build one, and residential building work insurance, or an approved fidelity fund scheme, stands behind it for homes of up to three storeys. Since 1 October 2026, a development application for 3 or more dwellings must carry the proponent’s property developer licence number.
General informationGeneral information, not legal or insurance advice about any purchase or claim. ACT Planning’s insurance page, its property developers licensing page and the Building Act 2004 are the places to check; dates below are as those pages gave them on 9 October 2026.
1The warranty in the contract of sale
The Building Act 2004 treats a buyer of a new home much like a person who had it built. The builder’s warranty covers work done in line with the Act and the approved plans, in a proper and skilful way, with good and proper materials and, where the contract sets no finishing date, with reasonable promptness. Each later owner takes over the first owner’s rights to it.
Where a property developer arranged the work, for any part that is residential building work under the Property Developers Act 2024 (work on a residential building in a project of 3 or more dwellings), the contract also holds the developer’s own warranty on those four points, alongside the builder’s and without limiting it. That developer warranty does not apply to building contracts made before its subsection began.
A notice within two years
A newer section gives the owner of the building or land, whether or not they signed the contract, a way to press for repairs on residential building work as the Property Developers Act 2024 defines it: building or altering a residential building in a project of 3 or more dwellings. Within 2 years after the completion day, the owner may give the builder and any property developer written notice requiring defective work to be fixed. If they do, then in any later proceeding the work is presumed defective and able to be fixed unless the contrary is proven. The section does not reach work done, or contracted for, before it commenced.
2The insurance behind it
ACT Planning’s name for it is residential building work insurance, with home warranty and builder’s warranty insurance as other names, and it applies to building work on houses and on apartment buildings up to three storeys, a car park aside. It comes either as a policy from an authorised insurer or as a fidelity certificate issued by the trustees of an approved fidelity fund scheme.
Who it insures when a developer builds to sell
For a buyer, the useful part is whose loss the policy covers. Where the builder owns the land, as when a home is built to be sold, a complying policy insures the builder’s successors in title, from the day the land is transferred to someone else. Where the owner is a developer, meaning a person who owns or will own 4 or more of the dwellings, a policy that insures the developer’s successors in title complies even though it does not insure the developer.
When it pays
A policy may exclude every claim except those where the builder is insolvent, dead or has disappeared, and a builder has disappeared if, after proper search and inquiry, they cannot be found in Australia. The claim clock runs from the day the homeowner learns of that event. ACT Planning’s review note puts the minimum cover at $200,000, up from $85,000, and the window to lodge a claim at 180 days, up from 90, both from 1 January 2025.
A deposit paid before work began
The Act deals separately with money paid up front. A deposit here means an amount paid or payable to the builder under the contract before the work began. Where the builder is insolvent, the work is unfinished, and the work done is worth less than the deposit, the owner may recover from the insurer the lesser of two amounts: the deposit less the cost of the work done, or an amount set by regulation less the cost of the work done.
Two protections run in the buyer’s favour. An authorised insurer cannot avoid liability only because the builder misrepresented something or failed to disclose it when getting the policy, and any agreement that tries to cut down this part of the Act is void. Before work starts, the building certifier must check the insurance is in place before issuing a building commencement notice.
3The property developer licence
The Property Developers Act 2024 applies to residential building projects of 3 or more dwellings, and not to single dwellings or dual occupancies. The scheme is regulated by the Construction Occupations Registrar, within Access Canberra. ACT Planning’s page sets out its dates:
- Applications opened on 1 October 2025, with mandatory licensing from 1 October 2026.
- From 1 October 2026, a development application for a residential development of 3 or more dwellings must carry the proponent’s licence number.
- From 1 April 2027, a licence is needed to sell or advertise residential property off the plan, including for a landowner whose land carries a project of 3 or more dwellings managed by someone else.
The licence must be held from the building approval until a certificate of occupancy is issued, and a certificate of occupancy must not be issued unless a licence has been attached to the work. A buyer who bought a dwelling off the plan from a licensed developer does not need a licence to on-sell it before the certificate of occupancy. ACT Planning’s page says a public register of licensed developers will be available once licensing is mandatory.
The Act also gives the registrar power to issue rectification orders, stop work orders and undertakings for serious defects, for projects given development approval on or after 11 July 2024. A rectification order can be issued up to 10 years after building work is finished.
One more layer is provided for but not yet filled in on the pages used here: the Building Act lets a regulation say when latent defects insurance is required for residential building work, and what such a policy and its insurer must meet.