Your consumer rights when hiring a tradie in Australia

Hand over a $9,000 deposit on a $12,000 bathroom renovation in NSW and you have already paid $7,800 more than the law allows. Contracts for domestic building work there cap deposits at 10% of the price, a maximum of $1,200 on that job. Oversized deposits are how homeowners lose the most when a tradie disappears mid-job, and knowing the cap before signing is what limits the loss.

Every service you pay for in Australia, from a $200 tap repair to a $200,000 extension, comes with consumer guarantees you can't contract out of. Here's what the law actually promises, and what to do when a job goes wrong.

What does Australian Consumer Law guarantee for services?

The Australian Consumer Law gives you three automatic guarantees whenever you pay a business for a service, according to the ACCC. These apply whether or not they're written into the contract, and a business can't remove them by adding its own terms.

Due care and skill. The work has to be carried out to the standard a competent, averagely skilled tradesperson in that field would deliver. A rushed, careless, or incompetent job breaches this guarantee even if it was never explicitly promised to be otherwise.

Fit for purpose. If you told the business what you needed the service or the finished result to do, and it was reasonable for you to rely on their expertise, the outcome has to actually do that job. A deck built to a spec that can't hold the load you described fails this guarantee.

Reasonable time. Where no completion date was agreed, the job has to be finished within a time that's reasonable for that type of work. What's reasonable for repainting a fence is not what's reasonable for rebuilding a roof, so the standard is job-specific rather than a fixed number of days.

What's the difference between a quote and an estimate?

A quote is generally treated as a fixed offer: the business agrees to do specified work for a set price, and if it wants to charge more later it needs your agreement to a variation. An estimate is a non-binding guide to likely cost, and the final bill can move as the job progresses.

The trouble is businesses don't always use the words precisely. Before work starts, ask directly which one you're getting and get it in writing, including what's included and what would trigger an extra charge. If nothing was put in writing and a price was never agreed at all, a business can still only recover a reasonable price for the work actually done under the consumer guarantees.

Are there limits on how much deposit a tradie can ask for?

Yes, for licensed domestic building work in the two largest states, and the limits are lower than most homeowners expect.

State	Deposit cap	Threshold
NSW	10% of the contract price	Applies regardless of job size, under the Home Building Act contract rules
Victoria	10% of the contract price	Contracts under $20,000
Victoria	5% of the contract price	Contracts of $20,000 or more

In NSW, the maximum deposit you can be asked to pay is 10% of the total contract price, whether the job is worth $6,000 or $600,000, according to the NSW Government's building and renovating guidance. In Victoria, Consumer Affairs Victoria confirms the cap is 10% for contracts under $20,000 and drops to 5% once the contract hits $20,000 or more, under the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995. These caps apply to the deposit specifically, not to progress payments made as the job proceeds. Outside licensed domestic building work, deposit amounts aren't capped by law, so treat a demand for 50% or more upfront on a small job as a red flag and ask why.

Does a price change have to be agreed in writing?

For domestic building contracts in NSW, yes. Variations must be in writing and attached to the contract, signed by both the homeowner and the contracting builder or tradesperson (or their nominated supervisor or agent), per the NSW Government's contracts guidance. A verbal instruction to "just do the extra work while you're here" doesn't bind you to pay for it later if there's a dispute.

Get any variation quoted separately before the work happens, not after, and keep a copy. If a business invoices you for extra work you never agreed to in writing, you're entitled to query and refuse to pay that portion while the original contract price stands.

What can I get if the work is faulty: repair, refund, or something else?

The remedy depends on whether the problem is major or minor, under the ACCC's repair, replace, refund, cancel guidance.

For a major failure in a service, you can choose to cancel the contract and get a refund for the unused portion, or keep the contract but pay a reduced price that accounts for the problem. A failure counts as major if it's something you wouldn't have agreed to the job on those terms had you known, or if it makes the result unsafe or unfit for its stated purpose.

For a minor problem, the business gets the first opportunity to fix it for free within a reasonable time. Only if they refuse, take too long, or can't fix it does the right to get it done elsewhere and claim back the reasonable cost, or seek a partial refund, kick in.

Where do I complain if a tradie won't fix the problem?

Work through this order, since skipping steps can slow you down rather than speed things up.

1. The business first. Put your complaint in writing, describe the fault, attach photos, and state what remedy you want (repair, refund, or price reduction) and by when. Many disputes resolve at this stage once there's a paper trail.

2. Your state's fair trading body. If the business doesn't respond or refuses a reasonable remedy, lodge a complaint with your state or territory regulator, such as NSW Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs Victoria, or the Queensland Office of Fair Trading. For building work specifically, most of these bodies run a conciliation step that's often a required prerequisite before a tribunal will hear the case.

3. The tribunal. In NSW, home building claims generally must go through NSW Fair Trading's dispute resolution process first; NCAT then hears claims including those under $30,000 through its home building list, per NCAT's own case-type guidance. In Victoria, homeowner building disputes must first go to Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria, with a certificate of conciliation or rejection letter required before VCAT will accept the application (an injunction is the one exception). In Queensland, QCAT hears consumer and trader disputes directly, for goods or services worth up to $25,000, without a mandatory referral step first.

Keep every document from the start: the written quote, any variations, texts and emails, photos of the work, and receipts for money paid. Tribunals decide on paper trails, and a homeowner who wrote things down consistently wins arguments that a verbal-only dispute can't settle.

Choosing a properly licensed trade in the first place cuts your exposure to most of these disputes before they start; see our guide to hiring licensed trades for how to check a licence before you sign anything. Browse trade services listings on Digital Pages to compare businesses with verified licensing and reviews.

FAQ

Can a tradie ask for a 50% deposit?

Not for licensed domestic building work in NSW or Victoria. NSW caps deposits at 10% of the contract price regardless of job size. Victoria caps deposits at 10% for contracts under $20,000 and 5% for contracts of $20,000 or more. Other trade work outside these building acts is not capped, so check your state regulator before paying a large deposit.

Is a quote legally binding but an estimate isn't?

That's the general convention, though the words a business uses aren't always precise. A quote is a fixed offer to do defined work for a set price, and a business that wants to charge more usually needs your agreement to a variation. An estimate is a non-binding guide and the final bill can move. Get it in writing either way and ask the business to confirm which one you're getting.

What if a tradie starts work without agreeing a price?

You still have consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law: the work must be done with due care and skill, fit for purpose, and finished in a reasonable time. Without an agreed price, a business can generally charge no more than a reasonable price for the work actually done, and you can dispute a bill you think is unreasonable.

Do I have to pay for defective work while I'm disputing it?

You can withhold payment for the defective portion while you seek a remedy, but check your contract terms first, since some contracts specify progress payment triggers. Document the defect with photos and a written notice to the business before withholding anything, and get advice from your state's fair trading body if the amount is significant.

Can I go straight to NCAT, VCAT or QCAT with a building dispute?

Usually not. NSW and Victoria require you to go through NSW Fair Trading or Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria first for most domestic building disputes, and only proceed to the tribunal if that process doesn't resolve things. Queensland's QCAT accepts consumer and trader disputes directly, up to $25,000.