Choosing a builder is mostly a matter of checking things that can be checked. A licence can be looked up. A quote can be read line by line. The way changes, inspections and handover are run can be asked about before anything is signed, and the answers can be compared with what the contract actually says.
Start with the licence register
The South Australian Government publishes a public register of occupational licence holders on sa.gov.au. Builders are one of the occupations it covers. The page describes it as a way to check whether a person or business is licensed in South Australia.
A search needs either the licence number or the surname or trading name of the person or business. The same page notes that a service supplier’s name and licence number should appear on their business card, written quote, website or other promotional material.
The useful check is a match. The name on the register, the name on the quote and the name that will appear on the contract should all point to the same person or business. Where they differ, ask why before going further.
A licence search is a starting point rather than a verdict. The questions about how a particular build will be run are answered by the quote, the contract and the records a builder can show, which is where the rest of this note goes.
Questions to ask about the quote
Once a builder provides a quote, it says a lot about how the rest will be run. Ask whether it is itemised, and what each line actually covers. Ask which items are allowances rather than prices, and what happens when the real figure arrives.
Ask what has been left out. Site works, service connections, landscaping, driveways and fencing are all things a reader might assume are included. The quote should say, one way or the other, so that nothing depends on assumption.
Ask whether the price in the quote is the price that will appear in the contract, and if anything changes between the two, what changed and why.
Ask how the quote was prepared: from which drawings, at which revision, and against which specification. Ask what the price assumes about the site, such as its classification, slope and service connections, and what those assumptions rest on. A quote that names its assumptions can be checked. One that does not leaves them to be found later.
Questions to ask about changes during the build
Changes can arise on any build, whether the owner asks for them or the site produces them. The useful question is how each one is handled.
Ask who can request a variation, how it is priced, and whether the price is agreed in writing before the work goes ahead. Then find the variations clause in the draft contract and check that it says the same thing. The contract, not the conversation, sets the process for that build.
Ask what happens to the programme as well as the price when a change is agreed. A variation that touches work other trades depend on can affect the order of the build, and it helps to know in advance how that will be communicated.
Questions to ask about inspections and records
Ask at which stages the work is inspected, who arranges each inspection, and whether the owner sees the result. Footings, frame and lock-up are natural points to ask about, because each one covers work that the next stage will hide.
Ask what the builder keeps on file during the build and what the owner receives at the end. Drawings, engineering, certificates and product information are worth having in hand when the house is handed over, not requested afterwards.
Ask how an item raised at an inspection is dealt with and recorded. An inspection that finds something is only useful if there is a clear path from the finding to the fix, and a record that the fix was made.
It is also worth asking how the owner is kept informed between inspections: how progress is reported, who the point of contact is, and how questions are answered. The answer describes how the build will feel from the owner’s side, which no drawing shows.
Match the builder to the kind of job
A new home on vacant land, a knockdown rebuild, a structural renovation and a multi-dwelling build are different jobs. Each carries its own set of questions: demolition and service disconnection on a rebuild, working around an occupied structure on a renovation, sequencing across dwellings on a multi-dwelling site.
Ask about the specific job rather than building in general. A builder who has worked through that kind of project can say what it involves before it starts, and can point to records of similar work.
Ask to see the kind of records kept from earlier work: drawings, inspection records, photographs of stages before they were covered up. Records of the work are more useful to look at than descriptions of it, because they show what was actually built at each stage.
For a renovation or extension, ask how the existing structure will be assessed before the price is set, and what happens if that assessment changes once walls or floors are opened up. For a rebuild, ask how demolition and service disconnection are scoped and priced.
Read the documents before deciding
By the time a choice is being made, the quote, the draft contract and the specification should already describe the build. Read them together. The answers given in a meeting should be traceable to a clause, a line item or a drawing.
Three documents are worth reading side by side. The quote says what is priced. The specification says what the house is built from and finished with. The draft contract says how the price, the programme and any changes are managed. Where one says something the others do not, that is a question to raise before signing.
For questions the documents raise about rights, insurance or the contract terms, the people to ask are the relevant government agency or a legal adviser.
At Cyberidge, quotes are itemised and structural inspections are scheduled at footing, frame, lock-up and handover.
Common Questions
How do I choose a builder in Adelaide?
Check the builder on the South Australian licence register on sa.gov.au, then compare what each builder puts in writing: an itemised quote, a clear variations process, the inspection stages, and what records are handed over at the end. Confirm that the answers given in person match the draft contract.
How can I check if a builder is licensed in SA?
Use the public register of occupational licence holders on sa.gov.au. It covers builders and can be searched by licence number or by surname or trading name. Check that the name on the register matches the name on the quote and the contract.
What questions should I ask a builder before signing?
Ask what the quote includes and excludes, which items are allowances, how variations are priced and agreed, at which stages the work is inspected, and what documents are handed over at the end. Then check the draft contract says the same.
Where does a builder’s licence number appear?
The sa.gov.au licence register page notes that a service supplier’s name and licence number should appear on their business card, written quote, website or other promotional material. The number can then be searched on the register.
Sources
- SA.GOV.AU — Check occupational licence holders (live page blocks automated access; read via the Wayback Machine snapshot of 14 December 2025)Accessed 2026-10-09
- Wayback Machine snapshot of the same page, 14 December 2025 (the text the note relies on)Accessed 2026-10-09
This page describes legislation as it stood on the access dates above. It is not legal advice about any particular property.
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