Progress payments on a new house in SA: stages and schedule

What is a progress payment when building a house?

A progress payment is an interim payment for building work. The Law Handbook, published by the Legal Services Commission of South Australia, describes progress payments as “interim payments for the building work, made over the life of the contract”, and says they “are usually expressed as a percentage of the total contract price”.

Consumer and Business Services (CBS), in its January 2025 consumer guide, says: “Your builder is entitled to progress payments for when work is substantially complete and ready for the next stage.” The prescribed Form 1 notice, in its September 2024 version, says: “As a general rule, your building work contractor is entitled only to genuine progress payments for work done.”

The Handbook records that, under section 30 of the Building Work Contractors Act 1995 (SA), a builder must not demand or request payment unless it is “a genuine progress payment in respect of work already performed under the contract”, and that certain advance payments are authorised under the Building Work Contractors Regulations 2026 (SA). The archived copy of section 30 read for this note lists one more route, set out under the heading on claims below.

The Handbook page is marked last revised 20 February 2025 but cites those Regulations; the CBS guide and Form 1 are Internet Archive copies that predate them; and the copy of the Act read is consolidated to 1 January 2024. The current Act and Regulations could not be read.

What are the house progress payment stages in SA?

The contract’s payment schedule is where to read the stages agreed for that job. CBS says: “The building contract will outline the terms of your progress payments.” If the schedule uses a stage name without defining it, that is a point for legal advice. The note on the stages of a build describes the common names in general terms.

The Handbook records that a domestic building work contract that is not minor domestic building work, a threshold it records as raised on 10 November 2025, must be in writing and “set out all of the terms of the contract” (section 28).

None of the sources read gives a South Australian list of payment stages. The current Act and Regulations 2026 were not read, so this note says only that none was found.

• Stages of building a house in SA
• Lock-up and fixing stage explained

What percentage is paid at each stage?

For a South Australian contract, the percentage at each stage is the figure written in that contract, read with section 30 as the Handbook records it. CBS says the payments “are generally a percentage of the total contract price” and gives no figures. This note found no South Australian schedule of percentages.

Victoria is different, and its figures are quoted only for comparison. They are not a South Australian schedule. For major domestic building contracts in Victoria, section 40 of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 (Vic), Authorised Version No. 094 as at 1 July 2026, limits what a builder may demand, recover or retain at the completion of a stage. For a contract to build all stages, its table sets maximums of 10% of the contract price at base stage, 15% at frame stage, 35% at lock-up stage and 25% at fixing stage. Those four figures total 85%, and the table has no row for a deposit or the balance. This note does not offer them as a test of whether a South Australian claim is a genuine progress payment. Section 40(4) allows the parties to agree that the limits do not apply, in the manner set out in the regulations.

Those Victorian figures may change. Consumer Affairs Victoria reported on 15 September 2025 that the Domestic Building Contracts Amendment Act 2025 would take effect by 1 December 2026, and that progress payment stages and limits “can be set in regulations”.

How much is the deposit, and what else can be paid up front?

CBS’s guide says “The maximum amount a builder can take as a deposit is 5% of the price” for contracts at or above the dollar threshold it states, the value below which the Handbook treats work as minor. The Law Handbook lists, among the advance payments authorised under the Regulations 2026, a deposit of 5% of the value of the work where that value is over the threshold it states, the same dollar figure it gives for section 28. For smaller jobs it records a set dollar deposit, which is left out here; the Handbook page linked below has the figure. The two differ at the threshold itself: the guide applies the 5% limit from that value, while the Handbook places contracts at that value in its set-deposit category. For a contract at that value, check the current Regulations or get legal advice. The Handbook’s wording for section 28 raises the same point.

Beyond the deposit, the Handbook lists “certain preliminary work including” “the premium for building indemnity insurance” and “third party costs for professional services such as engineering, drawing or surveying”.

That list is not closed. The full list and any conditions are in the Regulations 2026, which were not read for this note.

When can a frame stage payment be requested?

A frame stage payment is requested under the contract’s terms, read with section 30, so the answer starts with how that contract defines frame stage. CBS’s wording is that a builder is entitled to a progress payment when work is “substantially complete and ready for the next stage”, and the Handbook’s account of section 30 ties the payment to work already performed. The Handbook also records that a contract cannot exclude the effect of the Act, and that any term to that effect is void (section 42).

What should a progress payment schedule and claim say?

A progress claim is made in writing. CBS says a builder “must ask for progress payments in writing, for example an invoice”. Form 1 says: “The law requires that your building work contractor make a written demand for a progress payment, so payment should not be made without such a demand.” The Handbook records, citing section 30(3), that “The building owner is not obliged to make the payment in the absence of a written request by the builder for the progress payment”.

Two archived texts qualify this. The 1 January 2024 copy of section 30 also permits a payment a person is entitled to under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2009, and it lifts the written-request rule for a contract to which that Act applies. A copy of that Act consolidated to 10 December 2011 says it does not apply to a construction contract for domestic building work “on such part of any premises that the party for whom the work is carried out resides in or proposes to reside in”. The current Acts and the Security of Payment Regulations 2026 were not read, so how this applies to a particular contract is a question for legal advice.

The 1 January 2024 copy of the Act also requires a domestic building work contract to state the terms of payment (section 29) and to comply with any requirements of the regulations as to its contents (section 28). Points to read before signing include the stage for each payment, the words defining it, the amount or percentage, how a claim is given, the time allowed to pay, how a disputed claim is handled, and how variations are added.

On the last payment, CBS says it “should only be made when practical completion occurs and hand-over is ready”.

• What a building contract must include in SA
• Practical completion and handover in SA
• How quoting works

What if a progress payment is disputed?

Start by talking to the builder and reading the contract’s own process. The Handbook’s guidance on problems with a builder, given in its section on statutory warranties, is that a building owner “should seek legal advice” if a matter cannot be resolved by negotiation, and that Consumer and Business Services “may assist in negotiations with the builder”.

This note is general information, not legal advice. The Handbook itself says its content “should not be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice”, and gives 1300 366 424 as the number for legal advice in South Australia.