Three warranties sit on a second home, and they are not the same thing. First, the statutory warranties that Queensland law writes into every regulated building contract: good and suitable materials, work that complies with the law, care and skill, and a home fit to live in, enforceable for six years on a structural breach and one year on anything else. Second, home warranty insurance under the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme, which a licensed builder must take out on residential work over $3,300: it pays if the builder cannot finish a fixed-price job or does not fix defects, up to $200,000 as standard, with strict claim windows. Third, the maker's own written warranty on the home, which is whatever the sale contract says. An owner builder keeps the third and loses the second.
Layer one: the statutory warranties
Schedule 1B of the QBCC Act puts them into every regulated contract whether the contract mentions them or not, and a clause that tries to remove them is void. The builder warrants that materials are good and suitable and new unless stated, the work complies with the law and the plans, it is done with reasonable care, skill and diligence, and the home is suitable to live in. Proceedings for a structural breach can be started within six years of completion, for any other breach within one year, with a further six months if the breach first shows in the last six months of the period. Selling the home does not restart the clock.
Layer two: home warranty insurance
| What | The rule |
|---|---|
| When it applies | Residential work over $3,300 including labour, materials and GST, done by a licensed contractor under a contract. The contractor collects the premium in the deposit and pays the QBCC within 10 business days of signing |
| What it pays for | Non-completion of a fixed-price contract validly ended for the builder's default; defective work the builder does not fix; subsidence; storm, fire, vandalism and theft to unfinished work once a non-completion claim is accepted |
| How much | Up to $200,000 per type of loss on a detached home, or $300,000 for an extra premium paid within 30 business days of signing |
| Structural defect | Cover runs 6 years 6 months from the earliest of signing, paying the premium or starting work. Claim within 3 months of noticing it |
| Non-structural defect | Must appear within 6 months of the work being substantially complete and be claimed within 7 months |
| Not covered | Wear and tear, lack of maintenance, flood, landslip, earthquake, erosion, accidental damage, defective products, design by someone not suitably qualified |
The non-structural window is the one that catches people: notice a sticking door in month five, raise it in month eight, and the scheme cannot help. Write to the builder the day a defect shows. The QBCC issues a Notice of Cover once the premium is paid; ask for it in the first fortnight.
Layer three: the maker's warranty
A contract only to build a home in a factory is not insurable work under the scheme, and defective products are excluded from it. What stands behind the home itself is the maker's written warranty in the sale contract: how long, what it covers, who comes to fix it and from where. Read it before paying a deposit. When a licensed builder installs the home, the QBCC treats the delivered home as a building material and the premium is charged on the whole job, so defects in the installed work are covered through the builder. When the owner installs as owner builder, the maker's warranty is the only one on the home.
Who to write to, and when
- At handover, list every minor defect on the builder's defects document, with a date to fix them, before paying the final claim.
- After handover, email the builder the day a defect shows, with photos and a timeframe. The QBCC's own example is 14 days.
- If it is not fixed, lodge with the QBCC well inside the windows above. Disputes go to the QBCC before QCAT.
- For the home itself, write to the maker under its warranty, and copy the installer if the two disagree on whose problem it is.
QBCC home warranty insurance, explained and handover and defects in Queensland carry the claim steps and the QBCC's standards and tolerances for what counts as a defect.
See it for your block
- Install cost calculator: licensed or owner builder
- QBCC home warranty insurance, explained
- Handover and defects in Queensland
Questions people ask next
How long is the builder's warranty on a granny flat in Queensland?
The statutory warranties run six years from completion for a structural breach and one year for anything else. Home warranty insurance covers structural defects for 6 years 6 months and non-structural defects that appear within 6 months of completion, claimed within 7 months.
Does home warranty insurance cover a modular home?
Not the factory build on its own. Once a licensed contractor installs the home on the land the premium is charged on the factory build, transport and install together and the whole job is covered. An owner builder install has no home warranty cover; the maker's own warranty is the only one on the home.
What does home warranty insurance pay for?
Non-completion of a fixed-price contract the builder defaulted on, defective work the builder does not fix, and subsidence, up to $200,000 per type of loss as standard. It excludes wear and tear, flood, defective products and design by someone not suitably qualified.
- Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991, schedule 1B (statutory warranties) and section 67WB, read October 2026
- QBCC Regulation 2018, schedule 6 (terms of cover), read October 2026
- QBCC, what is the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme, read 16 October 2026
- QBCC, time limits for cover and claims, read October 2026
- QBCC, who pays home warranty and when, read October 2026
- QBCC, Queensland Home Warranty Scheme product disclosure, read October 2026
- QBCC, A to Z guide of insurable building work, read October 2026
- QBCC, help with defective work, read October 2026