Builder Won’t Finish the Job: How to Get the Outstanding Work Done (by State)

If your builder won’t finish the job, send a written request that lists every outstanding item as a numbered schedule, asks for a completion date for each one, and names the next step: your state’s building regulator. In New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland that regulator step is not optional. The tribunal will not take most home building disputes until you have been through it, so a clear written list is the first document the whole process runs on.

Claim Done drafts that letter. The Unfinished Works Request costs A$49: it turns your list into a numbered schedule, refers to your contract and your state’s home building law, and names your regulator’s process as the next step. You approve it before it is emailed to the builder.

This guide is for a builder who is still around but dragging the chain on the last items: the shower screen, the driveway, the handover list that never shrinks. If the builder walked off with your money, that is a refund problem: read contractor walked off the job: how to get your deposit back.

What should the written request to finish the work include?

Most regulators expect you to have raised it with the builder in writing first. Queensland is the strictest. The QBCC says you must give your contractor written notice of every defective or unfinished item, by email or letter, with a timeframe to fix them (it gives 14 days as an example), and that you must allow reasonable access: a time agreed by both of you, during normal working hours, with at least 48 hours’ notice from the contractor.

Write the request so it would pass that test in any state:

1. One numbered item per line. “Ensuite shower screen not installed” is an item. “Bathroom unfinished” is not.
2. The contract facts. Date signed, price, contract type, address, and the completion date the contract gives.
3. Where the job is at. Under construction, at or after handover, or stopped, and whether you got a practical completion notice.
4. A date for each item. A written reply within 14 days giving a date for every numbered item.
5. Access on reasonable notice.
6. The next step: the regulator’s process, and whether your state requires it before the tribunal.

Keep the tone flat. This letter will end up attached to a regulator complaint, where a calm, numbered record reads far better than an angry one.

Which statutory warranties cover unfinished work in your state?

Every state and territory implies warranties into a home building contract by statute, and most include one about finishing on time. You do not need your contract to mention them.

In New South Wales, section 18B of the Home Building Act 1989 implies, among others, a warranty that the work will be done with due care and skill and in accordance with the plans and specifications (s 18B(1)(a)), and a warranty that it will be done with due diligence and within the time stipulated in the contract or, if no time is stipulated, within a reasonable time (s 18B(1)(d)). Under s 3B, where the contract does not say when work is complete, completion is practical completion: finished except for omissions or defects that do not stop the work being reasonably capable of being used for its intended purpose.

Victoria’s Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 makes it a warranty in every domestic building contract that the work will be workmanlike and follow the plans (s 8(a)), and that it will be completed by the date, or within the period, the contract specifies (s 8(d)).

In Queensland, Schedule 1B of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 makes the warranties in its sections 20 to 25 part of every regulated contract (s 19). They include adherence to the plans and specifications (s 23) and carrying out the work with reasonable diligence (s 25).

Here is every state and territory. “Required first” means the official source says the tribunal will not take the dispute until you have used the regulator’s process.

Do you have to go to the regulator before the tribunal?

In three states, yes.

New South Wales. NCAT’s home building page says that before it can accept your application, all home building disputes must first be referred to the regulator, and you attach evidence of that process. The page, last updated 2 January 2026, still names NSW Fair Trading; the regulator is now Building Commission NSW. The exemptions NCAT lists include claims against unlicensed contractors, claims against parties in administration, liquidation or bankruptcy, and claims where the time for lodging expires within 3 months. The NSW Government’s building disputes page sets the order: talk to the contractor, confirm it in a letter or email, then contact Building Commission NSW. Both sides must agree to its attempt at resolution.

Victoria. Section 56(1) of the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 says a party to a domestic building work dispute must not apply to VCAT unless the chief dispute resolution officer has issued a certificate of conciliation saying the dispute was not suitable for conciliation or was not resolved by it. The application must attach a copy of the certificate (s 56(2)). Injunctions are the only exception (s 56(3)). The Building and Plumbing Commission runs the free service, and it says you must first try to resolve the dispute with the other party yourself. Consumer Affairs Victoria warns that a dispute may not be eligible if you hired only one trade, such as a plumber or painter, and the work was not part of more extensive domestic building work.

Queensland. Section 77(2) of the QBCC Act says a person may not apply to QCAT to decide a building dispute unless they have complied with a process established by the QBCC to try to resolve it. The QBCC calls lodging your complaint a mandatory first step, and QCAT needs the QBCC’s outcome letter. Once there, QCAT can order rectification or completion of incomplete work (s 77(3)(g)).

What about Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the territories?

Western Australia has a notice you cannot skip. Building and Energy’s dispute resolution guide requires a notice of proposed complaint to reach the builder at least 14 days before you complain to the Building Commissioner; email is enough. Your request to finish the work is not that notice; send it first.

In South Australia, Consumer and Business Services takes building disputes through an online advice form and asks for your recent letters or emails to the builder. If those failed, it assesses the matter for conciliation.

Tasmania’s regulator suggests writing to the contractor with the details and giving a reasonable time frame, such as 14 days, to respond and organise the fix. After that, the Director of Building Control can arrange mediation.

In the Australian Capital Territory, building work complaints go to Access Canberra, and the ACT Government’s disputes page sends contract concerns such as payments to the Conflict Resolution Service, Access Canberra Fair Trading or ACAT.

The Northern Territory Government says to talk to NT Consumer Affairs before making any formal application. With a fidelity fund certificate you can apply to the Commissioner of Residential Building Disputes. Without one, the claim goes by value: NTCAT up to $25,000, the Local Court from $25,001 to $250,000.

Is there a deadline once the work stops?

Often, and it can start earlier than people expect.

The New South Wales warranty period in s 18E is 6 years for a breach that results in a major defect and 2 years in any other case, running from completion. For unfinished work there is no completion, so the clock starts on the date the contract is terminated or, if it is not terminated, the date on which work under the contract ceased. If the builder stopped turning up in March, the clock runs from March, not from a handover that never happened. Date your photos from the day the last tradesperson left.

The Northern Territory is shorter still. An application to the Commissioner of Residential Building Disputes about incomplete work must be made within 90 days of when the builder stops work. In Western Australia, a home building work contract complaint is generally limited to three years from when the contract was entered into or the dispute arose.

What if the builder is broke, gone or just late?

A request to finish only works on a builder who can still finish. Three other situations need a different document:

• The builder is insolvent, has died or has disappeared. That is a home warranty insurance claim (icare HBCF in New South Wales, the Building and Plumbing Commission in Victoria, the QBCC in Queensland). Time limits are short: in Queensland a non-completion claim must be lodged within 3 months of the contract ending. The Home Warranty Claim Statement (A$49) sets out the trigger event, payments and a numbered schedule for the scheme.
• The work is continuing but past the completion date. The Builder Delay Notice (A$49) records the completion date, the extensions of time and any liquidated damages in your contract, and asks for a revised program.
• The builder walked off with your deposit. See the deposit recovery guide.

What does Claim Done do, and what does it cost?

Claim Done is not a law firm. It drafts documents from your answers; you decide what is sent and lodged.

Step one: the request. The Unfinished Works Request costs a flat A$49. You give the stage of the build, the contract details and your list in your own words. The letter keeps your numbering, sets a reply date and a completion date (28 days if you give none), offers access, cites your state’s warranty sections and names your regulator. You approve it, and then it is emailed to the builder.

Step two, if nothing happens: the dispute pack. The Building Dispute Pack costs A$97 for three documents: a notice of dispute to the builder, a complaint statement for your state’s building regulator, and a chronology and evidence schedule. You download them, send the notice and lodge the complaint yourself.

There is no retainer and no subscription, and answering the questions takes about five minutes. The risk is small: if the builder replies with dates and finishes the list, you have spent A$49 and have a record of the promise.

Facts checked against the Home Building Act 1989 (New South Wales, version current from 10 June 2026), the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 (Victoria, version 094), the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991, the Building Work Contractors Act 1995 (South Australia, version of 15 January 2026), the Building Act 2004 (Australian Capital Territory, effective 10 July 2026), the Building Act 1993 (Northern Territory) and the regulator and tribunal pages linked above on 29 September 2026.

Your next step: write down every unfinished item tonight, one per line, then start your Unfinished Works Request. If you have already asked and been ignored, go straight to the Building Dispute Pack. All services are on the pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

Can I stop paying my builder until the work is finished?

That depends on your contract's payment stages and your state's progress payment rules, not on how frustrated you are. Pay what the contract says is due for completed stages, and put your position on any disputed claim in writing. If a claim is for a stage that is not finished, Claim Done's Variation Dispute letter (A$49) sets out what you will pay now and what you dispute.

How long should I give the builder to finish the outstanding items?

Give a reply date and a completion date. The QBCC gives 14 days as an example timeframe for a written notice of unfinished items, and Tasmania's regulator suggests 14 days to respond. Claim Done's letter asks for a written reply within 14 days and completion within 28 days unless you choose a different date.

Do I have to let the builder back on site?

Refusing access weakens your position. In Queensland the QBCC says reasonable access means a time agreed by both of you, during normal working hours, with at least 48 hours' notice from the contractor, and refusing it can stop the QBCC directing the builder to fix the work.

Is the regulator step required in every state?

No. The official sources make it a precondition to the tribunal in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Western Australia requires a notice of proposed complaint at least 14 days before a complaint to the Building Commissioner. South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory offer regulator help without making it a stated precondition, and the Northern Territory asks you to talk to NT Consumer Affairs first.

Does Claim Done lodge the regulator complaint for me?

No. Claim Done drafts the documents. The Unfinished Works Request is emailed to the builder after you approve it. With the Building Dispute Pack you download the documents, send the notice and lodge the complaint yourself using the regulator's own form.