Articles

4 May 2026

How your money is held safely. The architecture, the regulated parties involved, the controls in place, and what happens if something goes wrong.

4 May 2026

Subcontractors in Australian residential construction wait weeks or months to get paid because the payment chain puts them last when timing breaks.

4 May 2026

How the standard staged payment schedule works, what each stage involves, and where the system can break.

4 May 2026

What actually happens when a residential builder fails mid-project, what state schemes cover, and what owners can do at each stage.

4 May 2026

BuildFair does not fix the housing crisis. It addresses one narrow payment-system failure that can strand residential builds before completion.

29 May 2026

The usual checks cover quality and price. The question that decides your exposure if a build goes wrong is how your money is held while the work happens.

29 May 2026

Subcontractors price your jobs based on how reliably you pay. A slow payment record gets quietly added to every quote you get. Your payment reputation is a real asset.

29 May 2026

Most advice for subcontractors is about chasing money you are already owed. This is the opposite: how to know the funds are there before you pick up the tools.

29 May 2026

Suppliers carry the build before anyone pays them. Where suppliers sit when a builder fails, and the practical ways to get paid reliably from funds already set aside.

31 May 2026

How to make a payment claim, the response and payment timeframes, and how to apply for adjudication, in every Australian state and territory.

29 May 2026

Plain-English definitions for residential construction payment terms: progress payments, retention, variations, PC sums, provisional sums, and more.

4 June 2026

You finish a stage, then wait to get paid for it. Here is how a progress claim actually works, why money releases when it does, and what the timing gap costs you.

4 June 2026

Your contract sum does not get paid all at once. It gets released in stages as work is done. Here is how that ladder is built, and what you can shape before you sign.

4 June 2026

You sign a fixed price, then watch it climb. Here is why scope changes pile up during a build, and how a recorded, dual-approved process keeps both sides honest about every dollar.

4 June 2026

Two small numbers in your building contract can move the final price by tens of thousands. Here is what PC sums and provisional sums really mean, and how to pressure-test them before you sign.

4 June 2026

The ground under your block is the one thing nobody priced with certainty. Here is why provisional sums for site works move, and how to plan for the variance instead of being blindsided by it.

4 June 2026

A realistic stage-by-stage build timeline, so you can tell a normal delay from an early warning sign before it costs you.

4 June 2026

By the time a builder formally collapses, the signs have usually been showing for months. Here is how to read them while you still have options.

4 June 2026

You did the work weeks ago. The money is still stuck somewhere up the line. Here is exactly where, and why it lands on you last.

4 June 2026

You pay trades and suppliers long before the next progress payment lands. That gap does not appear in any contract, but you fund it from your own pocket on every job.

4 June 2026

Two contract structures, two very different ways of sharing risk. Here is how each one treats your money, your variations, and your visibility before you sign.

4 June 2026

The payment, variation, retention, and dispute terms most owners skim past, framed as plain questions to ask before you put your name to anything.

4 June 2026

You signed off at handover, then the cracks appeared. Here is what counts as a defect, how long the builder must fix it, and how withheld money keeps them on the hook.

4 June 2026

Retention is the money you hold back so your builder comes back to fix what is not right. Knowing the right amount and the right time to release it keeps that leverage working for you.

4 June 2026

You did the work. You sent the invoice. Nothing came back. Every state gives you a legal way to chase it. Here is how it works.

4 June 2026

When you pay a deposit or progress payment, where does that money actually sit, and what stops it from disappearing if your builder runs into trouble?