Builder didn't finish work Australia: your rights when a job runs off the rails

You paid a builder — or a tiler, a plasterer, a kitchen installer, a landscaper — and now the job has stalled. Maybe they walked off site without warning. Maybe they keep promising to come back but never do. Maybe they finished, but the work is so far below standard it might as well be incomplete. Whatever the shape of the problem, you're left holding a half-finished house and a receipt for money you've already paid.

The good news is that Australian Consumer Law has something to say about exactly this situation. The consumer guarantees that apply to services are just as enforceable as those that apply to goods — and "the tradie just stopped showing up" is not a legal grey area. Here's what the law says, what you can do, and how to escalate if the builder won't engage.

Quick answer

When a builder or tradesperson doesn't finish work you've paid for, they've almost certainly breached one or more consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law. The key guarantee is section 60, which requires services to be performed with due care and skill. Failing to complete the job — or completing it so poorly it needs to be redone — is a breach of that guarantee. Depending on how serious the failure is, you may be entitled to have the work completed at no extra cost, a price reduction, or a refund of what you paid for the unfinished portion. If the failure is major, you can cancel the contract and claim compensation.

What the law actually says

The Australian Consumer Law applies to services, not just goods. When you hire a tradesperson or building contractor, several consumer guarantees attach automatically to that contract — regardless of what the written quote or contract says.

The three guarantees that matter most in a building dispute are:

• Section 60 — Due care and skill. Services must be performed competently. A builder who frames walls out of square, tiles a bathroom floor that pools water, or simply stops working mid-job has almost certainly failed this guarantee.
• Section 61 — Fitness for purpose. If you told the builder what you needed ("I need a deck that can hold a spa") and the finished work can't do that, the guarantee is breached — even if the work was technically completed.
• Section 62 — Completion within a reasonable time. If no timeframe was agreed, the work must be done within a time that is reasonable in the circumstances. A bathroom renovation that drags on for eight months with no explanation is almost certainly a breach of this guarantee.

When a service guarantee is breached, your remedies come from section 267 of the ACL. For a major failure — the work is so bad it can't be fixed, or the builder has abandoned the job entirely — you can cancel the contract and recover money already paid for work not done, plus compensation for any reasonably foreseeable loss. For a non-major failure, the supplier gets a chance to fix the problem first. If they don't fix it within a reasonable time, you can have someone else finish the job and recover the cost.

It's also worth knowing that a builder who quotes one price and then demands significantly more mid-job, or who misrepresents the scope of work to win the contract, may also have breached section 18 of the ACL — the prohibition on misleading or deceptive conduct. That's a separate cause of action that can run alongside a guarantee claim. For more on how services disputes work generally, see our guide to services that go wrong under the ACL.

One important note: building work is also regulated by state and territory licensing laws and, for larger residential projects, by the relevant home building legislation in each state (the Home Building Act in NSW, the Domestic Building Contracts Act in Victoria, and so on). Those regimes sit alongside the ACL — they don't replace it. For most disputes involving incomplete or defective work, you can use either the ACL route or the state building legislation route, or both. This article focuses on the ACL path.

When this applies (and when it doesn't)

The ACL consumer guarantees for services apply when:

• You hired a business (a sole trader, a company, a partnership) to perform the work. The guarantees apply to businesses, not private individuals doing cash-in-hand favours.
• The service was acquired for personal, domestic, or household purposes — or the price was under $100,000. Most residential building and renovation work sits comfortably within this.
• You can show you paid for the service (invoice, bank transfer record, receipt, email confirmation).

The guarantees generally do not apply when:

• You hired a private individual who isn't operating as a business. If your neighbour helped you build a fence for cash and made a mess of it, the ACL isn't the right tool — though other legal options may exist.
• The failure was caused entirely by something you did. If you asked the builder to use materials you supplied and those materials were defective, the builder's liability under section 60 is limited.
• You're disputing work on a purely commercial property that cost well over $100,000 and isn't of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal use. The ACL still applies in many commercial contexts, but the analysis is more complex.
• The builder completed the work and you simply don't like the result, even though it meets the agreed specification. Consumer guarantees cover failures against an objective standard, not aesthetic preferences you didn't communicate.

Also be aware that some disputes — particularly large residential building contracts — may be better handled through your state's building disputes tribunal or the relevant home building insurer. Those bodies have specialist jurisdiction and, in some states, mandatory conciliation before you can go to a tribunal. Checking with your state's Fair Trading body first (details at /agencies) will tell you which path is fastest for your situation.

What to do today

Acting methodically matters here. The steps below give you the best chance of resolving the dispute without going to a tribunal — and the best evidence if you do end up there.

1. Document everything. Photograph the current state of the work in detail. Note the dates the builder was last on site, any promises they made about returning, and any communications (texts, emails, voicemails) where they acknowledged the work wasn't done. A written record of what was agreed — the quote, the contract, the scope of works — is essential.

2. Write a formal notice to the builder. This is the step most people skip, and it's the most important one. Send an email or letter that sets out: the date the contract was entered into, the work that was agreed, what has been left incomplete or done poorly, which consumer guarantee you say has been breached (section 60, 61, or 62 as applicable), and what you want — completion of the work by a specific date, or a refund of the amount paid for unfinished work. Give a clear deadline: 14 days is reasonable for most residential jobs.

3. Keep paying only what's due. If the builder is demanding a progress payment for work that hasn't been done, you're entitled to withhold payment for that portion. Don't withhold payment for work that has been completed properly — that muddies your position.

4. Get a quote from another tradesperson. If the builder doesn't respond or refuses to return, get a written quote from a second contractor to complete or rectify the work. This quote becomes your evidence of loss if you need to claim compensation.

5. Send a demand letter. If the initial notice doesn't produce a result, a formal demand letter citing the specific ACL sections and the amount you're claiming tends to move things along. fairgo can generate one for you in about 90 seconds — the wizard identifies the relevant guarantees and produces a letter you send under your own name.

What if the business refuses

If the builder ignores your letters, disputes your version of events, or simply goes quiet, you have several escalation options:

• Your state's Fair Trading body. Every state and territory offers a free conciliation service for building disputes. An officer contacts the builder on your behalf and tries to broker a resolution. This is often faster than going straight to a tribunal, and many disputes settle here. Full contact details are at /agencies.

• Your state's building disputes tribunal or domestic building body. In NSW, NCAT handles many residential building disputes. Victoria has VCAT and the Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria (DBDRV) scheme — DBDRV conciliation is mandatory before VCAT for most domestic building disputes. Queensland has QCAT. See our guide to which tribunal applies in your state for the full breakdown.

• Home building compensation (warranty insurance). For larger residential projects in most states, licensed builders are required to hold home building compensation insurance. If the builder has become insolvent, died, or disappeared, you may be able to claim on that policy directly. Your state's Fair Trading body can tell you whether cover applies.

• Magistrates Court or District Court. For larger amounts that exceed tribunal limits, a court claim is an option — though the process is more formal and you may want legal advice before going this route.

The threat of a tribunal claim, set out clearly in a demand letter, resolves a significant proportion of building disputes. Builders know that tribunals take incomplete work seriously, and the cost of defending a claim often exceeds the cost of just finishing the job.

If the business has refused a refund already, the guide on what to do when a business refuses walks through the escalation steps in more detail.

Common mistakes

These are the errors that most often weaken a building dispute claim:

• Paying in full before the work is done. Progress payments tied to completed stages protect you. A lump sum paid upfront gives the builder very little incentive to return. For future jobs, structure payments around milestones.

• Only communicating by phone. A phone call leaves no record. Follow up every conversation with a text or email summarising what was agreed: "As we discussed today, you'll be back on site Monday 19 May to complete the tiling." That message becomes evidence.

• Letting the builder do a rushed fix without inspecting it. If the builder comes back and does a quick patch job, inspect it carefully before you sign anything saying you're satisfied. Once you've accepted the work in writing, your options narrow.

• Assuming the ACL doesn't apply because there's a written contract. A contract can specify the scope of work, the price, and the timeline — but it cannot remove the consumer guarantees. Section 64 of the ACL makes any term that purports to exclude a consumer guarantee void. The contract and the ACL operate side by side.

• Going straight to the ACCC. The ACCC investigates systemic conduct and doesn't resolve individual disputes. For your specific situation, Fair Trading and your state tribunal are the right forums.

• Waiting too long. Limitation periods apply. Under most state building legislation, defect claims must be made within a set number of years of the work being completed (commonly six years for structural defects, two years for non-structural). ACL claims have their own limitation periods under state limitation acts. The sooner you act, the more options you have.

Related reading

• Services that go wrong under the ACL — your full guide
• NCAT, VCAT, QCAT — which tribunal handles your dispute?
• Business refused your refund? Here's what to do next

This article is general information about Australian Consumer Law, not legal advice. The ACL is complex and your situation may have details that change the analysis. For advice on your specific case, see your state's Fair Trading body — full list at /agencies.