What work requires insurance
Find out if your building project requires a home warranty insurance policy.
Definition of insurable residential construction work
All residential construction projects that cost more than $3,300 (labour, materials and GST) must have home warranty insurance.
This insurance must be built into the contract price if you are:
- building
- extending
- adding
- altering
- renovating
- repairing
any residential building, which includes a:
- new home
- residential outbuilding that has a roof, e.g. a garage or carport, pool change room
- manufactured home
- home in an over-50s village (that is not part of a registered retirement village )
- townhouse or duplex
- multiple-unit dwelling up to 3 storeys above a car park.
Home warranty insurance must also be taken out when the project cost (labour, materials and GST) is more than $3,300 for:
- replacing or refitting fixtures or fittings in a kitchen or bathroom
- replacing or fixing windows or doors
- working on a home's deck or verandah
- restoring or repairing roofs
- doing any building work that affects the structural integrity of the building
- working on or in the home or related outbuilding (e.g. painting, tiling, plastering)
- doing any project that requires building or plumbing approval on anything attached to the home or related outbuilding, which includes:
- building work for the primary water supply (e.g. installing a water tank for primary water supply)
- building work for sewerage or drainage (e.g. working on a sanitary drain connecting a residence to the sewerage main)
- stormwater drainage (e.g. repairing a downpipe or gutter)
- working on any structure attached to the external part of a home or related outbuilding which has no other supporting structure (e.g. awning, handrail)
- working on stairs or a ramp which provide access and are permanently attached to the home or outbuilding
- constructing or installing swimming pools (but not renovating swimming pools)
- building associated infrastructure as part of a bigger project (however, these items are only covered for non-completion claims and not for defective work), including:
- driveways
- paths
- roads
- fences
- air conditioning
- hot water systems
- security doors and grilles
- landscaping.
How to check if your multiple dwelling is insurable
You must pay a premium for home warranty insurance for:
- multiple dwellings that are 3 storeys or less above a car park.
You do not pay a premium for home warranty insurance for:
- multiple dwellings more than 3 storeys above a car park as home warranty insurance does not apply
How to work out the area of a car park
If your car park covers more than half the full storey do not count it as one of the levels.
To work out the area used as a car park, you must:
- include all areas used to drive a car into a parking bay (e.g. access lanes, ramp, driveway)
- only measure the area which lies within the building's footprint.
To work out if the storey should be counted,
- measure the area covered by the car park
- divide it by the total area covered by the storey
- multiply this number by 100
- i.e. (car park area/total storey area) x 100 = x%
Count the car park as a storey if:
- x is less than or equal to 50%
Do not count the car park as a storey if:
- x is greater than 50%.
Construction work not requiring home warranty insurance
If done on their own (that is, not as part of a bigger building project) you do not need to get home warranty insurance for building or installing:
- driveways
- paths
- fences
- air conditioning
- hot water systems
- security doors and grilles
- landscaping.
What is not insurable residential construction work
Insurance through the Home Warranty Scheme cannot be taken out for building or renovating a:
- multiple-unit dwelling of 4 storeys or more above a car park
- boarding house
- caravan park
- hostel
- backpackers accommodation
- guest house
- hotel
- school
- hospital
- retirement village
- owner-builder work.
You cannot take out home warranty insurance for renovating, extending or adding to a:
- caravan
- tent
- trailer
- temporary building e.g. a demountable.
You can't take out home warranty insurance on:
- projects costing less than $3,300 (including materials, labour and GST)
- commercial building work
- work done by unlicensed contractors
- owner builder projects.
Mixed use construction not insurable
Mixed residential-commercial construction is not insurable.
For example, if your project has 2 storeys of shops and 1 storey residential you cannot insure it through the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme.
