INSIGHT · LICENSING & COMPLIANCE
New SA builder Regulations: same licence classes,
higher penalties, a pool clause.
The Building Work Contractors Regulations 2026 (SA) came into operation on 1 September 2026 and repealed the 2011 Regulations. Compared with the last 2011 version, the licence classes, performance criteria, prescribed notice and insurance certificate are unchanged. What moved: regulation penalties rose to $5,000 (expiation $315), a supervisor who stops supervising must ensure the Commissioner is told within 14 days, pool and spa contracts entered into from 1 September 2026 that section 28 of the Act applies to must include pool safety information, and the deposit rule left the Regulations for the Act.
Analysed 19 October 2026 · Building Work Contractors Regulations 2026 (SA), version 1.9.2026 · Building Work Contractors Regulations 2011 (SA), historical version 10.11.2025 to 31.8.2026 · Building Work Contractors Act 1995 (SA), version 15.1.2026 · Consumer and Business Services industry changes page, published 16 January 2026 · all read 19 October 2026 through a rendering proxy because the SA legislation register and CBS site block automated access.
Key takeaways
- Licence classes and criteria did not move: The kinds of work a licence or registration can be limited to (any building work; light commercial, industrial and residential; residential; other specified work) and the performance criteria are word for word the same, renumbered from Schedule 2 to Schedule 1.
- Regulation penalties rose: Every regulation offence for licensees and supervisors now carries a maximum penalty of $5,000 and an expiation fee of $315. In the last 2011 version they were $2,500 and $160, or $1,250 and $80 for some supervisor offences.
- Two new obligations: Regulation 14(2): a supervisor approved for a contractor's business who stops being engaged in that role must ensure the Commissioner is notified in writing within 14 days. Regulation 17: a domestic contract entered into on or after 1 September 2026 that includes a pool or spa must, where section 28 of the Act applies to it, include information about the Swimming Pool Safety Regulations 2019.
- Insurance figures are not new: The $20,000 minor-work line and the $250,000 minimum insurer liability apply from 10 November 2025, and were already in the 2011 Regulations by amendment. The 2026 text states that date where the 2011 text said "the prescribed day".
- We would date the contract against the Regulations: A system-design recommendation: each domestic contract record carries its date of entry, whether it includes pool or spa work, the instrument versions in force that day, and each supervisor's start and end dates.
The two versions, provision by provision
We compared the 2026 Regulations with the 2011 Regulations as they stood from 10 November 2025 to 31 August 2026, word by word after removing page headers. Most regulations were renumbered; this table follows the substance.
The 2026 Regulations are No 58 of 2026, Gazette 30 July 2026, page 2421, and state they come into operation on 1 September 2026. Schedule 3 repeals the 2011 Regulations; the 2011 Regulations' legislative history states they were revoked on 1 September 2026. The 2026 Regulations contain no transitional schedule. Their date tests are written into the provisions themselves: 15 October 2001 and 10 November 2025 for insurance, and 1 September 2026 for the pool clause.
| Subject | 2011 Regulations (last version) | 2026 Regulations | What moved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meaning of house | r 4(3): two limbs, before and from 1 June 1996; excludes hotels, motels, boarding or lodging houses and similar | r 4(3): one list, adding "designated rooming houses" within Part 7 Division 1A of the Residential Tenancies Act 1995 | Rooming houses added; pre-1996 limb removed |
| Minor domestic building work (insurance line) | r 4(4), (6): $5,000 before 15 October 2001; $12,000 to before "the prescribed day"; $20,000 from it | r 4(4): same sums, with 10 November 2025 stated as the date | Drafting only |
| Exemptions | r 5: gas, electrical, plumbing, pest control, security; Housing Trust; demolition-only; multi-storey; floating floors, carpet and vinyl | r 5: same, citing the Controlled Substances (Pesticides) Regulations 2017 and the Security and Investigation Industry Act 1995 | Updated Act names |
| Licence qualifications and annual return | rr 7, 8 | rr 7, 8 | Nothing |
| Contractor notices and return of licence | rr 9, 10: maximum $2,500, expiation $160 | rr 9, 10: maximum $5,000, expiation $315 | Penalties |
| Supervisor registration and return | rr 10A, 11, 12 | rr 11, 12, 13 | Renumbered |
| Supervisor change notices | r 13: change of name or address; maximum $1,250, expiation $80 | r 14(1): same duty, maximum $5,000, expiation $315; new r 14(2): notice within 14 days of ceasing to be engaged as a contractor's supervisor | New duty and penalties |
| Return of supervisor certificate | r 14: maximum $1,250 or $2,500, expiation $80 or $160 | r 15: maximum $5,000, expiation $315 | Penalties |
| Charging clause information | r 14A | r 16 | Renumbered |
| Pool and spa contracts | None | r 17: for s 28(1)(d) of the Act, contracts entered into on or after 1 September 2026 must include information about the Planning, Development and Infrastructure (Swimming Pool Safety) Regulations 2019 | New |
| Forms; unliquidated amounts (15%) | rr 15, 16 | rr 18, 19 | Renumbered |
| Authorised payments, including deposits | r 17, for s 30(1)(b) of the Act | No equivalent regulation | Moved to the Act (see below) |
| Limits on insurer liability | r 18: $400 excess; not less than $80,000 or $250,000 per dwelling by "the prescribed day"; 90-day claim window | r 20: same, with 10 November 2025 stated | Drafting only |
| Performance criteria and kinds of work; Form 1 notice; Form 2 certificate | Schedules 2 and 3 | Schedules 1 and 2, same text | Renumbered |
Where the deposit rule went
Regulation 17 of the 2011 Regulations listed the payments authorised for section 30(1)(b) of the Act, including the deposit caps. The 2026 Regulations have no equivalent, because the list had already moved into the Act.
The prescribed notice in Form 1 still describes the deposit limit as $1 000 "or if the contract price is over $20 000, 5% of the contract price". Section 30(4) of the Act uses "$20 000 or more".
- The amending Act: The Statutes Amendment (Building and Construction Industry Review - Penalties) Act 2025 (No 68 of 2025, assented 4 December 2025) commenced its Part 2 on 15 January 2026. It deleted section 30(1)(b), inserted section 30(2a), and inserted a definition of "prescribed payment" in section 30(4).
- The list itself: Section 30(4) lists third-party professional fees; reimbursement of building indemnity insurance or statutory fees; and a deposit of not more than $1,000 for contracts made before 1 September 2011, or for later contracts not more than $1,000 where the price is less than $20,000 and not more than 5% where it is $20,000 or more. Paragraph (e) allows the Regulations to prescribe further kinds; the 2026 Regulations prescribe none.
- The penalty now attached: Demanding a payment that is not a prescribed payment is an offence under section 30(2a), with a maximum of $100,000 for a natural person and $500,000 for a body corporate, and an expiation fee of $5,000.
What a domestic contract
has to carry from 1 September 2026
The contract requirements a builder works to come from section 28 of the Act, with the Regulations supplying the content under section 28(1)(d). Two of those content rules now exist, and one is new.
A contract with a charging clause must still explain the caveat, the restriction on dealing with the land, the right to apply for sale and the advice to get independent legal advice (regulation 16, formerly 14A). A contract entered into on or after 1 September 2026 that is for, or includes, the construction, alteration, repair or improvement of a pool or spa within the external walls, within the curtilage, or on the boundary of the curtilage of a house must include information about the pool safety requirements in the Planning, Development and Infrastructure (Swimming Pool Safety) Regulations 2019 (regulation 17). The regulation does not prescribe the wording. Regulation 17 supplies content for section 28(1)(d) of the Act, so it reaches only contracts section 28 applies to: section 27(2) excludes contracts for minor domestic building work, and regulations 5(8) and 5(10) exempt some contracts from section 28.
Section 28(2) of the Act, as amended from 15 January 2026, makes non-compliance with section 28(1) an offence with a maximum of $50,000 for a natural person and $250,000 for a body corporate, and an expiation fee of $5,000. The building owner must also be given the Form 1 notice, whose text the 2026 Regulations carry over unchanged.
The licence and supervisor file
Licensing classes did not change, so a licence record built before 1 September 2026 still maps to the same kinds of work. The change sits in the notices a business and its people owe the Commissioner.
Regulation 14(2) puts the duty on the supervisor, worded as ensuring the Commissioner is notified. A business that keeps supervisor start and end dates holds the date the 14 days run from.
- Contractor notices, 14 days: Change of residential address, business or trading name, business address or registered office; ceasing to carry on business; appointment of a new director, with the information the Commissioner asks for under section 9(2). Each now carries a maximum of $5,000 and expiation of $315 (regulation 9).
- Supervisor notices, 14 days: A change of the supervisor's name or residential address (regulation 14(1)). New: where a person approved as a building work supervisor for a licensed contractor's business stops being employed or engaged in that function, the person must ensure the Commissioner is notified in writing within 14 days, whether or not they stay with the contractor in another role (regulation 14(2)).
- Return of documents: A licence or certificate surrendered, suspended, cancelled, issued against an unpaid fee, or replaced must be returned at the direction of the Tribunal or the Commissioner (regulations 10 and 15), each now at $5,000 maximum and $315 expiation.
Insurance: unchanged in 2026,
changed in 2025.
The building indemnity insurance figures a builder quotes against did change earlier, by amendments to the 2011 Regulations that commenced on 10 November 2025. The 2026 Regulations restate them with the date written in.
The 2011 Regulations' legislative history lists the two amending instruments, No 58 of 2025 (Gazette 10 July 2025) and No 106 of 2025 (Gazette 16 October 2025), both commencing 10 November 2025. The multi-storey residential exemption and the Form 2 certificate fields are unchanged.
| Figure | Contracts or policies before 10 November 2025 | On or after 10 November 2025 | 2026 provision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minor domestic building work, below which insurance is not required (contract made) | $12,000 (from 15 October 2001); $5,000 before that | $20,000 | r 4(4) |
| Minimum total insurer liability per dwelling (policy entered into) | Not less than $80,000 | Not less than $250,000 | r 20(1)(b), (c) |
| Excess the insurer may apply per claim | First $400 or a lesser stipulated amount | Same | r 20(1)(a) |
| Claim window a policy must allow | At least 90 days from awareness of the grounds | Same | r 20(2)(a) |
What we would put in a system
For each domestic contract and each licence holder, we would test for five fields.
Where agents help here is narrow. A compliance agent can read a draft domestic contract, flag pool or spa scope and a charging clause, check the contract carries the fields the Regulations name, and draft the contract record, and a person confirms it. No agent decides whether a contract complies, whether work is minor domestic building work, or whether a payment is a prescribed payment. Those are matters for the business, the Commissioner and your advisers.
| Field | Why it is load-bearing |
|---|---|
| Contract date of entry | Decides the insurance line (10 November 2025), the pool clause (1 September 2026) and the deposit cap (1 September 2011). |
| Scope flags: pool or spa work, charging clause | Regulations 16 and 17 add content only where the contract includes these. |
| Instrument versions in force on the contract date | The 2011 and 2026 Regulations number the same rules differently; a record that cites "reg 14A" or "reg 16" needs its version. |
| Supervisor approvals with start and end dates | Regulation 14(2) runs 14 days from the day a supervisor stops being engaged in that function. |
| Payment demands before work, by type | Sections 30(1) and 30(2a) of the Act each restrict what may be demanded, and the deposit amounts listed in s 30(4) depend on the price. |
- Compliance: Holds each contract's dates, scope flags and instrument versions in one record.
- Compliance agent: Flags pool or spa scope missing its safety information; a person confirms.
- SA building reforms: unlicensed subcontractors: The January 2026 Act changes, including the subcontractor licence offence.
- Home warranty thresholds by state: South Australia's building indemnity line alongside five other schemes.
Questions worth asking
of your own contract records
For a builder: which domestic contracts entered into since 1 September 2026 include pool or spa work?
Regulation 17 applies only to contracts entered into on or after that date that are for, or include, pool or spa work within or around a house, and only where section 28 of the Act applies to the contract (section 27(2) excludes minor domestic building work). A scope flag on the contract record answers this directly. General information as read on 19 October 2026, not legal advice.
For a licensed contractor: when did each approved supervisor last change role?
Regulation 14(2) requires the Commissioner to be notified within 14 days after a supervisor stops being engaged in that function. Start and end dates on the supervisor record show when the 14 days began. General information as read on 19 October 2026, not legal advice.
For a building group: do your contract templates and policies still cite the 2011 regulation numbers?
The 2026 Regulations renumbered most provisions; regulation 14A on charging clauses is now regulation 16, and the deposit list is now in section 30(4) of the Act. A citation without its version will not match the current text. General information as read on 19 October 2026, not legal advice.
Questions people ask
about the SA Regulations 2026
What changed in the Building Work Contractors Regulations 2026 in SA?
The Regulations commenced on 1 September 2026 and repealed the 2011 Regulations. Regulation penalties rose to a maximum of $5,000 with $315 expiation, a supervisor who stops being engaged in that role must ensure the Commissioner is notified within 14 days, and pool or spa contracts entered into from 1 September 2026 must include pool safety information where section 28 of the Act applies to them. As read on 19 October 2026.
Did SA builders licence classes change in 2026?
No. Schedule 1 Part 3 of the 2026 Regulations lists the same kinds of work as Schedule 2 Part 3 of the 2011 Regulations: any building work; light commercial, industrial and residential work; residential work; and other specified work, each with the same limits. As read on 19 October 2026 on the SA legislation register.
What must a domestic building contract include in SA from 1 September 2026?
Section 28 of the Building Work Contractors Act 1995 requires a written contract setting out all terms, the builder's licence name and number, signatures and the Form 1 notice. Under the 2026 Regulations, a contract with a charging clause must explain it (reg 16), and a contract entered into from 1 September 2026 that includes pool or spa work must include pool safety information (reg 17). Section 27(2) excludes contracts for minor domestic building work from these requirements, and regulations 5(8) and 5(10) exempt some contracts. General information, not legal advice.
What deposit amounts does the SA Building Work Contractors Act list?
The definition of prescribed payment in section 30(4) of the Building Work Contractors Act 1995, as amended from 15 January 2026, lists for a contract made on or after 1 September 2011 a deposit of not more than $1,000 where the contract price is less than $20,000, and not more than 5% of the price where it is $20,000 or more. The 2011 Regulations held this list until then. Sections 30(1) and 30(2a) each restrict payment demands, so both need consideration before deciding whether a particular payment may be demanded. General information as read on 19 October 2026, not legal advice.
When is building indemnity insurance not required in SA?
Section 33(2) of the Building Work Contractors Act 1995 excludes work needing no development approval and minor domestic building work, and regulations 5(6), 5(8) and 5(9) exempt specified Housing Trust, demolition-only and multi-storey residential work. Whether insurance is required for a particular job depends on the work and contract. Minor work is a cost below $20,000 for contracts made on or after 10 November 2025, or below $12,000 for contracts from 15 October 2001 to before that date (reg 4(4), 2026 Regulations); those figures applied from 10 November 2025 under the 2011 Regulations as amended. General information as read on 19 October 2026, not insurance advice.
What this analysis
does and does not show.
Evidence note
- What it shows
- A word-level comparison of the Building Work Contractors Regulations 2026 (SA) with the 2011 Regulations as in force from 10 November 2025 to 31 August 2026, and the related sections of the Building Work Contractors Act 1995 at version 15.1.2026, all as read on 19 October 2026.
- Key facts quoted
- Commencement 1 September 2026 (reg 2), No 58 of 2026, Gazette 30.7.2026 p 2421; penalties $5,000 and $315 (2011: $2,500 and $160, or $1,250 and $80); new reg 14(2) and reg 17; reg 4(4) $20,000 and reg 20 $250,000 from 10 November 2025; deposit list in Act s 30(4) from 15 January 2026; s 28(2) and s 30(2a) penalties.
- The SA legislation register and the Consumer and Business Services site block automated access. All texts were read through a rendering proxy (r.jina.ai) from the register's authorised PDF links on 19 October 2026 and are saved with the article; a page break in a proxied PDF can drop or join words.
- We found no Consumer and Business Services guidance on the 2026 Regulations. Its industry changes page (published 16 January 2026) covers the January 2026 Act changes only.
- We did not read the Government Gazette notices or any explanatory material, so the reasons for each change are not stated here.
- Licence fees and annual fees are fixed elsewhere and are not covered.
- South Australia only. Nothing here is legal or insurance advice, and it does not determine whether any contract, payment, licence or policy complies.
Bring us one domestic contract template.
Send us the domestic building contract template you use in South Australia. We will show you which provisions of the 2026 Regulations and the amended Act it has to carry for a contract signed today, and which fields your contract record holds.
This article is general information about published South Australian legislation. It is not legal or insurance advice and it does not determine whether any contract, payment, licence or policy complies. It covers South Australia only. All provisions are as read on 19 October 2026 at the versions listed in the sources.
Sources
Suggested citation: Building Work Contractors Regulations 2026 (SA) and 2011 (SA), and Building Work Contractors Act 1995 (SA), at the versions listed, as read 19 October 2026. Derived figures: none.
- South Australian Legislation - Building Work Contractors Regulations 2026: Version 1.9.2026, current authorised · read 19 October 2026 through a rendering proxy because the site blocks automated access · Legislation register
- South Australian Legislation - Building Work Contractors Regulations 2011 (10.11.2025 to 31.8.2026): Historical version, regulations revoked 1 September 2026 · read 19 October 2026 through a rendering proxy because the site blocks automated access · Legislation register
- South Australian Legislation - Building Work Contractors Act 1995: Version 15.1.2026, current authorised · read 19 October 2026 through a rendering proxy because the site blocks automated access · Legislation register
- Consumer and Business Services - South Australia's building and construction industry changes: Published 16 January 2026 · read 19 October 2026 through a rendering proxy · Government regulator - guidance