What Home Warranty may cover

Home Warranty may provide assistance if eligible domestic building work is incomplete, defective or non-compliant and the builder is unable or unwilling to complete or fix the work.

Assistance is subject to eligibility, claim assessment, limits and exclusions.

Maximum amount

The maximum amount of assistance available under Home Warranty is $400,000 in total per home.

This overall limit includes any approved assistance for eligible incomplete, defective or non-compliant work, accommodation, removal and storage costs, and costs to secure an incomplete building site.

Major defects

Major defects may be covered for up to 6 years after the eligible domestic building work is completed.

Major defects may include:

• structural defects
• waterproofing defects
• weatherproofing defects.

Other defects and non-compliant work

Other defects or non-compliant work may be covered for up to 2 years after the eligible domestic building work is completed.

This may include defects that are not major defects and are not minor cosmetic differences.

Home Warranty does not cover minor cosmetic differences between the completed work and the plans and specifications in your building contract.

Incomplete work

Home Warranty may provide assistance for eligible incomplete domestic building work.

Incomplete work is capped at 30% of the total contract price, including agreed variations, subject to the overall scheme limit and claim assessment.

Lost deposits

Home Warranty may provide assistance for a lost deposit where building work has not started, subject to eligibility, scheme limits and claim assessment.

Accommodation, removal and storage

Home Warranty may provide assistance for accommodation, removal and storage costs in some circumstances.

This assistance is capped at $12,000.

Securing an incomplete building site

Home Warranty may provide assistance to help secure an incomplete building site in some circumstances.

This assistance is capped at $5,000.

Swimming pools

Domestic building work related to swimming pools may be covered under Home Warranty.

Some pool-related items are excluded, including:

• swimming pool slides
• diving boards
• swimming pool housings
• some surfacing outside the swimming pool
• steps that are not fixtures.

Swimming pool work is subject to the same overall $400,000 limit.

What may not be covered

Home Warranty does not cover every building issue.

It may not cover:

• work that is not part of the domestic building contract, plans, specifications or agreed variations
• minor cosmetic differences
• fair wear and tear
• vandalism or theft
• defects caused or made worse because required maintenance was not carried out
• defects caused or made worse because reasonable steps were not taken to minimise damage
• work carried out by an unregistered builder, where the work must be done by a registered builder
• issues outside the relevant cover period or claim period.

If you think you need to make a claim

If you think you need to make a claim, act early.

You should:

• check your Notice of Cover
• gather your building contract, plans, specifications, payment records, photos, reports and correspondence with your builder
• try to resolve the issue with your builder, unless this is not required
• keep records of any steps you have taken
• contact BPC for claim information.

In most cases, if your builder is still trading, you will need to give the builder a complaint notice and allow time for them to respond before BPC can assess your claim.