Builder in liquidation: Western Australia
This page covers what is specific to Western Australia. The steps to take first, and where to get help, are on the main page and apply wherever you are.
Western Australia works differently to the eastern states, and the difference matters when you are trying to work out who to claim against.
A private policy, not a government fund
Home Indemnity Insurance in WA is provided by private insurers, not by a government scheme. That means the policy taken out for your contract is with a named insurer, and your claim goes to that insurer. Your first task is to find out who it is — the certificate should have been given to you before work started, and if it was not, ask Building and Energy.
One consequence of the private-insurer model is worth understanding before you read the limits below: the $200,000 is a single pot. Whatever is spent finishing the house is no longer available for the defects that surface in the six years after practical completion.
Find the certificate
Dig out your contract file now. The insurance certificate names the insurer and the policy, and without it the first week goes on finding out what you already have.
The scheme
Residential building work in Western Australia is covered by Home Indemnity Insurance, provided by private insurers rather than a government fund.
Cover is not automatic and it is not unlimited. There are thresholds, time limits and exclusions, and a claim is made against the policy for your contract — not against us, and not against the administrator. Building and Energy WA is the authority on how it applies in your case.
Western Australia: the numbers
- Scheme
- Home Indemnity Insurance under the Home Building Contracts Act 1991
- Who provides it
- private insurers approved by the Minister for Commerce. The builder chooses which one
- Required on
- residential building work valued over $20,000, before any payment is accepted or work starts
- Maximum
- $200,000, or the value of the contract work if that is less — and that limit also covers defective-work claims
- Loss of deposit
- covered up to $40,000
- Excess
- the insurer may charge up to $500
- What triggers cover
- a ‘relevant circumstance’: the builder dies, disappears or becomes insolvent; or a company builder ceases to exist or becomes insolvent; or SAT cancels, or the Building Services Board declines to renew, the registration because the builder failed the prescribed financial requirements
- Length of cover
- the construction period and six years from practical completion
- On sale
- the policy is in the owner’s name, so its benefit passes to a buyer within the six-year period
- Cost-plus contracts
- cover is required, taken out before any payment or work
Read from Building and Energy (Home indemnity insurance fact sheet) on 2026-09-14. Schemes change — Victoria's changed this year and the ACT's limits changed in January 2025 — so check the source before you rely on any of it. We publish the date we read it so you can see how old this is.
Questions about Western Australia cover
Who is my Western Australian claim against?
A named private insurer, not a government fund. Home Indemnity Insurance is provided by insurers approved by the Minister for Commerce and the builder chooses which one, so your first task is to find the certificate that names yours.
How much does WA Home Indemnity Insurance pay?
Up to $200,000, or the value of the contract work if that is less. That single limit also has to cover any defective-work claim made up to six years from practical completion. Loss of deposit is covered up to $40,000, and the insurer may charge an excess of up to $500.
What counts as a ‘relevant circumstance’ in WA?
The builder dying, disappearing or becoming insolvent; a company builder ceasing to exist or becoming insolvent; or the State Administrative Tribunal cancelling, or the Building Services Board declining to renew, the registration because the builder failed the financial requirements prescribed in the regulations.
My WA builder never gave me an insurance certificate. What now?
Ask Building and Energy. A builder who fails to take out home indemnity insurance as required can be prosecuted and fined up to $50,000 and may lose their registration, so the absence of a certificate is itself something the regulator wants to know about.