Aitchison Reid Building & Construction Lawyers

19/12/2025

If you are looking for a home building contract review, or home renovation contract review, we offer three options.

Our options are listed in our "Products" section above, or see our product selection table on our website:

We carry out Home Building Contract Reviews / Domestic Building Contract Reviews for Queensland Homeowners and Home Investors, delivered by your Queensland professionals, Aitchison Reid Building and Construction Lawyers. HIA contract reviews. QBCC contract reviews. Master Builders contract reviews.

19/12/2025

We're working through the Christmas/New Year period, with just a couple of days off in between.

You'll be able to book a phone meeting on a booking link near the bottom of our homepage in the "Contact Us" section: https://www.arbuildinglaw.com.au/

We won't be working on 25 and 26 December 2025, 1 and 2 January 2026.

27/07/2025

It’s so tempting to have a look at what the contractor is doing, when no one is there, isn’t it?

I get that.

BUT if you go on site during the work, you most likely in breach your contract with the contractor.

Even if you have verbal consent from the contractor that it is okay to go on site – don’t.

When things go wrong, and believe me, they often do, it is incredibly difficult to prove verbal consent.

But even more importantly, the whole reason you should not be able to go on to the site without consent is because building is inherently risky and unsafe. Obtaining the builder’s consent in writing is actually to protect you and whoever tags along with you.

So be safe and get written consent from the builder, so you can go on site when it is safe and supervised.

Hi, I’m Fionna Reid and I’ve been a construction lawyer for over 20 years and have run my own construction law practice for over 12 years. I get to talk with lots of unfortunate homeowners who wish they had obtained written consent before going on site.

So by sharing a little bit of information, I’m hoping to make our construction industry a better place.

Like this post or know someone who could benefit?
Please like, share and comment.

01/02/2025

Interesting.

With artificial intelligence set to be restricted in New South Wales' legal system from Monday, the state's Chief Justice has flagged his concerns over the technology.

20/09/2023

Recently, we were asked by a TradeBox customer, whether you can claim the statutory home warranty insurance on top of the deposit or whether it was included in the deposit (in QLD).

We thought that was a great question, so we handed it off to Aitchison Reid Building & Construction Lawyers and this is the guidance response they provided:

"
If you are claiming statutory home warranty insurance, the deposit needs to include the insurance. Section 33, Schedule 1B, QBCC Act, defines the deposit as including:

"any payment for domestic building work demanded or received by the building contractor prior to the contracted services commencing at the building site, including, for example, any insurance premium paid under part 5."
"

20/09/2023

TIACS (This is a Conversation Starter Foundation) provides an amazing service to our construction industry by providing free counselling without the need for a referral from a GP.
It is great to see this spring charity drive for TIACS by TradeBox.

09/08/2023

Have you ever had that feeling something wasn’t right? But you kept on going anyway?

Sometimes it can be such a rush to get the job, that we forget to check if we want to work for the payer.

You would be surprised the number of times I’ve heard, “I had a feeling I should not have taken the job”, or “something did not feel right with this job”. It’s usually after something terrible has happened and I have been hired to figure out the next steps in the dispute.

It is always important to turn your mind to whether you want to work for the payer. Are they likely to pay? What’s their behaviour like?

So, here are number of simple and free checks you can carry out on your payer:

(A) If they are a company:
>> Check the ASIC register here: https://connectonline.asic.gov.au/RegistrySearch/faces/landing/SearchRegisters.jspx?_adf.ctrl-state=8r9cms5cr_4
>> Check the QLD court register here for current proceedings: https://apps.courts.qld.gov.au/esearching/
>> Check the old court and tribunal decisions: https://www.sclqld.org.au/caselaw
>> Check the adjudication decision register: https://my.qbcc.qld.gov.au/myQBCC/s/adjudication-registry
>> Check their QBCC licence (if they are a builder or higher subcontractor): https://www.qbcc.qld.gov.au/
>> Check their ABN: https://abr.business.gov.au

(B) If they are a person:
>> Ask for a photo of their licence;
>> Check the QLD court register here for current proceedings: https://apps.courts.qld.gov.au/esearching/
>> Check the old QLD court and tribunal decisions: https://www.sclqld.org.au/caselaw
>> Check their QBCC licence (if they are a builder or higher subcontractor): https://www.qbcc.qld.gov.au/

If the company is liquidated or deregistered there is no legal entity to form a contract with.

A cancelled or a suspended QBCC licence is a very strong tell, that your payer is unlikely to pay.

Pending court cases, recent demerit points, a history of having its QBCC licence suspended for not paying subcontractors are all reasons to question if you want to work for the payer.

When looking at adjudications, tribunal and court decisions, sometimes you can see how the payer behaves. Did the adjudicator, tribunal member or judge think they were being reasonable? Do you think they were being reasonable?

If you liked this guidance, please share this post with other tradies and subbies you think would benefit. Thank you.