Pool Builder Asking for a Deposit Above the Legal Cap

Name: comparepoolquotes
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Do not pay it. New South Wales caps a pool deposit at 10% of the contract price. Queensland and Victoria cap it at 5% once the contract reaches $20,000. On an $87,500 pool that is $8,750 against $4,375. In Queensland, any excess you pay is not recoverable under the home warranty scheme.

The short answer

The cap is a legal maximum, not a negotiating position. NSW 10%; QLD and VIC 5% at $20,000 or more.
QBCC states plainly you are not obliged to pay more than the maximum deposit.
Pay above the cap in Queensland and you cannot recover the excess in a home warranty claim for refund of deposit.
The insurance must exist before any money changes hands — including the deposit — in NSW, VIC and QLD.
One real exception: where more than 50% of the contract value is work done off site, Queensland allows up to 20%.

Maximum deposit on a residential pool contract, by state
	NSW	QLD	VIC
Maximum deposit	10% of the contract price	5% at $20,000+ 10% from $3,301–$19,999 20% at $3,300 or less	5% at $20,000+ 10% below that
On an $87,500 pool	$8,750	$4,375	$4,375
Off-site work exception	No equivalent published exception	Up to 20% where more than 50% of the value is built off site	No equivalent published exception
Insurance before any payment	Yes — cover required over $20,000	Yes — insurable pool work over $3,300	Yes — cover required at $16,000 or more
If you pay over the cap	Breach by the builder; Fair Trading enforces	Excess not recoverable in a deposit-refund claim	Contract cannot be enforced against you before insurance is in place
Penalty on the builder	Up to 200 penalty units, or 1,000 for a corporation	Offence under the QBCC Act	Offence under the Domestic Building Contracts Act

What to do in the next 24 hours

1. Do not transfer the money today. Nothing is lost by waiting a day. A deposit sent by bank transfer is gone, and a request that is urgent for the builder's reasons rather than yours is the exact circumstance the cap exists for.

2. Find the contract price and do the arithmetic. Multiply it by 0.10 in New South Wales, or 0.05 in Queensland or Victoria if the contract is $20,000 or more. That number is the ceiling. Write it down before you speak to anyone.

3. Ask the builder, in writing, for two things — the clause in the contract they say permits the amount, and a copy of the insurance certificate for your property. Email, not a phone call, because you want the answer in a form you can keep.

4. Check the certificate is for your address. A generic licence number is not the same thing as cover for this job. In New South Wales you can confirm a certificate against the HBCF register.

5. If the answer is a reason rather than a clause, stop. QBCC's wording is direct: query it with the contractor first, and if they persist, “you are not obliged to pay more”.

Is it as serious as it feels? Usually yes, but not always

There is one genuine exception and it is worth knowing before you accuse anyone of anything. Queensland allows a deposit of up to 20% where substantial customised work or prefabrication is performed away from the building site and that work is more than 50% of the total contract price.

A fibreglass pool is manufactured in a factory, so it is fair to ask whether the exception applies. It turns on whether the off-site portion genuinely exceeds half the contract value, which on a full installation including excavation, craneage, plumbing, paving and fencing is a real question rather than an obvious yes. If your builder is relying on this, ask them to show the split. It should be in writing and it should survive arithmetic.

Equally, a request that is simply an error happens. A builder using an old template, or applying the 10% band to a contract that has crossed $20,000, has made a mistake rather than a demand. That is fixed with one email. The signal to take seriously is a builder who, having been shown the cap, asks you to pay it anyway.

The consequence nobody mentions: the money stops being insured

This is the part that turns a paperwork question into a financial one. The QBCC states that a home owner who pays beyond the lawful maximum “will not be entitled to recover the excess you have paid in the event you need to make a claim under the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme for refund of deposit”.

Read that against the scenario the scheme exists for. If the builder does not start, or becomes insolvent, the scheme is how you get your deposit back. Pay $10,000 on an $87,500 Queensland contract where the cap is $4,375, and the $5,625 above the cap is outside the protection entirely. You have not just broken a rule; you have moved your own money out of the safety net.

The timing rule points the same way in all three states. In New South Wales, cover is required for residential building work over $20,000 and the builder must obtain it “before you start work, or take any payment for the project, including a deposit”. In Victoria, domestic building insurance is required at $16,000 or more and the builder cannot enforce the contract, commence work or receive money — deposit included — until the policy is in effect and you have a copy. In Queensland, the premium must reach the QBCC within 10 days of the contract or before work starts, whichever is earlier.

So the certificate is not bureaucracy you can chase later. It is the thing that has to exist first. More on how the three schemes compare in pool builder warranty insurance by state.

The next seven days, if they will not move

Do not sign to keep the peace. A contract that entitles the builder to demand an unlawful deposit is itself a problem in New South Wales, where the offence covers entering into such a contract, not only receiving the money.

Escalate to the regulator, not to the builder's manager. In Queensland that is the QBCC, in New South Wales NSW Fair Trading, in Victoria the Building and Plumbing Commission and Consumer Affairs Victoria. All three take complaints from home owners directly and none of them charge for it.

Keep the quote alive while you sort it out. You are not obliged to abandon the project to make the point, and you are not obliged to stay with one builder either. If the relationship has soured before a shovel has moved, that is information. Comparing two or three more quotes costs nothing and resets the negotiation.

Where we are not the answer: if you have already paid and the builder has stopped responding, this is a dispute rather than a comparison problem, and the regulator or a lawyer is the right next call. Our guide to a pool builder becoming insolvent sets out that path.

Common questions

What is the maximum deposit for a pool in Queensland?

5% of the contract price once the contract is $20,000 or more, which covers almost every pool. Below that it is 10%, and 20% for work valued at $3,300 or less. See the QBCC's guidance on deposits and progress payments, which also states you are not obliged to pay more than the maximum.

What is the maximum deposit for a pool in NSW?

10% of the contract price. The Home Building Act 1989 makes it an offence to demand or receive a deposit above 10%, or to enter into a contract entitling the builder to do so, with a maximum penalty of 200 penalty units for an individual and 1,000 for a corporation.

Can a builder ask for 20% because the pool is made off site?

In Queensland, only where substantial customised work or prefabrication is performed away from the site and represents more than 50% of the total contract price. Ask for the split in writing. The exception is about the proportion of value, not simply about whether some component was manufactured elsewhere.

I have already paid more than the cap. What now?

Raise it with the builder in writing immediately and contact the regulator in your state. In Queensland, be aware that the excess above the cap is not recoverable under the home warranty scheme in a deposit-refund claim, which is why acting quickly matters more than being polite about it.

Sources

General information only, current at 2026-09-12. Pool rules differ by state and by council, and penalty amounts are updated regularly. Confirm your own obligations with your council or a registered inspector before acting.

“My pool builder wants a bigger deposit than the law allows”