Pool Deposit Limits and Progress Payments by State

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New South Wales caps a pool deposit at 10% of the contract price. Queensland and Victoria cap it at 5% once the contract is $20,000 or more, and 10% below that. On an $87,500 pool that is $8,750 in New South Wales and $4,375 in Queensland or Victoria.

The short answer

New South Wales: 10% of the contract price. The NSW Government's own page for people building a pool states the maximum deposit as 10%, with no separate rule above $20,000.
Queensland: 20% at or under $3,300, 10% for level 1 contracts, 5% at $20,000 or more. Up to 20% only where prefabricated off-site work exceeds half the contract price.
Victoria: 10% under $20,000, 5% at $20,000 or more — and if the builder does not comply, the building owner may avoid the contract at any time before it is completed.
Queensland also caps progress claims. No more than 50% of the contract price including the deposit until at least 50% of the on-site work is complete.
Do not pay a deposit before the insurance certificate exists. Required above $20,000 in New South Wales, $16,000 in Victoria and $3,300 in Queensland — and a deposit paid above the legal limit is not covered.

Deposit and progress payment limits, verified at the state regulators, September 2026
	New South Wales	Queensland	Victoria
Maximum deposit	10% of the contract price	20% at or under $3,300 · 10% level 1 ($3,301–$19,999) · 5% level 2 ($20,000+)	10% under $20,000 · 5% at $20,000 or more
On an $87,500 pool	$8,750	$4,375	$4,375
Exception	—	Up to 20% where substantial customised prefabrication off site exceeds 50% of the contract price	—
Written contract required above	$5,000 including GST	Contracts over $3,300 are regulated domestic building contracts	Major domestic building contract rules apply over $16,000
Licence required above	$5,000 — Building Commission NSW, building or swimming pool building	QBCC licence, with pool construction covered work above $3,300	Registered building practitioner
Warranty insurance required above	$20,000, certificate required before any payment is requested or taken	$3,300 — Queensland Home Warranty Scheme	$16,000 — domestic building insurance
Progress payment rule	Progress payments must be authorised under the Home Building Act, and contracts over $20,000 must carry a progress payment schedule	All progress payments relative to work completed; no more than 50% of the price including deposit until 50% of on-site work is done	Prescribed stages for full construction: base 10%, frame 15%, lock-up 35%, fixing 25%
If the builder breaches the deposit rule	The clause is void to that extent	Deposit limits are set in Schedule 1B of the QBCC Act and cannot be exceeded	The building owner may avoid the contract at any time before it is completed

A correction we are publishing on ourselves

Industry and law-firm commentary widely states that New South Wales caps a pool deposit at 10% where the contract is $20,000 or less and 5% where it is more — mirroring Queensland and Victoria. We had that in our own research notes, flagged for verification.

The NSW Government's own page for people building a pool says something different. It states plainly: "The maximum deposit that you can be asked to pay is 10% of the contract price." There is no second tier. The $20,000 figure in New South Wales is the threshold for home building compensation cover, not a deposit tier, and the two get conflated because they appear in the same paragraph of most summaries.

We are publishing the government's figure and saying why, because the practical consequence is a real amount of money. On an $87,500 pool the difference between the two readings is $4,375 — and a buyer who believes the deposit is capped at 5% will refuse a lawful request, while a buyer in Victoria who believes it is 10% will pay twice what the law allows.

The 5% rule is real in Queensland and Victoria and it is not the rule in New South Wales. The $20,000 figure that appears in all three states means different things in each.

Queensland: three tiers and one real exception

Queensland's deposit limits are set in Schedule 1B of the QBCC Act and stated plainly by the regulator:

Works valued at $3,300 or less: maximum deposit 20%.
Level 1 contracts, $3,301 to $19,999: maximum deposit 10% of the contract price.
Level 2 contracts, more than $20,000: maximum deposit 5%.

The exception allows up to 20% where substantial customised building work or prefabrication is performed away from the building site and represents more than 50% of the total contract price including labour, materials and GST. The QBCC's examples are custom kitchens, windows, sheds, pergolas and cladding.

Whether a fibreglass pool shell — manufactured off site and delivered complete — engages that exception is a question to put to the builder in writing before you sign, because the answer changes the lawful deposit on a $65,000 pool from $3,250 to $13,000. We have not found a QBCC ruling on pool shells specifically and we are not going to assert one.

Queensland's progress payment rule is the strongest consumer protection of the three states. For contracts over $3,300 all progress payments must be relative to the amount of work completed, and the contractor cannot claim more than 50% of the contract price, deposit included, until at least 50% of the on-site work is complete. That single rule is what stops a builder being paid three-quarters of the money for a hole in the ground.

Victoria: prescribed stages, and the remedy that has teeth

Victoria caps the deposit at 10% under $20,000 and 5% at $20,000 or more, and prescribes the payment stages themselves for full construction: base 10%, frame 15%, lock-up 35%, fixing 25%, with the balance at completion.

A pool has no frame and no lock-up stage, so those percentages do not transfer directly. What transfers is the principle: a named stage, a fixed percentage, and a physical milestone you can point at. If your pool contract's schedule cannot be described that way, ask why. Where the parties intend to alter the standard schedule in a major domestic building contract, the building owner must sign Form 1 in Schedule 1 before signing the contract — a formality that exists precisely because altered schedules are where money goes missing.

The remedy is the part worth knowing. If a builder does not comply with the deposit requirements, the building owner may avoid the contract at any time before it is completed. That is a stronger position than a damages claim, and it is available on the deposit rule alone.

And the sequencing rule that matters more than any percentage: do not pay the deposit until the builder gives you a certificate of currency for your property. Domestic building insurance is required in Victoria for work over $16,000.

The rule that applies in all three states

Underneath the different percentages sits one principle, and it is the one to hold on to: never let the money get ahead of the work.

When a builder fails, the amount you lose is the gap between what you have paid and what exists in your backyard. Every statutory limit on this page — the deposit caps, Queensland's 50% rule, Victoria's prescribed stages, the requirement for a progress payment schedule in New South Wales — exists to keep that gap small. And the warranty insurance that covers the gap has its own limit: in New South Wales the non-completion part of a claim is capped at 20% of the contract price, inside a $340,000 policy maximum.

Which means the insurance does not rescue an overpayment. A deposit paid above the legal limit is not covered, and money paid ahead of the work is exactly the exposure the 20% sub-limit is designed around. The limits are not paperwork; they are the shape of your protection.

If the worst has already happened, what to do when a pool builder goes bust has the claim deadlines and caps for each state. Before you sign, what should be in a pool quote covers the payment schedule as one of fourteen lines to check, and how to check a licence takes two minutes at a free public register.

Common questions

What is the maximum deposit for a pool in New South Wales?

10% of the contract price. The NSW Government's guidance for people building a pool states that the maximum deposit you can be asked to pay is 10% of the contract price, alongside the $5,000 written-contract and licence thresholds and the $20,000 home building compensation threshold.

Can I pay a bigger deposit if I want to?

You can, and you should not. The excess is not covered by warranty insurance if the builder fails, so a larger deposit converts protected money into unprotected money. In Victoria a builder who takes more than the lawful deposit gives you the right to avoid the contract, which is a remedy you lose nothing by keeping available.

Why does a fibreglass pool sometimes attract a bigger deposit request?

Because the shell is manufactured off site and the builder pays for it before delivery. In Queensland there is an exception allowing up to 20% where substantial off-site prefabrication exceeds half the contract price. Whether a pool shell engages it is a question to put in writing before signing — we could not find a QBCC ruling specific to pool shells and will not assert one.

What if the builder wants payment before a stage is finished?

In Queensland that is not permitted: all progress payments must be relative to the amount of work completed, and no more than 50% of the contract price including the deposit may be claimed until at least 50% of the on-site work is done. Elsewhere, paying ahead of the work is what the warranty insurance sub-limits assume you have not done.

Sources

General information only, current at 2026-09-07. 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.

Pool deposit limits and progress payments, by state