What paper a Sydney kitchen quote should come with

The two contracts a kitchen quote can lead to

The threshold is the price. Your chosen builder or tradesperson must give you a written contract if the contract price is over $5,000, including GST, or is unknown but the reasonable market cost of the labor and materials is more than $5,000, including GST.

Below the upper line, the contract is the shorter kind: jobs worth between $5,000 and $20,000 require a small job contract with basic information, and residential building work worth between $5,000 and $20,000 must be covered by a small jobs contract.

Above it, the contract grows: jobs worth more than $20,000 must be covered by a more extensive written contract, known as a large job contract. For a kitchen, that job is residential building or trade work, and in NSW the licence side is separate: a contractor licence is needed to do residential building or trade work, including kitchen, bathroom and laundry renovation work, valued at more than $5,000 in labour and materials, including GST.

What the small job contract carries

The contract must contain:

• the contractor licence number
• a description of the work
• the contract price if known

And the form itself: the written contract must be dated and signed by, or on behalf of, each party. It may specify work be paid for at regular intervals.

What the large job contract carries

Residential building work worth more than $20,000 requires an extensive home building contract and it must contain:

• the contract price, which must be prominently displayed on the first page, and a warning with an explanation if the contract price is subject to change or if the price is not known
• a clear statement setting out the cooling-off period of five clear business days after being given a copy of the contract where it is valued over $20,000
• a checklist of 17 items
• a caution about signing the contract if you cannot answer yes to all items in the checklist
• a termination clause, which must include a statement that the contract may be terminated in the circumstances provided by the general law and that this doesn't prevent the parties agreeing to additional circumstances in which the contract may be terminated
• a note that the contractor must give you an insurance certificate under the Home Building Compensation (HBC) Scheme, formally known as home warranty insurance, if the contract is valued over $20,000
• a clause that states that any agreement to vary the contract or any plans and specifications must be in writing and signed by you and your contractor

For example, an $18,000 kitchen

Take a kitchen quoted at $18,000, for example, as the contract price. It is over $5,000, so a written contract is required, and it is between $5,000 and $20,000, so the small job contract is the one the NSW Government names for it. The contractor licence number, a description of the work and the contract price, if known, belong in it and it must be dated and signed.

Before entering the contract, the builder or tradesperson must give you a copy of the Consumer Building Guide.

The money side has its own ceiling: under NSW home building law, the maximum deposit you can be asked to pay is 10 percent. A contract may specify that work be paid for at regular intervals. The insurance and large-contract rules on this page begin above $20,000, so at $18,000 the job sits under the line where NSW's licensing and contract pages put them.

For example, a $26,000 kitchen

Now take the same kitchen quoted at $26,000, for example. This one is over $20,000, so a large job contract is the one required, with the checklist, the caution, the cooling-off statement and the termination clause the list above sets out. After you sign, the builder or tradesperson must give you a copy of the contract within five business days, and the weekend, NSW public holidays and 27 to 31 December inclusive do not count.

Insurance joins the paper trail at this price. HBC cover is required where work is worth more than $20,000, including labour and materials, and the builder or tradesperson must give you evidence of that cover before they start work or you pay them any money, including a deposit. In the NSW Government's words: if the value of your project is over $20,000, your builder or tradesperson must obtain a certificate of HBCF cover before they start work or ask for payment from you.

Then check it. The NSW Government's caution is to check that a certificate of cover is valid by contacting the insurance company shown on the certificate or by using HBC Check. icare adds that each building project carries its own Certificate of Insurance, and that the name written on the building contract has to match the one on the licence and on the insurance certificate.

And the deposit rule bites harder here: if the work is required to be covered under the Home Building Compensation Scheme, it is illegal for the contractor to ask for a deposit or other payment under the contract unless the cover has been taken out, and a certificate of the cover is given to you. On both jobs the cap stays the same: for contracts valued at $20,000 or more, the maximum deposit is 10% of the total contract price, and for contracts valued between $5,000 and $20,000, the maximum deposit is also 10%. All contracts over $20,000 in value must have a progress payment schedule, and progress payments must match the work carried out.

The paper, in the order you meet it

1. The Consumer Building Guide, before you enter into a contract for residential building work that costs more than $5,000.
2. The written contract: a small job contract for work between $5,000 and $20,000, or a large job contract for work worth more than $20,000.
3. Your signed copy of the contract, dated and signed by each party; for a large job contract, given to you within five business days of signing.
4. For work worth more than $20,000, the certificate of HBC cover, before work starts or any payment is asked for.
5. The deposit, no more than 10 percent of the contract price.
6. Progress payments, only as authorised and matching the work carried out.

If a payment is asked for that is not a required progress payment set out in the contract, the NSW Government warns you may not be able to recover losses for that payment under home building compensation cover.