Terms of Use
Last updated 26 July 2026
The guides on this site are general information, not legal or financial advice. They describe NSW requirements as we understood them on the date shown at the top of each page. Requirements change, and your project has facts we know nothing about. Confirm anything that matters before you act on it.
What this site is
A set of free guides for people building in New South Wales, and a preview of eSiteOffice — software for running building contracts. Nothing here is an offer to provide legal services, and using the site does not create a lawyer–client relationship with anyone.
The checklist
If you ask for the checklist, we build it from the answers you select — the kind of project, the rough cost band, and who is running the job. It's a starting point for organising your project's paperwork: the requirements that typically apply, the trade packages a job of that kind typically engages, and what to collect before paying. It is not a design, an estimate, a program, or advice that your particular job needs those items and no others. Your consultants, your certifier and your contract come first.
Thresholds and dollar figures
The $5,000, $10,000 and $20,000 figures, the insurance rules and the permit requirements described in the guides come from NSW government sources current at the date on the page. They move. We update the guides when we notice, but we don't warrant that any figure is current on the day you read it — check Service NSW, NSW Fair Trading or icare before relying on one.
Course prices and provider information
Where we compare owner-builder course providers, prices and details are taken from each provider's own public website on the date shown, and are published so people can compare them. We are not affiliated with any provider, no provider pays to appear or to be ranked, and we don't sell courses. If something we've published about a provider is wrong, tell us and we'll correct it.
Lending figures
Where we describe what banks and lenders do — deposit requirements, loan-to-value caps, how progress draws are released — those figures are indicative of common market practice at the date on the page. They vary considerably between lenders and change without notice. Nothing on this site is financial advice, a credit recommendation, or a suggestion that any particular loan is suitable for you. Talk to your lender or a broker about your circumstances.
Quotes from tradespeople and other third parties
Some guides describe what trades, builders or owners say about a subject. Those comments are paraphrased from public forum discussions and similar public sources to show the pattern of a view that gets expressed often. They are not quotations of any identified person, are not attributed to any individual or business, and are not presented as evidence of what any particular person said or thinks. Where we quote a named source, we say who it is and link to it.
Emails
If you give us your email address we use it to send you what you asked for and occasional guides on the same subject. We don’t sell it and we don’t pass it to anyone else for their marketing. Reply with one word and you are off the list — immediately, and for everything. How we handle your details is set out in our Privacy Policy.
Links to other sites
We link to government pages and to businesses mentioned in the guides. Those links are for convenience. We don't control those sites and aren't responsible for what they say or do.
Liability
To the extent the law permits, we exclude liability for loss arising from use of, or reliance on, this website and anything we email you from it. Nothing in these terms excludes rights you have under the Australian Consumer Law that cannot be excluded.
Our name and content
eSiteOffice is a registered trade mark. The text and design of this site are ours; you're welcome to quote a passage with a link back, but not to republish a guide wholesale.
Changes to these terms
We update these terms from time to time. The version on this page is the one that applies, and the date at the top tells you when it last changed.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the law of New South Wales.