The MBA NSW standard trade contract: what the conditions actually say

The Master Builders Association of NSW publishes a short standard trade contract used widely by residential and small commercial builders. It is three pages of conditions plus schedules, which makes it one of the most readable documents a trade will be handed, and the schedules are where the commercial terms live. We read the November 2021 conditions as published. Here is what they say, without reproducing them.

What the drafting says

Retention

10% of each payment, up to 5% of the price, half released at practical completion or when the builder takes over the works, the balance no later than the period written into Schedule 2.

Variations

No payment unless agreed in writing, a variation must be authorised in writing and its price agreed before it can go in a payment claim. If the price is not agreed the builder can still require the work and send the price to dispute resolution.

Payment claims

Per Schedule 2, or every 4 weeks, if the schedule is blank, you may claim every four calendar weeks from starting work.

Disputed claims

Raised within 10 business days, the builder is to advise any dispute about a claim in writing within 10 business days of receiving it, which lines up with the NSW Act's payment schedule window.

Extensions of time

A fair extension, and head contract time passed on, the builder must allow a fair extension for delay the trade did not cause, and pass on any relevant extension it receives. The conditions we read set no short notice window of the kind builder templates use.

Liquidated damages

The sum in Schedule 2, and if the schedule is left blank the builder can claim general damages instead, so a blank is not a zero.

Defects

Until the builder's defects period ends, your obligation runs to the end of the defects liability period under the head contract, not a period measured from your own completion.

If the head contract ends

The builder may terminate, paying for work done and expenses incurred, with no loss of profit.

Builder taking over your work

2 working days' written notice, after which the cost can be deducted from money due to you.

Figures read from publicly published documents analysed in the Australian Subcontract Index corpus, August 2026.

How it compares

Against the builder-authored templates in our corpus, this is a gentler document: no two-day time bar, no release deed as a condition of final payment, and no broad set-off clause in the conditions we read.

Two terms still sit outside the market position a trade should ask for: variations unpaid unless priced and agreed in writing, and a defects period tied to the head contract rather than your own works.

The Index median retention is 5 per cent. This contract lands in the same place, collected at 10 per cent of each claim until it gets there.

What to do about it

Fill in every blank in the schedules

Payment dates, the liquidated damages sum, the retention release period and the completion date all live in the schedules. A blank is filled by the default in the conditions, or by whoever holds the document. Write "Nil" where you mean nil.

Build the variation habit the contract demands

Because unpriced variations cannot be claimed, send a same-day email with a price for every change and ask for a one-word reply. Without it, the conditions say you are not entitled to be paid for the work.

Ask for the defects period to run from your completion

A trade that finishes early in the job otherwise waits for the whole project's defects period before the second half of retention comes back.

The version you were handed is not the pattern. It's a specific document.

Templates get amended, schedules get filled in, and the risk lives in the details. The free scanner reads your actual document, every clause, benchmarked against real Australian subcontracts, in about two minutes.

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Common questions

What is the MBA NSW trade contract?

It is a standard form published by the Master Builders Association of NSW for engaging trade contractors, made up of short general conditions and a set of schedules for the scope, price, payment timetable, completion date and liquidated damages.

How much retention can a builder hold under the MBA NSW trade contract?

Under the November 2021 conditions, the builder may retain 10 per cent of each payment until the amount held equals 5 per cent of the contract price. Half is released at practical completion and the rest no later than the period stated in the schedule.

Can I be paid for a variation that was only agreed verbally?

Not under these conditions as written: a variation must be authorised in writing with the price agreed. A same-day confirming email with a price, answered by the builder, is the practical way to meet that requirement.

Does the Security of Payment Act still apply?

Yes. The conditions expressly preserve either party's right to use the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW).

Keep reading

General information for Australian subcontractors, not legal advice. Patterns describe publicly published documents analysed in the Index corpus, and standard forms are described from their published, unamended editions; the document you are handed governs, and only a reading of that specific document (or advice on it) can tell you your position. Written by Mat Kennedy at The Construction Contracts Co.