Builders Warranty

What is Builders Warranty Insurance?

The Home Building Act 1989 establishes a Home building Compensation Fund (HBCF) scheme, formerly known as the Home Warranty Insurance Scheme. The scheme sits at the end of a comprehensive consumer protection regime for homeowners and provides a safety net for consumers where builders / contractors fail to complete residential building work or rectify defects.

The HBCF provides a safety net for homeowners who have contracted residential building work and their builder has been unable to honour commitments under the building contract due to insolvency, death or disappearance. The safety net is also provided where the builder’s licence has been suspended for failing to comply with a Tribunal or Court order to pay compensation to the homeowner. HBCF insurance is required to be obtained by all licensed contractors for most residential construction projects over $20,000, with some types of construction exempted, for more information for exempt projects please email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your project details and they will provide you an answer.

From 1^st September 2015, State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA), which is part of Department of Finance, Services and Innovation, assumed the regulatory functions of Home Building Compensation previously undertaken by NSW Fair Trading. The NSW Self Insurance Corporation (SICorp) became part of icare (Insurance and Care NSW) and changed its branding to icare hbcf.

Understand the process of applying for a certificate of eligibility

A certificate of eligibility means that you have been assessed by Corporate Scorecard, the Eligibility Risk Manager, and have been granted the entitlement to apply for an icare HBCF certificate of insurance for individual projects.

Your HBCF eligibility also refers to the eligibility conditions under which the certificate of insurance may be granted to you.

These conditions include open job limits (number and value), types of construction & maximum contract price.

It is important to start the application process well before you intend to commence any residential building. The Eligibility process typically takes at least 4 weeks and longer when building activity is busy. 

For builder Eligibility enquiries click here.

Home building compensation disputes

If you are a builder not satisfied with the decision regarding your eligibility outcome, or a homeowner not satisfied with the decision regarding your claim outcome, you have a right to request an Appeal / Review.

For Builders - Please contact us if you are not happy with your eligibility outcome and wish to Appeal and we will arrange for our Authorised Distributor partner to assist you.

For Home Owners - In order to assist you in lodging a complaint, please contact icare direct by clicking here and follow their processes so we can help you obtain an outcome.

Where can I find out more information?

The Home Building Act 1989 regulates the cover required and service standards of icare HBCF. For further information about the Insurance and Care NSW, visit the website www.icare.nsw.gov.au.   

Detailed information on the operation of the scheme is available at www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au. Fair Trading also provides a link between the building dispute resolution and HBCF insurance.

Contact information for HBCF can be found at the link here.  

From April 29th, 2021, builders applying for Builders Warranty Insurance from Action Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd, will be serviced by our joint-venture partner Savill Hicks (SHC) and their employees. SHC have been experts in the builders warranty insurance field for decades and Action Insurance Brokers is proud to align ourselves with SHC and their team, to provide builders warranty insurance in NSW.

For all other insurances that builders require, including builders warranty in the ACT, your Action Insurance Brokers contacts and team members remain unchanged.

The Team at Action Insurance Brokers have a combined history of over 300 years’ experience in General Insurance and Insurance Broking, specialising in small to medium sized businesses insurance and private insurances.

Action Insurance Brokers have been handling Builders Warranty Insurance since 1997 and have significant experience and expertise in this area.