The construction loan document checklist

• Before the application
• Identification and income documentsThe same as any home loan. The document centre covers what applies to your employment type.
• Contract of sale or titleFor the land, whether you are buying it or already own it.
• Council or complying development approvalThe development consent or CDC. Lenders will not fund a build without approval in place.
• Stamped, approved plans and specificationsThe set the approval relates to, matching what the builder has quoted on.
• The building contract
• Fixed-price building contractSigned by both parties. Lenders strongly prefer fixed price, and progress payment schedules must align with their drawdown stages.
• Builder's licence detailsCurrent and appropriate for the work. Owner-builder arrangements face a much shorter lender list.
• Builder's home warranty insuranceRequired in NSW above a threshold value, and lenders check it before the first drawdown.
• Builder's public liability and works insuranceCertificates of currency, naming the site.
• Schedule of progress paymentsUsually slab, frame, lockup, fit-off and completion, matching the lender's drawdown stages.
• Costs the contract does not cover
• Site costs and allowancesExcavation, retaining, soil and contour conditions. These sit outside many fixed-price contracts and belong in the budget.
• Council and authority feesSection contributions, inspections and service connections.
• Variations and selectionsAnything above the base specification. This is what your contingency exists for. Why contingency sits inside the facility.
• Demolition, for a rebuildQuoted separately in most cases, and required before construction can begin.
• At each drawdown
• Builder's progress claim invoiceFor the completed stage, matching the contract schedule.
• Lender's inspection or valuationConfirming the stage is complete before funds release. This is why drawdowns take days rather than hours.
• Signed authority to release fundsYour instruction to the lender to pay the builder for that stage.
• At completion
• Occupation certificateIssued by the certifier, confirming the dwelling can be lawfully occupied.
• Final inspection and valuationThe lender confirms the completed dwelling matches the plans it funded.
• Building insurance in your nameTransitioning from the builder's works insurance to your own policy on completion.

Requirements vary between lenders and by the size and type of build. Owner-builder projects, knock-down rebuilds and duplex developments each carry additional requirements beyond this list. Your builder and certifier hold most of these documents; you rarely need to produce them yourself.