📥 Free downloads

Subscriber downloads

Subscribe and you get the free Owner-Builder Readiness Checklist, drawn from the Coorparoo project records: eligibility, the course, the documents to have ready and how to check a licence. For the full line-item spreadsheet, see the Build-Under Budget Toolkit.

Build-under framing during the Coorparoo project, the source records behind these downloads

📄 The downloads

A taste of the methodology

Built from the real Coorparoo records. How the figures work →

Subscriber bonus

Owner-Builder Readiness Checklist

PDF · Free for subscribers · licence-check included

A one-page check before you apply for an owner-builder permit or engage a trade: eligibility, the course, the documents to have ready and how to verify a licence in the QBCC register.

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Paid product

Build-Under Budget Toolkit

XLSX workbook · $79

The Coorparoo line items pre-loaded as a worked example, with quote-entry worksheets, a contingency calculator and a payment schedule. Built to run through your own project.

See the Budget Toolkit ($79)

One-time purchase. 30-day refund.

Looking for the paid templates? The Build-Under Budget Toolkit, Owner-Builder Project Control Pack, Readiness Pack and QBCC Course Prep are on the tools page. The calculators live there too.

📝 The readiness checklist

What’s in the readiness checklist

A one-page check before you apply for a Queensland owner-builder permit, or before you put a contractor on. It walks the eligibility tests, the course, the documents to have ready and how to verify a licence. Drawn from a real Coorparoo owner-builder build.

  1. 01

    Eligibility

    You own the land or are under contract to buy it, you intend to live in the finished home as your principal place of residence and you have not held an owner-builder permit on the same land in the past six years.

  2. 02

    The owner-builder course

    Complete the QBCC-approved owner-builder education course before you apply. Registered training organisations deliver it, it can be done online and it takes roughly 6 to 12 hours. Keep your completion certificate.

  3. 03

    Your permit application

    Proof of land ownership or interest (a title search or contract of sale), your course completion certificate, a description and estimated value of the works and the QBCC application fee. Confirm the current fee with QBCC.

  4. 04

    Checking a licence

    Search the QBCC licensee register by name, company or licence number. Confirm the licence is current and not suspended or cancelled, that the category matches the work and that the licensed name matches who you are dealing with.

  5. 05

    Insurance and registration

    Ask for a current public liability certificate of currency (the Queensland minimum is $500,000). Confirm professional indemnity insurance for engineers, certifiers and designers. Confirm RPEQ registration for structural engineers.

  6. 06

    Before you commit

    Get two to three comparable quotes, check ABN status on ABN Lookup and read any contract before you sign. Budget a contingency on top of your estimate.

Who it’s for

  • Anyone weighing up an owner-builder permit for a Queensland raise or build-under
  • Owners about to engage trades who want to verify a licence properly
  • Anyone quoted by a contractor who wants to check them before signing

This checklist reflects QBCC requirements and the way licensing works in Queensland. Confirm current requirements directly with QBCC before you rely on any of it.

The completed Coorparoo Queenslander
The completed Coorparoo Queenslander raise and build-under.