Lock-up stage

Lock-up stage (or lock-up) is the construction stage when the building can be locked: the external wall cladding and roof covering are fixed, and the external doors and windows are installed. At that point the structure is weathertight and securable, so materials and tools can be left on site and the internal trades (plastering, electrical and plumbing rough-in completion, fixing carpentry) can start work in the dry.

Lock-up is one of the defined progress-claim stages in the standard HIA and MBA residential schedules (deposit, base, frame, lock-up, fixing, completion). It is typically one of the larger stage payments, because a lot of cost (the roof, the cladding, the windows) lands here. In Victoria the Domestic Building Contracts Act sets a statutory lock-up percentage of 35%; in NSW the percentages are not prescribed and are negotiated, with a common indicative split around 25% at lock-up, often driven by the client’s lender drawdown schedule.

For payment, lock-up falls due when the specified work is complete (cladding, roof, external doors and windows fixed), not when the client feels the house is “locked up”. Define exactly what lock-up means in the contract so a progress claim is not held up over whether, say, the garage door is in scope for the stage. See stage payment and frame stage.

Also known as: Lock-up, lockup, weathertight stage.

Category: Construction stages / Payments.

Related

• Progress claims
• Stage payment

See also

• Frame stage
• Drawdown
• HIA fixed-price contract

References

• NSW Government: Contracts for residential building work (verified 2026-05-09)
• Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 (Vic) s 40 (verified 2026-05-09)

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Last updated: 2026-05-30. Verified: 2026-05-09. Quarterly review for currency.