Owner-occupier (Security of Payment)
Under some Security of Payment Acts, an owner-occupier (a homeowner living in the home) is carved out of head-contractor claims, but subbies stay covered.
Ask Chalkline about this →An owner-occupier, in Security of Payment (SOP) terms, is a person who lives in, or intends to live in, the home being built or renovated. It matters because some SOP Acts carve owner-occupiers out of the fast statutory payment-claim process for the head contractor’s claim, so a builder cannot use the SOP adjudication machinery against a residential owner the way they can against a commercial principal.
The reason for the carve-out is consumer protection. SOP was designed for commercial construction chains, where a fast “pay now, argue later” regime keeps cash flowing. Applying that same machinery against an ordinary homeowner (who is not a repeat industry player) was seen as unfair, so the legislation limits it. The detail varies by state: for example, Queensland’s BIF Act treats a contract for a resident owner’s own home differently, and other states have their own residential exclusions.
The important nuance: the carve-out usually applies only to the builder-versus-owner link in the chain. The subcontractors stay covered, because the contract between the head builder and a subbie is a commercial construction contract regardless of who the end owner is. So a subbie working on an owner-occupied house can still make a payment claim against the builder under SOP, even though the builder cannot make one against the owner.
For a builder the practical points are: do not assume SOP backs your progress claim against a homeowner (it may not, so your domestic building contract’s own payment terms and the home-building dispute process are your route), but do assume your subbies can use SOP against you, so keep their payments current. Check the specific state Act, because the line between covered and carved-out is drawn differently in each: see SA and WA.
Also known as: Owner-occupier exclusion, resident owner (SOP), residential owner carve-out.
Category: Contracts / Security of Payment.
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References
- Owner-occupier residential (Chalkline) (verified 2026-06-09)
Last updated: 2026-06-09. Verified: 2026-06-09. Quarterly review for currency.