Choosing an industrial builder: what to ask before you appoint

By Brenscot Builders | Last reviewed September 2026

Most advice about choosing a builder is written for someone building a house. Industrial is different. The contract is usually larger, the programme is tied to approvals you do not control, and the thing you are buying is often a set of decisions rather than a set of drawings.

This is what we would check if we were on the other side of the table.

The short answer

Verify the licence class and that it actually covers the work. Understand which delivery model you are buying, because a fixed price means different things under design and construct than under a construct-only contract. Ask what the price excludes, not what it includes. Check that the builder has done the specific hard parts of your project before, not just buildings of a similar size. And ask who will actually run the job.

Start with the licence

In Queensland, building work above a low threshold must be carried out by a QBCC licensee, and the licence class has to cover the work.

Check the licence yourself. The QBCC maintains a public register. Search the company name or the licence number and confirm four things: the licence is current, the class covers commercial or industrial building work of the value involved, the licensee name matches the entity that will sign your contract, and there is nothing in the history you would want to ask about.

That last point about the entity is not pedantry. Groups sometimes tender through one entity and contract through another. The licence that matters is the one held by whoever signs.

Queensland also operates financial requirements for licensing, under which licensees must demonstrate they meet minimum financial standards for their licence category. It is reasonable to ask a builder to confirm their maximum revenue category is adequate for your project, because a contract that exceeds a builder's allowable annual turnover is a problem for both of you.

Brenscot holds QBCC licence 15213515.

Understand what you are actually buying

The three common models produce very different risk positions.

Construct only. You engage consultants, they produce a full design, and the builder prices it. You own the design and the design risk. If the documents are wrong or incomplete, that is a variation. This works when the design is genuinely complete and you have the capacity to run a consultant team.

Design and construct. The builder takes the design and the construction under one contract, usually from a brief or a concept. Design risk sits with the builder. The trade-off is that you have less direct control over design decisions and the brief has to be good, because the brief is what you are holding them to. See design and construct versus tender.

Developer-builder. The builder originates the development, takes the land and approvals risk, and delivers a finished building to buy or lease. You are buying an outcome rather than a service. See what a developer-builder does.

The mistake is comparing prices across models as though they were the same product. A construct-only price against a full documentation set and a D&C price against a two-page brief are not comparable numbers, and the gap between them is usually the risk that has moved.

Ask what the price excludes

Any builder can produce a competitive number by leaving things out. The useful question is not "what does this include" but "what does this exclude, and who carries it if it turns out to be needed".

The exclusions that matter most on an industrial project:

• Ground conditions. Is the price based on an assumed founding condition, and what happens if the geotechnical investigation says otherwise? See footings and foundations
• Rock, contamination and unsuitable fill, and who carries the cost of removing them
• Stormwater treatment and detention, which can move substantially between concept and operational works approval. See stormwater management
• Fire services. Are sprinklers included, excluded, or subject to the storage assumption? See racking and fire requirements
• Power supply. Is a capital contribution to Energex included, and is a padmount substation allowed for? See power supply and the Energex connection
• Infrastructure charges, which are usually the owner's cost and are rarely in a builder's price. See infrastructure charges
• Approval risk. What happens to the price and programme if a condition of the development approval changes the design

A builder who answers those questions specifically, in writing, is telling you something useful about how they run jobs. A builder who says "it's all covered" is not.

Check the right kind of experience

Square metres built is a weak proxy. What matters is whether they have done the parts of your project that are actually difficult.

Ask about the specific items. Have they built on this ground type in this area? Have they delivered a sprinklered building? A multi-unit building with fire walls on title boundaries? A building with a substantial office fitout? A site with significant retaining or acid sulfate soils? A project with a state-controlled road frontage?

Then ask to see one. Not a photo, a site. Ask to speak to the owner, and ask them the uncomfortable questions: what went wrong, how was it handled, was the final account close to the contract sum, and would they use them again.

Ask who runs the job

The people who win the work are not always the people who do it. Ask who the project manager and site supervisor will be, how many other jobs they are running, and whether they will change during your project.

For an industrial job, ask specifically about the critical trades. Tilt panel, structural steel and the slab are where programme and quality are won or lost, and whether the builder controls those directly or subcontracts them wholesale tells you a great deal about how much control they actually have.

The commercial checks

• Insurance. Public liability and contract works. Ask for certificates of currency and check the amounts and the named insured
• Security. What security are you providing and receiving? Bank guarantees, retention, and on what terms are they released
• Defects liability. How long, and what does it cover
• The contract itself. Which standard form, and what has been amended. Amendments are where the risk actually moves, and they deserve a solicitor's eye
• Programme. Is it a genuine programme with a critical path, or a bar chart? Does it allow realistic time for approvals you do not control, particularly operational works? See how long a warehouse build takes
• Payment. Progress claim process, and how variations are priced and approved

What a fixed price actually fixes

A fixed price fixes the price for the scope described. It does not fix the scope.

On a design and construct contract, the scope is defined by the brief and whatever documents are named in the contract. If the brief says "office fitout" without describing it, the builder has priced their interpretation, not yours. The way to avoid that argument is to make the brief specific about the things you care about, and to accept that the things you leave vague will be priced at the cheapest reasonable reading.

The other thing a fixed price does not fix is the approval outcome. A condition requiring a bigger detention basin, an upgraded crossover or a different stormwater device is a genuine change, and no builder can carry unlimited approval risk at a fixed price.

Questions worth asking, in one list

1. What is your QBCC licence number, which entity will sign the contract, and does the class and financial category cover this work?
2. Which delivery model are you proposing, and where does design risk sit?
3. What does this price exclude, and who carries each exclusion?
4. What assumptions have you made about ground conditions, fire services, stormwater and power?
5. Which comparable project is closest to this one, and can I speak to that owner?
6. Who will run this job, and what else are they running?
7. Which trades do you control directly?
8. Which standard contract, and what has been amended?
9. What does your programme assume about approvals, and what happens if they take longer?
10. What happens to the price if a condition of approval changes the design?

Frequently asked questions

How do I check a builder's licence in Queensland?

Search the QBCC public register by company name or licence number. Confirm the licence is current, the class covers commercial or industrial work of the value involved, and the licensee name matches the entity that will sign your contract.

What is the difference between design and construct and construct only?

Under construct only, you own the design and the design risk, and the builder prices completed documents. Under design and construct, the builder takes both design and construction under one contract, and design risk sits with them. The brief becomes the critical document.

Does a fixed price contract mean the price cannot change?

It fixes the price for the scope described, not the scope itself. Vague scope, changed approval conditions and unforeseen ground conditions are the common reasons a fixed price moves.

What should a builder's price exclude on an industrial project?

Commonly ground conditions beyond an assumed founding depth, rock and contamination, some stormwater requirements, fire services where storage is unknown, electricity network capital contributions and infrastructure charges. Get the exclusions in writing.

How much experience should an industrial builder have?

Ask about the specific difficult elements of your project rather than total floor area built. Sprinklered buildings, fire walls on title boundaries, difficult ground and state-controlled road frontages are each a different capability.

Sources

• Queensland Building and Construction Commission: licence search and licence classes, qbcc.qld.gov.au
• Queensland Building and Construction Commission, minimum financial requirements for licensing
• Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (Qld)

General information only

This article is general information, current as at September 2026. It is not legal or contractual advice. Building contracts should be reviewed by a solicitor experienced in Queensland construction law before signing.

Planning an industrial warehouse?

Talk to Brenscot about your site or your requirements. Call 0480 800 077, email enquiries@brenscot.com.au, or start an enquiry. You can also read how we work.