The seven progress payment stages
Standard SA residential contracts use seven stages: deposit (5%), base/slab (10%), frame (15%), lockup (20%), fixing (20%), practical completion (25%), and handover (5%). Each stage triggers a progress invoice, and your construction loan disburses to the builder against that invoice.
Critical: never pay an invoice for work that isn't fully complete to that stage. If the slab claim arrives but the slab isn't cured, push back. Once paid, it's much harder to enforce remediation.
Variations - the silent budget killer
A variation is any change to the contracted scope. Variations typically come in three flavours: structural changes (you wanted a wider hallway), inclusion upgrades (stone benchtops instead of laminate), and provisional sum reconciliations (the actual cost of items priced provisionally in the contract).
Three rules: (1) every variation must be in writing and signed before work proceeds, (2) ask for the variation cost in writing before approving, (3) keep a running tally - variations of $20,000-$80,000 over the contract value are not unusual on a $650K+ build.
Independent inspections - the best money you'll spend
Frame-stage inspection ($600-$900). Independent building inspector visits at frame stage (before lockup) to check structural compliance, bracing, member sizes, and obvious defects. Catches problems while they're cheap to fix.
Pre-handover inspection ($600-$900). Independent inspector compiles a defect schedule that the builder must rectify before practical completion. Without this, you sign off on defects you don't see.
Both are cheap insurance. The BuildPilot Workspace lists independent inspectors with their qualifications, insurance status and recent reports.
When things go sideways
Common build disputes: contract scope creep, payment timing disputes, defects the builder won't rectify, builder going into liquidation. The BuildPilot Building Disputes hub maps the 8 Australian state authorities (CBS-SA for South Australia) and the formal complaint process in each.
Builder liquidation: if your builder goes into administration, Building Indemnity Insurance under the Building Work Contractors Act 1995 steps in for incomplete work (subject to the SA statutory cover cap) and some defects. Act fast, register your claim within the timeframe specified by the insurer.
BuildPilot opinion
In our reading, the two cheapest pieces of insurance on any Adelaide build are the $600-$900 frame-stage inspection and the $600-$900 pre-handover inspection. We see them catch $20,000-$80,000 worth of remediation that would otherwise be invisible until after handover, when leverage is gone. If you would prefer a real human walking your build with you, that lives in our paid One on One Support tier.
