Sector guide · Construction & building
What buyers pull apart first in a construction sale
Buyers for Queensland construction businesses are trade buyers expanding scope or geography, interstate and national players buying their way into this market, and investors backing a builder.
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What buyers pull apart first in a construction sale
Buyers for Queensland construction businesses are trade buyers expanding scope or geography, interstate and national players buying their way into this market, and investors backing a builder. All of them run the same ruler over a business. Know these numbers cold before they ask.
The due diligence dashboard
| What a buyer asks for | What it has to show |
|---|---|
| The WIP schedule, current and honest | Every live project with contract value, costs to date, costs to complete, claims made and margin position. Nothing in a construction sale gets scrutinised harder, because profit fade on jobs in progress is where buyers get burnt. |
| Contracted forward work and pipeline | Signed contracts, accepted tenders and realistic pipeline, separated honestly. A business sold with contracted months ahead of it is a different proposition from one sold with a tender list and optimism. |
| Margin by project type and estimating win rate | Where the business actually makes money, and how efficiently it wins work. A tracked win rate with margins holding across project types is proof the estimating machine works. |
| The licensing map | Which licences the entity holds, who the nominee is, which staff hold site supervisor or trade licences, and what walks out the door if any one person leaves. Buyers price nominee risk immediately. |
| The financial requirements position | Net tangible assets and liquidity against the licence category, and how the structure of a sale would affect it. Clean headroom here is a quiet but genuine selling point. |
| Retentions and defect liability exposure | A ledger of retentions owed to the business and a quantified picture of defect obligations on completed projects. Unknown tails get priced as worst case. |
| Client and referral mix | Developers, repeat commercial clients, government panels and builder relationships versus single project clients, with concentration across three years. Repeat professional clients are the closest thing this industry has to recurring revenue. |
| The subcontractor base and site leadership | Depth and loyalty of the trade network, terms subbies are engaged on, and the supervisors and project managers who actually deliver the jobs. In a tight trades market, this bench is a real asset. |
Eight things, and a buyer will ask for every one of them. The businesses that hold their price are the ones where all eight already exist before anyone goes looking.
Minimum Financial Requirements categories, maximum revenue and net tangible assets
| Category and maximum revenue | Required net tangible assets |
|---|---|
| SC1, not more than $200,000 | $12,000 |
| SC2, more than $200,000 to $800,000 | $46,000 |
| Category 1, $800,001 to $3,000,000 | $46,001 to $156,000 |
| Category 2, $3,000,001 to $12,000,000 | $156,001 to $480,000 |
| Category 3, $12,000,001 to $30,000,000 | $480,001 to $1,200,000 |
| Category 4, $30,000,001 to $60,000,000 | $1,200,001 to $2,400,000 |
| Category 5, $60,000,001 to $120,000,000 | $2,400,001 to $4,800,000 |
| Category 6, $120,000,001 to $240,000,000 | $4,800,001 to $14,400,000 |
| Category 7, more than $240,000,000 | More than $14,400,000 |
| Current ratio, every category | At least 1 at all times, being $1 in current assets for every $1 in current liabilities |
| Net tangible assets floor for a builder contractor | At least $46,000, whatever the category |
Categories and maximum revenue are set by section 11H of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (Minimum Financial Requirements) Regulation 2018. Net tangible assets are set by section 12 and Schedule 1, the builder floor by section 12(3), and the current ratio by sections 17G and 17H. NTA is total assets less liabilities less intangible assets less disallowed assets, so goodwill earns no credit. Figures current as at August 2026.
Ask what it is worth
Free, in writing, and nobody finds out you asked. Tell me the trade and the suburb and I will do the rest.
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If you would rather not put anything in writing yet, ring 0431 124 128. Prefer to pick a time yourself? Book a time in my diary.
Start with the licence question, then the number
Thirty minutes, on the phone or in person, at a time that suits you including evenings. You will get a straight read on where the business sits today and what would move the number. It costs nothing, there is no obligation, and nobody finds out you asked.