SPASA publishes a suite of standard-form pool-building contracts intended to support members in managing building projects and to guide the relationship with Clients. When a project goes smoothly, the contract should be easy to manage. But when a project doesn’t go according to plan, the contract exists to guide everyone in resolving a dispute.
Contracts are covered by state and territory laws in Australia. In New Zealand, there are fewer controls in place. SPASA works to track changes made by governments and ensure that standard contracts align with these laws.
SPASA contracts are available exclusively to members.
Your contract is the document that outlines the work you will do for your client when you’re building, installing or renovating a pool or spa. The contract is there to clearly outline who the Builder and Client are, what is included and excluded from the project, and to cover the many complex situations that can arise in any pool-building project.
Your contract should help to establish clear expectations, prevent misunderstandings and provide legal protection when things go wrong. The contract provides both you and your Client with clear guardrails for managing any disputes that may arise.
A contract needs to be up to date, which involves regular review to ensure it meets all current government requirements and accounts for any recent case law.
SPASA keeps track of all the relevant changes that affect a building contract. Each State has different legislation and regulations which govern domestic building contracts and outline statutory inclusions or exclusions (like a buyer guide or checklist). Additionally, there is national legislation that addresses unfair contract terms. Finally, while local government has no authority to direct building contracts, individual councils' requirements can sometimes influence what should be included in a standard template contract.
So far in 2026, SPASA has completed a full review of the Western Australian and Queensland Standard contracts, and has recently updated the Victorian SPASA Standard contract to reflect the 1 July changes. These reviews address updates to state laws that necessitated changes to the contract wording and layout, or to the attachments required with any domestic building contract.
Members should always be using the latest edition of the Contract. The SPASA Standard Contracts should be dated 2024 or later. While the Master Pool Builder contracts should be dated 2025 or later.
Members can access and manage their contracts digitally through the SPASA Member Portal: CLICK HERE
Each version of the Contract is also available in hard copy.
If your contract doesn’t look like any of the above, or it has a date on it that pre-dates 2024, then it’s vitally important you book in a time to go through training with the SPASA team and update your contracts to the most current version.
For instance, if your contract looks like this (often with a 2017, 2018, or 2020 date),
then it is several years out of date and it is crucial you update your documents and move to a newer contract. You can book a time here: https://calendly.com/spasa-systems
Members may choose to have a bespoke contract drawn up by your own lawyer. If you are using your own contract, you should ensure it is regularly checked by your lawyer to remain up to date with government changes.
SPASA does not recommend members use AI to prepare a building contract. Each state has unique requirements that must be included in a contract. If these requirements are not met, you will be exposed to legal risks both during and after a building project.
A note on AI: there is already a growing body of case law where businesses have been caught significantly out of pocket because they cut corners and tried to get an LLM to create a contract for them. The resulting documents range from those simply poorly suited to the purpose, which will not provide adequate protection, to documents full of slop, hallucinations, and fabricated references, which will expose you and your business to significant loss. This approach poses a serious risk to you and your business and should be avoided.
The most important thing here is that using an outdated contract template carries significant risks to you and your business.
These risks can range from voided terms (terms which no longer apply, or may be deemed void in a dispute), to compliance penalties (monetary fines can apply if there are penalties attached for not complying with legislative or regulatory requirements), unforeseen financial liabilities which may flow-on from an unfavourable dispute ruling (particularly relevant if part of your contract, or its terms, are deemed unenforceable or void), and even taking on far more risk or obligation than you would otherwise have under the law.
Aside from the risks you’re exposed to, you also miss out on the updated protections and benefits which newer ‘best practice’ terms afford you, as they protect you and your business in ways that older contracts hadn’t considered.
Members can access the latest versions of the SPASA standard contract template through the Member portal. By logging in to the Member Portal, you can upgrade to the latest contracts.
To start using SPASA’s online contract suite, please book a time with the team to go through how to use the member portal: https://calendly.com/spasa-systems
If you have questions about how to use the SPASA contracts, their content, or your own contracts, please contact [email protected].