Fast business loans for builders and tradies

Business loans for builders and tradies are short-term loans, secured by property, that cover the weeks between spending money on a job and being paid for it. A builder or trade contractor borrows against a home, an investment property or a commercial premises, uses the funds to keep labour, materials and the tax office paid, and repays when the claim lands or the work is refinanced. We have been lending this way to Australian businesses since 2004.

Why do busy builders and tradies run out of cash?

Busy builders run out of cash because the money goes out daily and comes in on someone else’s timetable. Wages are weekly, suppliers want payment on 30-day accounts or cash on delivery, and the claim for that work might not be paid for weeks.

The law sets outer limits, not quick ones. Under New South Wales security of payment rules, a principal has up to 15 business days after a claim to pay a head contractor, and on commercial work a head contractor has up to 20 business days to pay a subbie. Add a week to prepare and certify the claim and you are funding six to eight weeks of work before the cash arrives. Then there’s retention money held back until practical completion or the end of the defects period, and variations that get argued about.

The numbers back up what every builder already knows. ASIC’s data shows construction made up 24.5% of companies entering external administration for the first time in 2025–26, the highest of any industry, and the RBA’s March 2026 review expects financial stress to stay higher for smaller construction firms. When a head contractor or developer upstream goes under, the subbies below them wear it.

What are business loans for builders and tradies used for?

They fund the problems that stop a site or a crew. The common ones:

• Payroll before the claim clears. Your team needs paying Thursday; the builder pays on the 20th.
• Supplier account on stop. The timber or steel yard won’t release the next order until the overdue balance is cleared.
• ATO debt. Unpaid BAS and super catching up after a big year. Our page on business loans for tax debt covers this in depth.
• A builder upstream fails. You’ve done the work, the claim is stuck with an administrator, and you still have bills.
• Winning a bigger job. A new contract needs extra plant, extra staff and a bank guarantee before the first claim is paid.
• Buying out a partner or buying the yard you’ve been renting.

Fast private money costs more than a bank overdraft, so it earns its place when speed or flexibility saves a contract, a supplier relationship or a licence. For the mechanics of short-term cash cover, see fast working capital loans.

What property can a builder or tradie use as security?

Any residential or commercial property with enough equity can secure the loan, and it does not have to be owned by the business. The usual options:

Utes, excavators and tools are usually already financed, and they lose value quickly, so we don’t rely on them as the main security. Property is what lets us say yes quickly and look past a patchy credit file.

What do we need to see from a builder?

We need enough to understand the security, the purpose and the way out, and not much else. You can skip the two years of tax returns a bank would demand. In many cases no business financials are required at all.

1. Driver’s licence or passport for every borrower and guarantor.
2. A recent rates notice for the security property.
3. The latest statement for any existing mortgage on it.
4. The contract, payment claim or payment schedule that repays us, or a short note on how you’ll refinance.
5. A list of what the money pays: wages, supplier balances, ATO statement.

If you want to check you’re ready before you call, run through our fast business loan readiness checklist. When you’re ready, start a 60-second enquiry and we’ll come back to you quickly.

How does the loan get repaid when the money is tied up in claims?

The loan is repaid from the event that unlocks your cash, and we agree on that event before we lend. For builders and trades it’s usually one of these:

• Progress payment received. The certified claim is paid and the loan clears in full.
• Retention released. Practical completion or the end of the defects period frees the held money.
• Final account settled. Variations agreed, the final claim paid.
• Refinance. Once the books catch up, a bank or another lender takes out the short-term loan.
• Sale. A spec home, a block or surplus plant is sold.

A good exit has a date and a source you can point to. If the claim is disputed or the payer is shaky, we’d want a second exit behind it. Our guide to a business loan exit strategy explains how to set this up so it holds.

Illustrative example: a carpentry subcontractor between claims

Illustrative example: a carpentry company with 14 staff has $380,000 of certified claims outstanding across three commercial jobs, all due within six weeks. One head contractor has paid late twice and the timber supplier has put the account on hold until $90,000 is cleared. Payroll and super for the next fortnight come to $110,000, and there’s a $60,000 BAS due.

The director owns a home worth about $1,400,000 with $650,000 owing to the bank. We approve a $260,000 second mortgage for three months on the day of the call. Documents are signed the next morning and funds land the following day. The supplier is paid, the crew is paid, the BAS is lodged and paid on time. Over the next six weeks the claims come in and the loan is repaid early. The bank mortgage was never touched.

How is lending to tradies different from bank lending?

The difference is what gets assessed first. A bank starts with your last two years of tax returns and your credit score, then looks at the property. We start with the property and the exit, then make sure the story adds up.

That suits construction because trade businesses often look worse on paper than they are: big years followed by slow ones, accounts lodged late, a default from a dispute with a supplier years ago. If the bank has knocked you back or simply hasn’t answered, read business loans when the bank is too slow. If your credit file is the issue, our bad credit business loans page explains how we look at it.

The flip side: we’re short-term. If you need a five-year loan for a new truck fleet, we’ll tell you and point you toward the right kind of lender.

Ready to keep the job moving?

Tell us what you need and what pays it back, and you’ll hear from a real person who understands construction lending, not a call centre. Enquiring doesn’t touch your credit file, and your details stay with us rather than being passed around a panel of lenders. You’ll get a clear answer fast, and if it won’t work we’ll say so straight away.

Fill the form in carefully, with what you honestly think the property is worth and the real amount owing, so the answer you get is the one that holds. Apply now for a builder’s business loan, call 1300 852 150, or browse lending for other industries.

Written by the BizLoansFast lending team · Updated 2026-10-05