# Before you sign: what a lawyer's contract review covers in Queensland
A Queensland contract binds once both sides have signed. What a solicitor reads in a pre-signing review, what has to wait for searches, and how the fee rules work.
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The open home finishes at noon on a Saturday. By two o'clock the selling agent has sent a contract, filled in and ready, with a note that another party is interested. It is the point at which a Queensland buyer has the most room to change the document and the least time to read it.
The Queensland Government's own guidance is blunt about what to do with that room. Its page on the contract of sale tells buyers to take a copy away and discuss it with a solicitor before signing, and warns against signing under pressure. The Queensland Law Society, in its information for the public on buying or selling a home, puts it in six words: "Get advice before you sign anything." This guide treats that advice as a piece of work in its own right: what a lawyer reads before signing, what the review can change, what it cannot find out, and how the fee is regulated.
5 daysbusiness days of statutory cooling-off after signing
0.25%of the price, the most a seller may keep
$1,500legal costs level where fee disclosure starts
Cooling-off figures: Queensland Government, Office of Fair Trading pages on the cooling-off period and the warning statement. Costs threshold: Legal Services Commission regulatory guide, 1 March 2024, excluding disbursements and GST.
## Why the hour before signing carries the weight
In Queensland the signature is the event. The Queensland Government's contract of sale page says the contract only becomes binding when both the buyer and the seller have signed it. From that moment the price, the dates and every condition are fixed, and the same page says the deposit is then payable under the contract's terms, usually within two to three days.
That page makes a second point that explains why a review belongs before the pen rather than after it. A sale may depend on conditions such as finance, a satisfactory building and pest inspection, or the sale of the buyer's existing property. According to the page, those conditions must be written into the contract when it is signed, or they will not be legally binding, and checking that they are there is the buyer's responsibility.
The Queensland Law Handbook, published by Caxton Legal Centre, a community legal centre, describes the same sequence from the lawyer's side. Its advice is that ideally a solicitor reads the contract first, and that the buyer tells the solicitor about any special requirements, anything the seller or agent has represented, and any plan to develop the property or change its use. The solicitor, it adds, may need to insert special conditions to protect the buyer. That is the case for the timing: before signing a condition can be asked for, and after signing it needs the seller's agreement.
## What the cooling-off period does and does not buy
The statutory cooling-off period is a real protection, and it is narrower than a review window.
The Office of Fair Trading's guidance on the Property Occupations Act 2014 regime says the standard residential contract carries a cooling-off period of five business days. It starts on the day the buyer, or a representative, receives a copy of the contract signed by both parties, and if that day is a weekend or public holiday it starts on the next business day. It ends at 5pm on the fifth day. A buyer who cancels in time, by signed written notice delivered to the seller or the agent, gets the deposit back within 14 days, less a termination penalty of up to 0.25 per cent of the purchase price. On an $800,000 purchase, used here only as a worked example, that is at most $2,000.
The same guidance lists when there is no cooling-off at all: a purchase at auction, a private treaty contract entered into within two business days of an unsuccessful auction of that property, and a private treaty contract where the buyer was a registered bidder at that auction. It also says a buyer can choose to waive or shorten the period by written notice.
Three limits follow for a buyer who signs first and seeks advice second. The period allows one thing only, which is to walk away. It gives no right to rewrite a date, add a condition or strike out a special condition; any change after signing needs the seller's consent. Walking away costs money and loses the property. And five business days will not cover every check a purchase involves, as a later section shows.
On the page
The contract itself tells the buyer to get advice first
The Office of Fair Trading says a warning statement must sit on the page the buyer signs, directly above the signature space. It tells the buyer about the cooling-off period and the 0.25% termination penalty, and that the buyer should obtain an independent property valuation and independent legal advice before signing.
## A short, separate piece of work
A conveyance runs from signing to settlement. A contract review happens before any of that exists. Its raw material is a draft contract, the seller's disclosure documents and a conversation with the buyer, and its product is advice: what the document says, what it leaves out, and what could be asked for.
The Office of Fair Trading's page on appointing a solicitor lists the work it suggests buyers ask for, and the first item is to check the sale contract and the disclosure documents. The rest of that list, from title searches to advice on the mortgage contract, mostly belongs to the weeks that follow.
The buyer sends the lawyer everything received from the agent and says what was discussed at the inspection and what matters most. The lawyer reads, proposes changes, and the buyer decides what to put to the seller through the agent. Sometimes the answer is that the contract is in ordinary form and ready to sign. That is still a result: the buyer knows what the form commits them to.
A Saturday contract, handled in order
Receive, do not signTake a copy of the contract and the full disclosure bundle away, as the government's guidance suggests.
Review and instructionsThe lawyer reads the documents, hears what was promised and what the buyer needs, and marks up changes.
Sign the amended versionAgreed changes go into the contract before either side signs. Cooling-off then runs from receipt of the fully signed copy.
## The front pages: names, price and dates
The first pages of the standard residential contract are a schedule of blanks, and a review starts there rather than in the printed terms. On 1 August 2025 the standard document was replaced by a new first edition, the Contract for the Sale and Purchase of Residential Real Estate, which the Queensland Law Society's Proctor reported was released for contracts signed from that date, when the seller disclosure scheme began. The schedule is filled in afresh for every sale, usually by the agent.
A reviewing lawyer reads the schedule against the buyer's actual situation, line by line. The table sets out the usual questions.
What a reviewer asks of the scheduleResidential purchase, before signing
Item
What is checked
Why it matters before signing
Buyer names
Every buyer is named in full, as on their identity documents, and no one is left off.
The contract binds the people named, and later paperwork follows it.
Deposit
Amounts, due dates and who holds the money.
The deposit is payable under the contract's terms once it binds.
Finance
Amount, lender and date, tested against what the lender or broker says is realistic.
The standard form makes time of the essence.
Building and pest
The inspection date, and whether inspectors can be booked inside it.
A condition missing at signing is not part of the contract.
Settlement date
Whether it fits the loan, a lease ending or a sale of the buyer's own home.
Changing it later needs the seller's agreement.
Included and excluded items
Whether what was promised at the inspection is listed.
Spoken promises carry no weight unless written in.
Compiled from the Queensland Government contract of sale page, the Office of Fair Trading's guidance on appointing a solicitor and the Queensland Law Handbook.
The dates deserve the most attention, because the Queensland Law Handbook notes that time is of the essence in the standard form. Failing to comply strictly with a time provision can give the other side a right to terminate, and a buyer who misses a deadline may lose their own right to end the contract. A finance date chosen on a Saturday afternoon to make an offer look strong is something a reviewer will ask the buyer to test with the lender. The right period depends on the lender and the buyer's file, not on the form.
Names are settled at this point too: two partners buying together, a middle name the agent did not write down, a trust or company meant to be the owner. Wording such as a named buyer "or nominee" is raised here as well: a Queensland Revenue Office practice direction on nominee agreements says the later transfer to the real buyer is free of further transfer duty under section 22 of the Duties Act 2001 only where the Commissioner is satisfied of a list of conditions, among them that the person who signed was acting as the principal's agent under a current written authority when signing, and that the principal provided all the consideration, deposit included.
## Special conditions and what the agent has typed
After the schedule and before the printed terms sits the space for special conditions. A seller's agent may add a clause that the property is sold in its present condition, that the seller may stay on after settlement, or that the contract depends on the seller finding another home.
A reviewer reads each special condition for three things: what it does, whose risk it shifts, and whether it is drafted well enough to work. The Proctor article by the Queensland Law Society's Property and Development Law Committee on the seller disclosure forms makes a point that explains the care taken here. The standard contract contains seller warranties, such as those in clause 7.4, and a breach may give the buyer rights or remedies; those warranties and clauses, the committee notes, can be removed or changed by special condition. A single sentence in the special conditions can therefore take away something the printed terms would otherwise give.
Review runs the other way too. This is the moment the buyer's own conditions are written: a due diligence period, early access for a tradesperson's quote, a purchase that depends on the buyer's present home selling. Whether the seller accepts them is a matter of negotiation, and a buyer in a contested sale may decide to ask for less.
## The disclosure bundle that has to arrive first
Since 1 August 2025 a Queensland buyer should receive more than a contract. The Queensland Government's page on the seller disclosure scheme, under the Property Law Act 2023, says the seller must give the completed seller disclosure statement, Form 2, and the prescribed certificates before the buyer signs the contract, in person, by post, or by email or other electronic communication. The obligation sits in section 99 of the Act, and the Property Law Regulation 2024 lists the certificates and the information prescribed for that section. The same government page lists the sales left outside the scheme, among them sales between related parties and sales above $10 million where the buyer waives disclosure.
The firm Allens, in a summary dated 22 July 2025, describes what the bundle holds. The statement covers the seller and the property, unregistered encumbrances, zoning, environmental matters, tree disputes, transport infrastructure proposals, heritage listings, resumption notices and rates and charges. The certificates include a title search, a plan of survey, pool compliance documents, certain notices under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 and the Building Act 1975 and, for a unit, a body corporate certificate, a list that matches section 5 of the Regulation.
For a pre-signing review this changed the job. A lawyer now has a title search and a survey plan on the desk before the buyer is bound, and reads the contract against them: whether the registered owner is the seller named, whether an easement or a covenant shown on title has been explained, whether the zoning fits what the buyer intends. The first check, though, is simply whether the bundle is complete and was properly given. The Proctor article notes that the documents may come separately, by different means and as links, and need not arrive in one message, so a buyer may hold part of the set without knowing it.
The consequences are large. The government page says the buyer may terminate at any time up to settlement if the seller gives no disclosure documents, or gives inaccurate or incomplete information, even unintentionally. In the second case the buyer must show that the matter was material, that they were unaware of it when signing, and that they would not have signed had they known the truth. Allens adds that a buyer who terminates recovers the amounts paid. The Regulation, for section 104 of the Act, says the prescribed information on rates and water services is not a material matter.
The Queensland Law Society's president, Peter Jolly, marked the scheme's first year on 31 July 2026 with a short verdict: "Certainty matters in the property market." The statement is a set of answers from the seller on listed subjects. The government page says it does not cover the structural soundness of the building, flooding history or previous building and development approvals, which is why the inspection condition still sits in the schedule.
## Units, tenants and pools
Three kinds of property add reading.
For a lot in a community titles scheme, the Property Law Regulation 2024 prescribes a copy of the most recent community management statement and a body corporate certificate. A reviewer reads them against the buyer's plans, such as a pet or a renovation.
Where the property is tenanted, the contract carries a Residential Tenancy Schedule, which Proctor reported was added to the residential contract when the Word version was released. The reviewer compares it with what the buyer wants: an investor expects the lease to continue, while an owner-occupier needs to know when, and whether, the home will be empty. If the buyer needs vacant possession, the contract has to say so.
For a property with a pool, the Regulation prescribes either a pool compliance certificate or a notice under the Building Act 1975 that no pool safety certificate is in effect. The Proctor article says that if the required pool document is not given before the buyer signs, the buyer may terminate under section 104 of the Property Law Act 2023, with no materiality test. The reviewer notes which of the two documents arrived.
## The tax and status questions
A few clauses apply to only some buyers, and a review is the moment to find out which.
The Queensland Law Society's public page on buying or selling a home flags the foreign resident capital gains withholding tax and recommends legal and tax advice on it. The Australian Taxation Office says Australians selling property need a clearance certificate to avoid having an amount withheld from the sale price. A reviewer checks how the contract deals with that certificate.
On goods and services tax, the ATO's guidance, last updated on 4 June 2025, says most purchasers of new residential premises or potential residential land must withhold an amount at settlement and pay it to the ATO, and that the supplier must notify the purchaser in writing, in the contract or separately, whether or not withholding applies. Where the purchaser has no obligation, the ATO says, the notice must state clearly that no withholding is required. For a new townhouse or a block in a subdivision the amount matters, and so does whether the price is stated as including GST.
A buyer who is not an Australian citizen or permanent resident has a further question. The Queensland Revenue Office describes additional foreign acquirer duty as an extra 8 per cent charged when a foreign person acquires residential land in Queensland. Whether a particular buyer is a foreign person under that regime is a matter of individual status, best settled before the contract is signed.
## What cannot be checked in an hour
A review reads documents. It does not investigate the property.
Before signing and after: where each check sits
Question
At the review
After signing
What the contract commits the buyer to
Yes
Fixed unless the seller agrees to vary
Conditions and special conditions
Drafted or amended
Relied on, by their dates
Seller disclosure documents
Read and checked for completeness
Tested against search results
Council, utility and other authority records
Not available yet
Searched during the conveyance
Condition of the building
Not a legal question
Inspection under the contract's condition
The lawyer relies on what the seller has disclosed and on what the buyer reports. If the disclosure statement is wrong, the review will not detect it unless the documents contradict each other. Searches of council and other authority records come later, during the conveyance. This is why conditions matter: they are the buyer's lawful way out if a later check turns up something serious.
The review also does not price the property. The statutory warning statement treats valuation and legal advice as two separate things for that reason.
## What a review costs, and the fee rules behind it
No Queensland Government or Queensland Law Society source read for this guide publishes a price for a contract review, and none is given here. The Office of Fair Trading's advice is to ask for a detailed quote before appointing a solicitor, and it notes that some conveyancing solicitors charge a set price.
The Legal Profession Act 2007 regulates how lawyers tell clients about fees, and its thresholds bear on a small job like this one. The Legal Services Commission's regulatory guide of 1 March 2024 says costs disclosure is not required where total legal costs, excluding disbursements and GST, are not likely to exceed $1,500. Between $1,500 and $3,000 the practice must give at least an abbreviated disclosure, which may be oral but must then be confirmed in writing, covering the services, how costs are calculated, an estimate of the total and of disbursements, and the client's rights. Above $3,000 a detailed written disclosure is required. The Queensland Law Society's costs disclosure checklist says disclosure must be made before, or as soon as practicable after, the practice is retained.
Where a stand-alone review is quoted under the first threshold, the disclosure duty may not be triggered at all. A buyer can still ask in writing for the fee and what it covers before sending the documents. If the review leads into the full purchase, the Commission's guide says disclosure must be made as soon as practicable once costs are likely to pass $1,500. It adds that a client may request an itemised bill even under a fixed fee agreement.
> An hour with the documents before signing can change the contract. Five days after signing can only end it.
## Where to look for help, and what free services do not do
Free legal services do not generally read property contracts. Legal Aid Queensland's page on real estate, last updated on 21 November 2022, states plainly that it does not give legal advice on real estate matters. It points to the Queensland Law Society, which can refer people to a private lawyer.
Published material from a community legal centre can still be useful preparation. The Queensland Law Handbook, produced by Caxton Legal Centre with volunteers who have legal experience, has chapters on buying a home and on the standard contract; its own disclaimer says parts state the law as at an earlier date, so on seller disclosure it should be read alongside current government pages.
The Queensland Law Society's public pages say that most home buying or selling matters call for a conveyancing lawyer, and that complex matters may suit a property law accredited specialist, marked by a symbol in its directory. The Office of Fair Trading adds two checks of its own: choose a solicitor who is not connected to any other party in the sale, such as the seller, and remember that complaints about a solicitor go to the Legal Services Commission.
A buyer who has chosen a lawyer before starting to inspect can send the documents the moment they arrive. The Office of Fair Trading files its page on appointing a solicitor under the steps to take before looking at homes.