You build it. We put it in the ground
You sell homes into South East Queensland. Somebody licensed has to put them on the block. We're a QBCC-licensed builder, licence 15506005, and the authorised installer for Outhaus. Footings, crane day, connections and sign-off, with photos to you and your buyer at every step.
What we do for a maker
Everything between your factory gate and a home your buyer can move into. Your home, your brand, your buyer. We do the site.
- Site checkAccess, truck route, crane position, powerlines, trees, slope, sewer and overlays, before anything is booked. If the block won't take your home, you hear it first.
- Footings to the engineer's designSet out by survey to your support points. Bored piers, screw piles or stumps, inspected and cured before the lift.
- Crane and transportWe book the crane, line up traffic control and meet your truck. Your transporter brings it, or we organise one.
- Set-down, joining, weatherproofingLevelled and tied down to the footings. Multi-module homes joined, flashed and sealed.
- Connections by licensed tradesWater, sewer, stormwater and power, by licensed plumbers and electricians. Decks, stairs and balustrades if they're in the job.
- Final inspectionWe run the inspections and get the paperwork to the certifier, so the home is signed off and your buyer can move in.
- Photo reportsTo you and your buyer, at footings, on arrival, on set-down and at handover. Nobody has to ring anyone to find out where it's up to.
Real crane days, not a brochure
How we work with a maker
In Queensland, building work over $3,300 needs a QBCC-licensed contractor. A factory can make the home. Someone licensed, or an owner builder, has to put it on the block. There are three ways that works.
We sign as the builder
Your buyer contracts us for the site work under our QBCC licence. We hold the home warranty cover on the job.
Know this: once a licensed builder installs a factory-built home, QBCC charges the premium on the factory build, transport and install together. So we're insuring your home as well as our work, and that's priced in. Certification and approvals run about $35,000 this way.
Owner builder, we're the contractor
Your buyer takes out a QBCC owner builder permit and engages us for the install. No home warranty premium, and certification and approvals run about $25,000.
The trade-off is the buyer's: no home warranty cover, no statutory contract protections, a notice on the title and a warning to any buyer for six years. Your warranty on the home stands under your own contract.
You hold the licence, we subcontract
If you hold a QBCC licence and sell the home installed, you sign the whole job and pay the one premium. We do the site work as your subcontractor, under your program, and no second premium is charged.
Send your buyers to our guides on home warranty insurance and owner builder or licensed builder for modular. They explain it better than a sales call does.
Factory to site, handover by handover
- Before the build. We agree in writing where your scope stops and ours starts: usually the home on the truck at the site gate.
- While it's in your factory. We check your support points against the engineer's footing design and set out the piers to match.
- On arrival. We photograph every module on the truck before it's lifted. Transport damage and factory items go back to you, with the photos, the same day.
- On set-down. Level, tied down, joined and sealed. We send you and your buyer the set-down report.
- At handover. One defects list, split in two: factory items to you, site items to us. Your buyer knows who to call for what.
Pricing, and who it goes to
To your buyer. If you sell the home only, we price the site work straight to your buyer, in writing, every line shown. You stay the home, we stay the site.
To you. If you hold a QBCC licence and sell the home installed, we price the site work to you as your subcontractor, and you put it in your price.
Either way, we never quote, discount or mark up your home. The block decides what an install costs, not the home. Most land between $70,000 and $140,000, inc GST, on top of the home.
| Bucket | Typical range, inc GST |
|---|---|
| Certification and approvals | About $25,000 owner builder, about $35,000 licensed |
| Footings | $800 to $1,200 per pier |
| Delivery and crane | $8,000 to $38,000 |
| Plumbing | About $16,000 ($32,000 with on-site wastewater) |
| Electrical | $5,000 to $9,000 |
Outside those ranges, because the map decides them: bushfire and flood reports, a development application, survey, retaining on a slope and building over a sewer. Full breakdown on the cost guide.
Lead times
- Send us the job when your buyer signs, not when the home leaves the factory.
- Site check and a written site price come first, before your buyer is committed to a delivery date.
- Footings go in while the home is in your factory, inspected and cured before it lands.
- Crane day is usually three to six hours, truck in to module down.
- Most installs take about six weeks on site once approval is in.
What we need from you
- Drawings. Floor plan, elevations and sections for the model, and any site-specific changes.
- Engineering. The structural certification for the home and the support points or footing design it sits on.
- Transport dimensions and weights. Length, width and height on the trailer, and the weight of each module.
- Lifting points. Where it's picked up, the spreader or lifting frame it needs, and anything the crane crew must not touch.
- The connection schedule. Where water, sewer, stormwater and power come out of the home, at what sizes, and what's done in the factory.
Send them once per model. After that, each new job is the site and the date.
Why us
- Authorised Outhaus installer. We install Outhaus homes across South East Queensland, and we install other makers' homes on request.
- We know the factory side. We've worked the Outhaus yard at Laceys Creek, so we know what a module goes through before it reaches a truck.
- Real crane days. The photos on this page are ours, not stock.
- Email first. Everything in writing, to howdy@bigsmall.au. Your buyer gets the same record you do.
- Licensed. Big Small Haus Pty Ltd, QBCC licence 15506005. Check it on the register before you send us anyone.
Tell us about your homes
Two minutes. We reply by email with what we'd need from you and how we'd work together.
Maker questions
Do you install homes from makers other than Outhaus?
Yes. We're the authorised installer for Outhaus, and we install other makers' modular, transportable and kit homes across South East Queensland, job by job, on request. Send us the drawings and the delivery date and we'll tell you what the site needs.
Who holds the home warranty insurance on an install?
Whoever signs the building contract with the owner as the licensed contractor. If we sign, we pay the QBCC premium, and once a licensed builder installs a factory-built home QBCC charges it on the factory build, transport and install together. If you hold a QBCC licence and sign the whole job, the premium is yours and we work as your subcontractor, with no second premium. If the owner takes out an owner builder permit, there's no home warranty cover on the job at all.
Can you install as the owner builder's contractor?
Yes. On a modular install that often suits the buyer, because nobody has to price in the cost of insuring a home they didn't make. The owner needs a QBCC owner builder permit for work over $11,000 before anything starts on site, and gives up home warranty cover. Our owner builder guide sets out the trade-off for them.
Do you price to us or to our buyer?
Either. If you hold a QBCC licence and sell the home installed, we price the site work to you as your subcontractor. If you sell the home only, the site work has to be contracted by a licensed builder or the owner as owner builder, so we price it to your buyer, in writing, line by line. We never quote or mark up your home.
What do you need from us before crane day?
The architectural drawings, the engineering for the home and the footings or support points, transport dimensions and weights for each module, the lifting points and lifting method, and the connection schedule for water, sewer, stormwater and power. With those we can set out footings and book the crane.
How much notice do you need?
Send us the job when your buyer signs, not when the home leaves the factory. Footings go in while the home is in your factory, so the piers are inspected and cured before it lands. Crane day itself is usually three to six hours, and most installs take about six weeks on site once approval is in.
What does an install cost your buyer?
Most installs cost $70,000 to $140,000, inc GST, on top of the home. Certification and approvals run about $25,000 as an owner builder or about $35,000 with a licensed builder, footings $800 to $1,200 a pier, delivery and crane $8,000 to $38,000, plumbing about $16,000 ($32,000 with on-site wastewater) and electrical $5,000 to $9,000.
What happens if a module arrives damaged?
We photograph every module on the truck before it's lifted and send the photos to you the same day. Transport damage and factory items go back to you under your contract with the buyer. Work on the block is ours. The photo record settles who fixes what.
Where do you install?
Across South East Queensland: Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Logan, Ipswich, Redland, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast. Further out, ask us.
Sources
- QBCC: When you need a licence
- QBCC: A-Z guide of insurable building work
- QBCC: Who pays home warranty and when
- QBCC: About owner-building
- Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (s 44B, s 67WB, schedule 1B)
- Install cost ranges: Big Small Haus pricing across South East Queensland installs, October 2026.