Contract of sale in Western Australia: the offer and acceptance, no cooling-off period, and what the seller must still get right

Western Australia is the outlier. A house or block of land is sold on a one-page offer and acceptance with a standard set of general conditions attached, the seller gives the buyer no statutory disclosure document, and once the seller signs and acceptance is communicated to the buyer there is no cooling-off period. A Victorian or Queensland buyer used to a statutory pause is often startled by how quickly a WA contract becomes unconditional, and a WA seller is often startled by how much of the buyer's protection has been moved into the contract's conditions and the seller's own warranties.

This guide sets out how the contract actually works: the offer and acceptance, the 2022 Joint Form of General Conditions, the conditions and special conditions that do the buyer's protecting, the seller's warranties, and the deposit and settlement rules. Then it covers the two statutory obligations that do exist, the Strata Titles Act 1985 disclosure for a unit and the RCD and smoke-alarm requirements before title transfers, followed by costs and the mistakes to avoid. Figures are as at September 2026 and the sources are listed at the end.

How a WA sale becomes binding

Almost every Western Australian home is sold on the Contract for Sale of Land or Strata Title by Offer and Acceptance, published by the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia, with the Joint Form of General Conditions for the Sale of Land attached. The General Conditions are published jointly by REIWA and the Law Society of Western Australia; the current edition was released on 23 June 2022 and replaced the 2018 edition, chiefly to reflect the rewritten Strata Titles Act and the new Community Titles Act. The agent fills in the offer and acceptance; the General Conditions are printed and are changed only by special condition.

The buyer signs the offer and acceptance as a written offer, with the price, deposit, settlement date, any finance condition and any special conditions. The seller can accept, reject or counter-offer; every change is initialled and dated, and the document is not a contract until both sides agree on all of its terms. Once the seller signs and acceptance is communicated to the buyer, it is a binding contract. Consumer Protection WA puts it plainly: "There is no mandatory 'cooling off' period for real estate contracts made in Western Australia." A cooling-off period exists only if the parties write one in as a special condition, and almost nobody does.

The one statutory brake on the seller's side is the agents' code. Regulation 24 of the Real Estate and Business Agents and Sales Representatives Code of Conduct 2016 requires the agent, before a client signs any sale contract, to make all reasonable efforts to ascertain or verify "all facts material to the transaction" that a prudent agent would, and to "promptly communicate a material fact to any person who may be affected by the material fact and appears to be unaware of it". That duty, and the Australian Consumer Law's prohibition on misleading conduct, is the closest WA comes to a general disclosure regime for a house.

The conditions that do the buyer's protecting

Because there is no cooling-off period and no vendor statement, the buyer's protection sits in the conditions written into the offer. Three matter in nearly every sale.

• Finance. The buyer ticks "Finance Clause Is Applicable" on the first page and names the amount, the lender or mortgage-broker" class="glossary-link" data-glossary-slug="mortgage-broker">mortgage broker (the 2022 form allows either) and the finance date. The buyer must use best endeavours, apply to at least one lender, prove the application was made if asked in writing, and notify the seller immediately of approval or rejection. If finance is not approved by the finance date the contract can be terminated; if the buyer names a particular lender and that lender declines, the buyer is no longer bound. A conditional approval, for instance one subject to a valuation or the sale of another property, is not approval.
• Building and timber pest inspections. These are not in the standard form; they are added as special conditions or annexures, and Consumer Protection recommends reports to Australian Standards 4349.1 (building) and 4349.3 (timber pests), with the condition stating who orders the report, by when, what "satisfactory" means and what happens if it is not.
• Subject to sale. Where the buyer must sell first, the seller usually insists on a 48-hour clause: if the seller receives another unconditional offer, the first buyer has 48 hours to go unconditional or the contract is cancelled.

Consumer Protection's rule for any special condition is worth quoting: it should specify "what action has to be done, by when, who is responsible for the action being done, who is responsible for payment of the action being done and what are the consequences". Vague conditions cause most WA contract disputes.

What the seller warrants under the General Conditions

Clause 9 of the 2022 General Conditions is where the seller carries the disclosure burden other states put in a statutory form. Except to the extent disclosed in writing before the contract date, the seller represents and warrants on the contract date, and again on the possession date, that the seller does not know of:

• any current or proposed demand, order, requisition or requirement from an authority relating to the property;
• any proposal to realign, widen or alter the level of an adjoining road that would materially affect the land;
• any obligation to pay an authority for work performed or expenses incurred in relation to the land;
• any sewer, drain, pipe or cable passing through the land to serve other land (strata lots excepted);
• any obligation to build, repair or contribute to a dividing fence; or
• any encroachment onto the land from a neighbouring structure.

The seller also warrants that no building on the land encroaches on a neighbour, that as far as the seller is aware the fences are on the boundary, that the chattels are the seller's to sell, that the property will be in the same condition as immediately before the contract date, that no one has adverse possession or a right of way by use, and, on the contract date, that no resumption notice has been received and that the use of the property is lawful. Clause 9.3 deals with a breach. The practical point is the opening words: "except to the extent disclosed in writing". A seller who knows of a council notice or a shared sewer and tells the buyer in writing before the contract is protected; one who stays quiet has given a warranty they know to be wrong.

Deposit, risk, possession and settlement

Deposit. No deposit is legally required; it is negotiated, seldom more than 10% and often much less, and is usually paid within seven days of acceptance. In an agent sale the seller's agent holds it in a trust account as stakeholder and cannot release it without both parties' consent, a notice under the General Conditions or a court order. If the buyer does not pay on time, the seller can give written notice requiring payment within 48 hours, failing which the contract is terminated. For deposits over $20,000, or where settlement is more than 60 days away, the buyer can ask in writing for the money to be placed in an interest-bearing account.

Risk. Clause 8.1 reverses the Queensland position: "risk relating to the Property passes from the Seller to the Buyer at the time when the Purchase Price is paid in full, or Settlement occurs, or the Buyer is given possession of the Property, whichever first occurs". The seller keeps the property insured until settlement. If the property is damaged or destroyed before then, clauses 8.2 to 8.9 give the buyer the right to terminate and recover the deposit with interest, or to proceed at a reduced price. Buyers acquire an insurable interest when the contract is signed and Consumer Protection recommends they insure from that day too, but the loss before settlement is the seller's.

Possession. The buyer is entitled to possession on the settlement date, or the earlier possession date if the contract names one, with vacant possession unless the property is sold subject to a lease. A seller who occupies the property as their principal residence may stay until 12 noon on the day after settlement (clause 6.3) and is liable for any damage in that window. The buyer may inspect once in the five business days before possession to check the seller's obligations have been met (clause 5.1).

Late settlement. If settlement is not completed within three business days after the settlement date, the party at fault pays interest on the balance of the price at the Prescribed Rate of 9% a year, calculated daily, from the settlement date until settlement occurs (clause 4). Settlement is conducted by a licensed settlement agent or a lawyer; each side chooses its own, and the buyer must lodge the original offer and acceptance with RevenueWA for transfer duty within the time allowed or face a penalty.

Selling a strata lot: the disclosure that does exist

For a unit, villa or townhouse in a strata titles scheme, Part 10 of the Strata Titles Act 1985 imposes a disclosure regime very like the eastern states'. Section 156 says that before the buyer signs, the seller must give the buyer:

• the seller's name and address;
• the scheme notice, scheme plan, scheme by-laws and schedule of unit entitlements, plus any by-laws made but not yet registered, the strata lease for a leasehold scheme, and the strata company's name and address for service;
• the minutes of the most recent annual general meeting and any later extraordinary general meetings, or a statement that no minutes are kept or why they could not be obtained;
• the last statement of accounts, or the same kind of statement if none exists;
• any notice of a current termination proposal for the scheme;
• for the lot itself: its location and definition on the scheme plan, its unit entitlement and the total for the scheme, the contributions determined in the past 12 months with their due dates or a reasonable estimate for the 12 months after settlement, any debt owed to the strata company and how it arose, and the exclusive-use by-laws for a special lot.

A developer selling before the first annual general meeting, or while holding half the lots, must add a 12-month budget, its section 79 disclosures, and details of any service contracts, leases or exclusive-use rights it has arranged over common property. The information is given either on Landgate's approved Precontractual disclosure statement to the buyer or by including it in the contract in the manner the regulations set out, and section 156(6) puts the onus of proving it was given on the seller.

The duty continues after signing. Under section 157 the seller must notify the buyer in writing of any notifiable variation, within 10 working days of becoming aware of it, or as soon as practicable if settlement is less than 15 working days away. Type 1 variations are the serious ones: the lot's area or unit entitlement changing by 5% or more, or a termination proposal being served. Type 2 covers changes to the schedule of unit entitlements or the by-laws, new or varied service contracts, and leases or licences over common property.

The buyer's remedies are graduated. If the seller has not complied, the buyer may postpone settlement by up to 15 working days after the seller finally complies (section 158). The buyer may avoid the contract at any time before settlement if the section 156 information was not given and the missing information would disclose material prejudice, which the buyer must prove; once the seller serves a substantially compliant notice the buyer has 15 working days to decide (section 159). A type 1 variation the seller failed to notify lets the buyer avoid without proving prejudice (section 161); a notified variation, or an unnotified type 2 variation, requires material prejudice, again within 15 working days (sections 160 and 162). For an off-the-plan lot, section 163 requires the deposit to be held on trust by a lawyer, real estate agent or settlement agent and lets the buyer walk away if the scheme is not registered within the agreed period or six months.

Community titles schemes under the Community Titles Act 2018 carry an equivalent regime. The current version of the Strata Titles Act took effect on 26 June 2025; the disclosure sections are unchanged from the 2020 rewrite.

Before title transfers: RCDs, smoke alarms and pool barriers

Two obligations bite on every WA seller at settlement, house or unit, and buyers' settlement agents check both.

• Residual current devices. Regulations 13 and 14 of the Electricity Regulations 1947 require the owner of residential premises to ensure RCDs are "properly installed" before title to the premises is transferred. Regulation 12A defines that: at least two RCDs where there is more than one final subcircuit, lighting circuits split between them, each rated at 30 milliamps and compliant with AS/NZS 3190, each protecting no more than three subcircuits, installed at the switchboard. The penalty is a fine of up to $15,000 for an individual and $100,000 for a body corporate. If the seller does not comply, regulation 15A makes the new owner do it within two months of transfer, six months if they gave a notice of intended demolition, and lets them recover the reasonable cost from the seller as a debt.
• Smoke alarms. Regulation 56 of the Building Regulations 2012 requires an owner transferring a dwelling to ensure, so far as practicable, that at the time of transfer it has smoke alarms meeting regulation 60(2): compliant with the Building Code as at installation, not past their expiry date or ten years old, in working order, and permanently connected to mains power where the Code required it, with a ten-year non-removable battery allowed only where there is no space to run wiring or the local government has approved a battery alarm. The penalty is a fine of up to $5,000, and regulation 57 gives the new owner twelve months to fix it, six with a demolition declaration, and a right to recover the cost from the seller.
• Pool and spa barriers. Consumer Protection states that it is the seller's responsibility to ensure barriers have been installed and maintained in accordance with the Building Regulations before the sale. There is no certificate to attach as in NSW or Queensland; the exposure is under the seller's clause 9 warranty that no authority requirement is outstanding.

The General Conditions also allocate two WA-specific costs by the contract date: underground power connection charges fall on the seller only if Western Power had formally set them out before the contract date, and a property on a septic tank where sewer is available must be connected within 12 months, at the seller's cost if the Water Corporation had connected it before the contract date and otherwise at the buyer's.

What it costs

With no statutory statement to compile, the seller's document costs are the lowest in the country: a title search and, for a strata lot, the strata company's certificate and records usually run to $100 to $400, and the seller's settlement agent or lawyer through to settlement to $800 to $2,500 in professional fees plus disbursements. Those are the ranges in our cost-of-selling tables; Consumer Protection publishes a maximum scale for settlement agents' fees, and the conveyancing guide covers choosing between a settlement agent and a solicitor. Budget separately for an electrician if the switchboard or alarms need work, which on an older house is the single most common pre-settlement cost.

The mistakes that catch sellers out

• Treating "no cooling-off" as "no way out". The buyer's exits are the finance date, the inspection condition and the 48-hour clause. A contract is only as firm as its conditions; read the finance date before you celebrate.
• Staying quiet about what you know. The clause 9 warranties are given "except to the extent disclosed in writing". A shared sewer, a council letter about the patio, a fencing dispute: disclose it before the contract date and it is the buyer's problem; omit it and it is yours.
• Leaving the RCDs and alarms to the last week. Settlement agents ask for evidence. Book the electrician when you list, not when the buyer's agent asks.
• Selling a strata lot without the pack. Minutes, accounts, by-laws and the contributions notice must be in the buyer's hands before they sign, and the onus of proving it is yours. Email it and keep the acknowledgement.
• Missing a notifiable variation. A special levy struck or a by-law changed between contract and settlement must be notified within 10 working days. Ask your strata manager to copy you on every notice until settlement.
• Letting the property go uninsured. Risk stays with you until settlement or possession. Keep the policy running until the settlement agent confirms completion.
• A vague special condition. "Subject to a satisfactory building inspection" with no date, no standard and no consequence is an invitation to argue. Use Consumer Protection's five questions.

If you are the buyer: five things to do before you sign

1. Order a Landgate Property Interest Report and a title search. With no vendor statement, encumbrances, easements and notifications are yours to find.
2. Write the conditions properly. Finance with a realistic date, building and timber pest inspections to the Australian Standards, and anything else you need, each with a date and a consequence.
3. Check sewer and power. Call the Water Corporation and Western Power about connection status; the General Conditions allocate the cost by what had happened on the contract date.
4. For a strata lot, read the section 156 pack. Contributions, debts, the minutes for disputes and planned works, the accounts, and any termination proposal. Do not sign until you have it.
5. Insure from signing even though risk stays with the seller, and diarise the settlement date: after three business days' delay, interest runs at 9%.

Our building and pest inspection guide and due diligence checklist cover what to order, and the WA stamp duty guide covers the transfer duty you will lodge the contract for.

Where this fits in the sale

In Western Australia the contract is the whole of the paperwork, so its conditions and warranties carry the weight a statutory statement carries elsewhere. Our guide to how to sell a house in Australia covers the campaign end to end, auction versus private treaty covers which method suits your market, and the WA commission guide covers what an agent will charge. How WA's absence of a cooling-off period compares with the other states is in the cooling-off period by state guide. If you want an agent who sells in your suburb to give you a figure first, request a free appraisal. Selling interstate? See the equivalent guides for the NSW contract of sale, the Queensland contract of sale, the South Australian Form 1 and the Victorian Section 32.

Sources

• REIWA and the Law Society of Western Australia, Joint Form of General Conditions for the Sale of Land, 2022 edition (clauses 1, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9 and the definition of Prescribed Rate), released 23 June 2022: REIWA announcement. Clause 8.1 is quoted; other clauses are paraphrased.
• Consumer Protection WA, Sale by offer and acceptance and Real estate contracts: sale by offer and acceptance (no mandatory cooling-off period, deposits, finance clause, special conditions, pool barriers, settlement agents).
• Strata Titles Act 1985 (WA), Part 10 Division 2, sections 156 to 163, version 08-a0-00 current from 26 June 2025: legislation.wa.gov.au; Landgate, resources for strata sellers (type 1 and type 2 notifiable variations, approved form).
• Electricity Regulations 1947 (WA), regulations 12A, 13, 14 and 15A: legislation.wa.gov.au.
• Building Regulations 2012 (WA), regulations 56, 57 and 60: legislation.wa.gov.au.
• Real Estate and Business Agents and Sales Representatives Code of Conduct 2016 (WA), regulation 24: legislation.wa.gov.au. Quotations are from regulation 24(1) and (2).
• Preparation and settlement costs: the Western Australian lines of our cost-of-selling data, sourced to Consumer Protection WA; ranges are typical fees, not quotes.