Industry guide
Business finance for civil contractors
Civil work runs on yellow goods and long payment terms. Roads, subdivisions and utility works need machines on the ground weeks before the first claim is certified.
Civil contractor finance is asset-heavy lending for earthmoving fleets, float trailers and support vehicles, combined with working capital that carries wages and fuel across long government and tier-one payment cycles.
Civil contractors sit further from the end client than most trades. Work usually comes through a tier-one head contractor or a council, and payment schedules under security of payment legislation still leave 30 to 45 days between claiming and banking. Fuel, plant hire, float costs and operator wages all run weekly. A contractor mobilising to a new subdivision may spend six figures on establishment before a dollar arrives, which is why so much civil finance is about mobilisation rather than growth.
Machines are the balance sheet. A 20-tonne excavator, a padfoot roller, a water cart and a float to move them between sites represent most of the capital in a typical civil business. Lenders understand this asset class well: resale markets for yellow goods are deep, auction data is available, and the security is tangible. That makes equipment finance comparatively accessible even for contractors whose accounts look lumpy, and it is why refinancing owned plant to release cash is a common move ahead of a big mobilisation.
The cash-flow pattern we plan around
Monthly progress claims to head contractors or councils, paid 30–45 days later, with heavy mobilisation costs incurred up front on every new site.
What civil contractors typically fund
- Excavators, rollers, graders and dozers
- Low loaders and plant trailers to move machines
- Site establishment and mobilisation costs
- Fuel and operator wages between claims
Documents lenders usually ask civil contractors for
- ABN, GST registration and contractor prequalification details
- 12 months of bank statements and latest financials
- Machine quote, serial number and hours reading
Finance options for civil contractors
Equipment loan for civil contractors
Yellow goods are the easiest assets in Australia to finance, because auction and dealer data gives lenders a clear view of what a machine is worth at any hour reading. A civil contractor buying a used 20-tonne excavator with 6,000 hours will usually find a better rate than the same business would get on an unsecured loan half the size.
Chattel mortgage for civil contractors
For a GST-registered civil business a chattel mortgage over a roller or grader means ownership from day one and a GST claim on the full purchase price in the BAS covering settlement. On a $250,000 machine that claim is real money at exactly the point cash is tightest.
Sale and leaseback for civil contractors
Civil contractors often own plant outright and are still short of cash when a large job is awarded. A sale and leaseback sells owned machines to a financier and leases them back, releasing capital without stopping work.
Business line of credit for civil contractors
A line of credit gives a civil contractor a buffer for the weeks between mobilising and claiming. Draw for fuel, floats and wages at the start of a job, repay when the claim lands, leave the limit available for the next mobilisation.
Invoice finance for civil contractors
Where a civil contractor claims monthly against a tier-one head contractor or a council, invoice finance can advance most of each certified claim within a day or two of lodgement. Debtor quality is the whole assessment here, and government or ASX-listed debtors are about as good as it gets.
Trailer finance for civil contractors
Low loaders, plant trailers and dog trailers are what make a civil fleet mobile, and they are financeable in their own right. Trailers depreciate slowly and hold value well, so lenders will often write longer terms on a float than on the machine it carries.
Assets we finance for civil contractors
Lenders active in this space
Metro Finance, Angle Finance, Flexicommercial, Macquarie — among others on our panel of 18+. Your broker checks fit before anything is submitted.
Key terms
Civil plant finance
Civil plant finance is secured equipment lending for earthmoving and roadworks machinery such as excavators, rollers, graders and dozers, priced against the resale value of the machine and usually written over three to five years.
Mobilisation funding
Mobilisation funding is short-term working capital that covers the cost of establishing a civil site — floats, fuel, temporary works and early wages — before the first progress claim on that job is certified and paid.