Concreting Business Buyer's Checklist (Australia)
Buying a concreting business in Australia requires a different checklist to buying, say, a cleaning round or a pest control business. The equipment is heavier, the licensing more complex, the workforce model more variable, and the revenue more cyclical. Generic due diligence checklists miss most of this.
This checklist was built specifically for buyers evaluating an existing concreting operation — whether you're looking at a two-person residential slab business or a mid-sized commercial operation with a concrete pump and a fleet. Use it alongside what to look for in a trades business and review is a concreting business a good investment before you start.
Why concreting businesses need their own checklist
The number one surprise buyers get in concreting acquisitions isn't in the P&L — it's in the shed. I've spoken to brokers who've had deals crater because the buyer got independent equipment valuations and found six figures of replacement cost the seller had conveniently depreciated to zero. The concrete pump alone can cost $150,000–$400,000 to replace. That's a lot to miss in general due diligence.
The second issue is licensing. Unlike a general cleaning business that mostly requires an ABN and insurance, concreting can require a contractor's licence, a builder's licence for certain types of work, and state-specific compliance depending on what the business actually does. You can't assume the seller's licence transfers to you — in many cases it doesn't.
Third: the workforce model matters more than in most trades. A concreting business running primarily on subcontractors has very different risk and cost structures to one running employed crew. Both can work, but you need to understand which you're buying and why the seller set it up that way (often, there's a reason).
What the full checklist covers
The complete checklist below walks through six phases:
- Initial screening — Is this even worth pursuing further?
- Financial verification — Revenue, margins, add-backs, and ATO benchmarks
- Equipment and assets — What you're actually buying and what it'll cost to maintain
- Licensing, compliance and insurance — What needs to transfer and what needs to be reapplied for
- Crew and subcontractors — Who does the work and will they stay
- Clients and pipeline — Who's buying and how secure is the revenue
For the general framework on valuing the business once you've completed verification, read how to value a concreting business. For broader due diligence principles, due diligence when buying a small business has the full process.
This resource connects to Module 2 of the Playbook — the module on evaluating whether a specific business type is worth buying before you go deep on due diligence.
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