Business loans for building companies

Ardent Capital Group brings the same method to every client: execution and strategy, clear advice for smart lending, and long-term growth. That means the right lender, structure and timing, straight advice so you borrow with confidence, and today's deal built toward where you want to be tomorrow. We are specialists in helping business owners secure finance to purchase their own property, and we understand the complex structures that often sit around it, including multiple trusts, holding companies and self-managed super funds. Through that work we also understand what the business needs from its cash flow, and where an overdraft or line of credit fits for working capital. Head contracting is read very differently from one credit team to the next. A generalist desk sees lumpy revenue and a thin balance sheet; a construction-literate one reads work in hand, claim terms and retention and sees a business funding its own growth. We know which of the 60 plus bank and non-bank lenders sit in the second group, and we stay with you as the contracts get bigger. Every figure is subject to serviceability, lender appetite and approval.

A head contractor holds the contract with the principal and engages the subcontractors under it, so you are paying the trades and the suppliers before the principal pays you. A subcontractor invoices the builder and carries one relationship rather than twenty. That means your working capital requirement is larger, your retention exposure sits across more jobs, and lenders assess your contracts as well as your trading. If you are a specialist trade rather than the head contractor, our business loans by industry pages cover the individual trades.

Yes, and it is the single most common reason builders come to us. A working capital facility or overdraft covers subcontractor and supplier payments while your claim runs through certification and payment terms. We size it against your work in hand and your real claim cycle rather than a round number, because a limit set too small just moves the problem to next month. Every figure is subject to serviceability, lender appetite and approval.

Often yes. Where a claim has been submitted or certified, that receivable can be funded rather than waited out, commonly at 80 to 90% of the claim value. Lenders assess the principal paying the claim as well as your own position, and they will read the contract terms, including whether it permits assignment. Send us the contract and the claim and we will tell you how it reads.

It varies by lender, so raise it early. Retention held across several jobs can represent a substantial sum sitting outside your available cash, and some credit teams recognise it in the assessment while others do not look past the balance sheet. We put the retention position in front of lenders who read it properly rather than leaving it to be discovered.

Yes. Principals commonly require a bank guarantee or performance security as a condition of the contract, and it usually needs to be in place before you can start. These are arranged as a facility in their own right, and they can be secured by cash, by property or in some cases unsecured, depending on the lender and the amount. Tell us the deadline at the start.

Not necessarily. Unsecured facilities are advanced on trading strength alone, which keeps property out of the arrangement and is faster to settle. They carry smaller limits and price higher than secured facilities, which is the trade. Where you do have property and want a larger facility, a secured term loan is the alternative. Directors guarantees are standard either way.

Frequently yes. Find out why the decline happened before assuming the answer is no everywhere. Construction trading is treated cautiously by some credit teams as a sector position rather than a judgement on your business. Another lender may read the same file entirely differently. Send us the decline and the numbers behind it and we will tell you where it sits.

Yes, and financing them against the asset itself is usually the better route than paying cash. Formwork, scaffolding, site sheds, utes, trucks and telehandlers can all be funded with the equipment as security, which keeps your working capital available for the jobs. New and used both qualify, including private sales and auction purchases. Arrange it before you bid rather than after.

Yes. Buying the premises you operate from is a commercial mortgage rather than a business loan, and we arrange both. Our light industrial and workshop commercial mortgage services cover yards, workshops and industrial premises. Where you are building the premises rather than buying, our owner occupier construction finance page covers that.

Yes, and it is a natural step for an established builder. Developing on your own account is assessed on the end value and the total development cost rather than on your trading, which is a different product and a different lender panel. Our property development finance section covers how those facilities are structured, and your building experience genuinely helps the file.

That is a common timing problem rather than a sign of trouble, and it can be funded. A short term facility or a drawdown against an existing limit covers the liability so it is paid on time while you wait on certification. Addressing it before it becomes a payment plan keeps more lenders available to you later.

Unsecured and low-doc facilities commonly settle within 24 hours to a week through the non-bank panel. A secured term facility with a valuation and full legals runs to one to three weeks through a major. If you have a mobilisation date or a guarantee deadline, tell us at the start and we will work backward from it.

For most facilities, your last two years of financials, recent BAS lodgements and three to six months of bank statements. For a head contractor we also want your work in hand schedule, your major contracts and your current retention position, because those are what make the case. Low-doc options assessed on BAS and statements alone are available.

Most of the time, no. Where a deal requires significant preparation due to its complexity, a small mandate fee may apply, and we will always be upfront about this before any work begins.

Although we are based in Sydney, we service clients across all major Australian cities, including Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart, along with their surrounding regional areas. Wherever your business operates, we can arrange your finance.

Although our main speciality is property loans for business owners, such as a commercial mortgage for your yard or workshop, we also assist with plant and equipment finance for builders and working capital. On asset finance, that covers the plant and vehicles a building business runs, from telehandlers and formwork to trucks and site utilities. On working capital, we arrange business overdrafts, lines of credit and cash-flow funding to carry a business between claims and to cover retention held across jobs.

No. Arranging finance and advising on financial products are two different disciplines, and we do the first. What we bring is the credit analysis lenders require, the structuring of the facility, and the strategy for putting your application in front of lenders whose appetite matches it.

Because we act as a credit representative under an Australian Credit Licence, we do not give financial product, superannuation, taxation or legal advice, and nothing we provide should be taken as such. Where your circumstances need that input, we are happy to work with your accountant, financial adviser and solicitor to understand the full picture before anything is submitted.

The information on this page is general in nature and does not take account of your objectives, financial situation or needs.