Fencing Business Due Diligence Checklist (Australia)
Buying a fencing business in Australia requires due diligence that goes well beyond the standard small business checklist. The financials matter — but so does the condition of the vehicles, the pool safety licence in the relevant state, and whether the owner is the only person who can quote a job competently.
A fencing business that looks clean on paper can hide significant problems: a truck with 350,000 km on the clock, a key installer who's already handed in notice, or a commercial client who accounts for 40% of revenue and has no contract. This checklist is designed to surface all of it before settlement, not after.
Why Fencing Businesses Need Their Own Due Diligence Process
Generic business due diligence checklists miss fencing-specific risks. The equipment profile is different — there are utes, trailers, post-hole diggers, concrete mixers, and several thousand dollars in hand tools that need physical inspection. Pool fencing compliance varies by state (Queensland and New South Wales have particularly detailed regimes). And fencing businesses that work with builders and developers can have lumpy revenue and 60-day payment terms that compress working capital in ways a simple P&L won't show you.
A broker told me about a fencing acquisition that fell apart at settlement — not because of anything in the financials, but because the buyer discovered at final inspection that three of the five trailers had significant structural issues and weren't roadworthy. The seller had been borrowing from family members' setups. That's the kind of thing this checklist is designed to catch in week two, not week twelve.
For a broader picture of what makes a fencing business worth pursuing in the first place, see whether a fencing business is worth buying. For the general framework that underlies this checklist, the general due diligence process for small businesses covers the overall structure.
This checklist is covered in Module 5 of the Playbook — the Due Diligence module — which takes you through preliminary and confirmatory DD for any small business acquisition.
Three Things to Check Before You Go Deeper
Before you spend money on accountants and lawyers, run these three filters first:
1. Ask for a customer list showing revenue by client for the last 12 months. If a single customer (a builder, a property manager, a council) represents more than 25% of turnover, get clear answers on the relationship history and whether it's contracted. Not a dealbreaker, but it's a price negotiation point and a risk you need to model.
2. Ask the owner to describe a typical week. Does the owner quote, do site work, manage staff, and handle customer calls — or is there a team doing most of that? If the answer involves the owner being on the tools three days a week and quoting the rest, price accordingly. You're buying a job, not a business. See financial red flags to watch for for the broader pattern.
3. Request the asset register and the service history for each vehicle. Every ute, trailer, and digger has an age, an odometer reading, and a maintenance record. If the seller can't produce service records, budget for replacement costs as part of your offer price — or use it as a renegotiation point after the physical inspection.
If those three pass, proceed to full due diligence below.
The Fencing Business Buyer Checklist covers the pre-offer assessment stage. This checklist picks up from where that one ends — once you've signed the heads of agreement and have access to the books.
Also worth having nearby: the comprehensive due diligence checklist for the financial and legal processes that apply to any business acquisition.
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