Before You Build
Builders and Tradesmen's licences
*© State of New South Wales through the Office of Fair Trading
As stated by the State of New South Wales Office of Fair Trading*, "A licence check should always be undertaken before entering into a contract with a builder or tradesperson and you should only ever deal with a licensed builder. Any person who carries out residential building work worth over $1,000 in labour and materials content without an appropriate licence is breaking the law and could be prosecuted."
The Home Building Act 1989 requires builders and tradespeople to be licensed for the work that they do, and to have proper contracts and insurance in place for most jobs.
A contractor must hold a licence or employ a holder of a qualified supervisor certificate, to contract, subcontract or advertise to do:
- residential building work where the labour and materials content is more than $1,000
- electrical wiring work
- plumbing, draining and gas fitting work
- air conditioning and refrigeration work (except plug-in appliances)
- building consultancy work to carry out pre-purchase property inspections.
Where the contract price for the building materials exceeds $1,000, a licence is also needed to supply:
- kit homes
- garages
- carports
- sheds.
It is important that the licence number is validated through the State of New South Wales through the Office of Fair Trading website or call 13 32 20. You should check the expiry date of the licence, that the licence covers the sort of work that you are requesting be done by your contractor, whether there are restrictions on the type of work he/she is being contracted to do, along with information on any history of complaints or insurance issues. Click Home Building Licence Check for more information.
It is also good to check with the specific trade organization/association for any trade specific information.
Click State of New South Wales Office of Fair Trading for further information on builders or tradespersons licences or selecting a tradesperson.
*© State of New South Wales through the Office of Fair Trading
