Your company or partnership must have a contractor licence before you contract, sub-contract or advertise to do:

• residential building work where the reasonable market cost of the labour and materials is more than $5,000 (including GST)
• all electrical wiring work
• all plumbing, drainage and gasfitting work
• all airconditioning and refrigeration work (except plug-in appliances).

Licence types

There are different types of licences available in NSW depending on whether you want to contract with another party or supervise work.

A contractor licence allows you to contract with other parties and advertise to do work.

You can only do the types of work described on your licence card. Contractor licences can be issued to individuals, companies and partnerships.

From 1 July 2020, you can apply for a 1, 3 or 5 year contractor licence.

A qualified supervisor certificate allows you to supervise and do the work described on your certificate.

Qualified supervisor certificates are only issued to individuals. Certificates are issued for 1, 3 or 5 years.

A qualified supervisor certificate doesn't allow you to contract for work.

An endorsed contractor licence is issued to individuals who apply for a contractor licence and who also have the qualifications and experience needed to be a qualified supervisor.

Endorsed contractor licence cards have ‘contractor licence (Q)’ printed on them to show they are also equivalent to a Qualified Supervisor Certificate.

A tradesperson certificate allows you to do plumbing, drainage and gasfitting work with minimum supervision.

People who hold a tradesperson certificate can't sign off on work.

Their work must be overseen and signed off by someone who holds a contractor licence or qualified supervisor certificate. Tradesperson certificates are only issued to individuals.

From 1 July, 2020 you can have a Tradesperson certificate issued for 1, 3 or 5 years.

Tradesperson certificates used to be known as a journeyman. Tradesperson certificates used to be known as a journeyman.

Nominated Qualified Supervisors

A company or partnership must have a nominated qualified supervisor.

A nominated qualified supervisor is an individual who holds an endorsed contractor licence and/or qualified supervisor certificate, and is registered against a company or partnership contractor licence as the person supervising residential building work or specialist work.

Companies and partnerships must name a proposed nominated qualified supervisor when applying for a licence, and the person you nominate must agree to hold the position.

You can nominate more than one qualified supervisor to cover all the categories of work that your company or partnership does.

If you only nominate one qualified supervisor, they must hold a current individual endorsed contractor licence or qualified supervisor certificate that includes all categories of work that your company or partnership contracts for.

Company or partnership contractor licence holders need to tell Fair Trading within 7 days if you do not have a nominated supervisor (eg if your supervisor leaves the company).

Not telling us is an offence. If you go without an acceptable nominated supervisor for more than 30 days, without getting consent from us first, your licence will be cancelled.

Nominated supervisors must also get in touch with Fair Trading within seven days of leaving a company or partnership to tell us they have left.

Acceptable supervisors

A nominated supervisor must be one of the following:

• a director of the company
• a member of the partnership
• an existing or proposed employee of the company or partnership

A supervisor cannot be:

• a casual employee
• a temporary employee
• a sub-contractor

Casual employees usually work irregular hours. A casual employee does not have a firm commitment in advance from their employer to ongoing work with an agreed pattern of work.

Temporary employees are fixed term contract employees that are employed for a specific task or period of time.

A sub-contractor is not an acceptable nominated supervisor even if they hold an individual contractor licence under the Home Building Act 1989.

An employee is someone who:

• is entitled to all the benefits of all relevant industry awards
• is a ‘worker’ for purposes of workers compensation law
• pays tax under the PAYE (pay as you earn) system and receives tax stamps or a group certificate for the tax taken out of their wages
• has their work hours recorded in the employer’s wages book and is entitled to a statement (eg pay slip) for each wage
• works under the direction and control of their employer on matters that do not affect their supervisor responsibilities (eg their starting and finishing times).

Dual nomination

Dual nomination is when a supervisor is nominated for more than one company or partnership contractor licence.

An individual cannot be the nominated supervisor for more than one contractor licence unless Fair Trading is satisfied that special circumstances exist that will ensure that the individual, either alone or in conjunction with one or more other nominated supervisors, will supervise all work done under contracts for which each contractor licence is required.

A company or partnership must get our approval to have a dual nominated supervisor. Approval is decided on a case-by-case basis. You must complete the Additional Details Form 6 - Dual Nomination to request dual nomination .

Supervisor responsibilities

The nominated supervisor is responsible for carrying out all relevant work for that contract. They are also responsible for upholding the codes of practice, laws and regulations.

If the supervisor is an employee of the contactor licence holder, they can only supervise work during their hours of employment.

If the nominated supervisor holds the category of General Building, they are also responsible for the general direction, coordination, and oversight of the on-site work processes on all job sites where the contractor is currently carrying out general building work. The nominated supervisor does not always have to be at the site if the work being done is residential building work. If the supervisor is an employee, this means the supervisor may oversee more than one job site for the same employer during the hours that they work for that employer.

When the nominated supervisor is not on the job site , they should:

• make sure that any work is done by a holder of an endorsed licence, supervisor certificate or tradesperson certificate, or under the supervision of someone who holds an endorsed licence or supervisor certificate authorising them to supervise that work
• make arrangements to ensure that all work is or has been done properly (eg. Be readily contactable to give instructions, and when the Nominated Supervisor  returns to site, promptly inspects the work done while they were away).

If the nominated supervisor stops being a director, partner or employee, they must let Fair Trading know within seven days. Failure to notify us is an offence.

Please note there are different responsibilities for individuals who are supervising specialist trade work under the Home Building Act 1989.

Nominated qualified supervisor under automatic mutual recognition

A company or partnership can nominate a supervisor who holds a local licence under the Mutual Recognition (Automatic Licensed Occupations Recognition) Act 2014.

This Act says that NSW will recognise certain interstate licences without that individual having to get a NSW licence or certificate.

This recognition only applies to specific occupations.

Visit the Automatic Mutual Recognition page for a full list of occupations included in AMR, or the East Coast Electricians page for details on the scheme specifically for electrical tradespeople in NSW, QLD, Victoria and the ACT.

If we accept a company or partnership’s nomination of someone who holds a local licence, the nominated supervisor must follow all laws and requirements as if they were licensed in NSW under the Home Building Act 1989.

If your company or partnership has a nominated supervisor under this automatic mutual recognition process, you will need to show us evidence each time you renew your licence that your nominated supervisor’s interstate licence is still current.

If the nominated supervisor moves to live in NSW, they must apply for an equivalent NSW licence or certificate.

Your company or partnership must complete a new nomination form to update your licence details.

There are significant penalties if either a nominated supervisor or a company or partnership fails to tell us within seven days of any changes that affect a contractor licence.

Apply for a licence or certificate

Vary your licence or certificate

Add a category to your licence or certificate

If your company or partnership holds a contractor licence and becomes able to work in more licence categories.

For example, you employ a nominated supervisor with additional licence categories or an existing nominated supervisor has been issued with additional categories), you can apply to add a category to your company or partnership contractor licence.

Change a condition on your licence

Your licence or certificate allows you to do and/or supervise the work described on your licence card, subject to any specified conditions.

These conditions may be imposed for a number reasons that limit the scope of work you are able perform, or place other requirements on the licence or certificate holder.

They may be as a result mutual recognition processes, disciplinary action, bankruptcy, external administration or other factors.

If circumstances change, and this affects your ability to do the work described on your licence card, you must let us know within seven days.

If you wish to have your licence or certificate updated to remove limitations on your category of work, you will need to make an application to vary your licence or certificate.

Refer to the Add a category to your licence or certificate section above.

Our assessment process

Once we have your completed application form, supporting documents, and fee payment, we will assess your application.

If your application for a new, renewed, updated or replacement licence is approved, we will send you a licence card.

Sometimes we do not approve applications. Reasons for this can include:

• you failed to provide details requested by Fair Trading
• you have been disqualified from holding a licence
• you owe money to Fair Trading as a result of a judgement
• you hold a provisional licence or certificate
• you are an apprentice or trainee
• you have not complied or are unable to comply with insurance requirements
• you are bankrupt or were bankrupt within three years before the date of the application
• you are or were a director or a person concerned in the management of a company:
  • that is or was the subject of a winding up order or
  • for which a controller or administrator has been appointed or
  • when a controller or administrator was appointed (within three years prior to your application for licence). This includes where you stop being a director or a person concerned in the management of a company within 12 months prior to the external administration.
• you are subject to an unsatisfied tribunal order
• you have had an unreasonable number of:
  • complaints
  • penalty notices
  • formal cautions
  • paid insurance claims
• you used false information in your application
• a close associate (who is not a fit and proper person to hold a licence) has significant influence over you or the operation and management of your business
• you are considered to be an unfit or improper person to hold a licence or certificate.

It is an offence to make a false statement or leave out information when applying for a licence. If it is found that your licence has been issued on misleading grounds, you may be prosecuted and your licence may be cancelled.

If we refuse your application, only part of the fee may be refunded, the rest is to cover processing costs.

Renew or restore a licence or certificate

We will send you a renewal form in the mail several weeks before your licence or certificate is due to expire.

Update your licence details

If you change your name, your company name, your address or other contact details, you must let us know within seven days.

If you change your company's Australian Company Number (ACN), it is a different entity and you need to lodge a new application for a licence. Follow the process in apply for a licence or certificate.

If your partnership adds or removes members, you need to lodge a new application for a licence. Follow the process in apply for a licence or certificate.

Replace a licence

If your licence or certificate has been damaged, lost or stolen, you can order a replacement at a Service NSW centre.

Insurance requirements

If you are a licensed builder or tradesperson in NSW, you need to get home building compensation (HBC) cover for each home building project over $20,000 including GST.

HBC cover, which used to be called ‘home warranty insurance’, protects homeowners as a last resort if you cannot complete building work or fix defects.

Visit the State Insurance Regulatory Authority's website for more information.

Insolvency matters

Cancelled or suspended licences

Automatic licence suspension

Your licence will be automatically suspended if you do not comply with an order by a court or the NSW Civil or Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) to pay money for a building claim. Read more.