Home Building Tips For Builders In NSW
Licensing

A person or entity that does residential building work, or contracts to do residential building work, must hold the appropriate licence as issued by the Office of Fair Trading.  Employees of a person or entity that holds the appropriate licence do not also need to be licensed themselves.

Generally speaking, the entity that is doing or contracting to do residential building work (including supervising or co-ordinating that type of work) is required to hold the appropriate licence.  See the table below:

Below are some general rules you should also take note of:

Rule 1

An entity must not:

• do any residential building work; or
• contract to do any residential building work; or
  
  
• represent that it is prepared to do any residential building work;

unless that entity holds the appropriate licence, either as or on behalf of an individual, partnership or corporation.

Appropriate licence means the licence that covers the work that the entity is doing or has contracted to do.  For example, an entity cannot contract with a client to carry out wet plastering work and painting work to a house, if the entity only holds a wet plastering licence. 

Rule 2

A person or entity must not:

1. represent that another entity holds the appropriate licence, if that person or entity knows that the other entity does not hold the appropriate licence; or
   
   
2. represent that another entity is prepared to do residential building work, if that person or entity knows that the other entity does not hold the appropriate licence. 

Example 1:    A person cannot make out to a potential client that ABC Building holds the appropriate licence, if that person knows that ABC Building does not hold the appropriate licence.

Example 2:    A person cannot make out to a potential client that ABC Building is prepared to do residential building work for that potential client, if that person knows that ABC Building does not hold the appropriate licence to do that work.

Rule 3

An entity that has contracted to do any residential building work cannot then contract out to or sub-contract to another entity for that other entity to do all or part of that work unless that other entity holds the appropriate licence, either as or on behalf of an individual, partnership or corporation

Example:       A licensed builder cannot contract any residential building work out to a sub-contractor, unless that sub-contractor holds the appropriate licence. 

Rule 4

A licence holder cannot “let out, hire or lend” their licence to any other person, or allow any other person to use the licence holder’s licence.

The maximum penalties for EACH TIME any of the above laws are breached are as follows: