Guide 3 of 6 · The eight ladders
Checking a licence
How do I check a plumbing contractor’s licence?
In Western Australia and Victoria the licence card shows the work its holder may do, and every state and territory publishes a register or search to check before the work starts. The registers do not all show the same thing, so here is what each one holds, and what it leaves out.
General information, published by Dotto, with every fact linked to its official source and all of them listed at the foot of this page.
The name on the card
Start with the card itself, because it is built to be read. In Victoria, registered and licensed plumbers carry a practitioner ID card with their classes listed on the back, and the card must be carried and shown on request. Building and Plumbing Commission In Western Australia the licence or permit card states the kind of plumbing work its holder may do, and it must be shown to you on request as well. Building and Energy A Victorian gasfitter's card does more work than most: routine servicing and carbon monoxide checks need the card to show the gas servicing Type-A class. Energy Safe Victoria
The class printed on a card is a scope, not a rank. A Queensland contractor must advertise under the licence number, and the register is searched by that number or the name on it; Queensland Building and Construction Commission in the ACT each occupation and class has its own scope of work, and conditions can attach to a licence. Access Canberra Read the class against the work being quoted: if the job is gas work, the card has to carry gas; if it is backflow testing in the ACT, no plumbing class is automatically authorised for it.
The registers, state by state
Each regulator keeps its own register, and each one answers a slightly different question. The column on the right is where the register stops being able to help.
| Place | The register | What it shows | What it cannot tell you |
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | Online licence check (Building Commission NSW) and the owner-builder permit check | whether a contractor or tradesperson is licensed and qualified for the job; the owner-builder check names permit holders of the last 10 years, the address, and the work the permit covered | clause 69 of the Home Building Regulation 2014 sets out what the licence check shows |
| Victoria | Find and check a practitioner, and the compliance and enforcement register | registration or licensing for the work you need, owner-builder information, and certain disciplinary or prosecution action against a builder, plumber or building company | some complaints, enquiries, inspections and compliance activity are left off it |
| Queensland | QBCC licensee register and find-a-contractor search | every licensed contractor in the state, and whether a Form 4 has been registered for your property; the contact centre confirms on 139 333 | an unlicensed trader simply is not there: absence is the signal, not a verdict, so ring the contact centre before deciding |
| Western Australia | Online Licence Search (Building and Energy) | whether a plumber holds a current licence | it cannot stop a person advertising or implying a licence they do not hold; that is itself an offence |
| South Australia | CBS licensing register | whether a person or company is licensed for the work or service; Consumer and Business Services answers on 131 882 | a licence for the job is not a licence for every job: a renovation that needs a builder needs a builder's licence, separately |
| Tasmania | Find a licensed tradesperson (Building Standards Tasmania) | current licence holders only | nothing about the status of a licence application |
| Australian Capital Territory | Construction Occupations Public Registers (Access Canberra) | licence statuses in full, including expired, suspended, surrendered and cancelled, and disciplinary action under a holder's Details tab | it is a record, not advice: Access Canberra cannot give legal advice, and it does not step into business-to-business disputes |
| Northern Territory | Plumbers and Drainers Licensing Board, and the Building Practitioners Board for certifying plumbers | a licensed plumber, and separately a registered certifying plumber or drainer | the two boards keep the two lists: a certifying registration does not follow from a plumbing licence alone, it is a registration of its own |
Sources: Checking your contractor or tradesperson is qualified (NSW Government); Find and check a practitioner (Building and Plumbing Commission, Victoria); Find a licensed contractor (Queensland Building and Construction Commission); Plumbing problems? Here is what Queensland home owners need to know (QBCC); Plumbing work in your home (Building and Energy, Western Australia); Find a licence holder (Consumer and Business Services, South Australia); Always use a licensed plumber (Consumer and Business Services, South Australia); Find a licensed tradesperson (Building Standards Tasmania); Public registers (Access Canberra); Choosing a tradesperson (Access Canberra); Plumbing or drainage work on your property (Northern Territory Government).
What a check cannot tell you
A register answers the licence question, and only the licence question. Victoria's enforcement register is the frankest about its own limits: some complaints, enquiries, inspections and compliance activity are left off it. Building and Plumbing Commission Tasmania's trade register lists current licence holders and nothing else, and says nothing about an application in progress. Building Standards Tasmania The ACT's registers go further than most, showing expired, suspended, surrendered and cancelled licences and disciplinary action, and still cannot give advice or settle a dispute between businesses. Access Canberra
So ask for the things a register does not hold. In the ACT, ask to see a certificate of currency for public liability insurance; it covers damage the tradesperson may cause to your property or to others. Access Canberra In Queensland, where an insurer recommends the contractor doing repairs, the commission can confirm the licence behind the recommendation. Queensland Building and Construction Commission And it is your responsibility, in Queensland's words, to check that the person is licensed for the work: someone else engaging them does not make them licensed. Queensland Building and Construction Commission
When a licence is not what it seems
Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales and the ACT each publish what they do about licences that go wrong. In Victoria, anyone who suspects building or plumbing work is being done by someone unregistered or unlicensed can report it through the commission's online tip-off tool. Building and Plumbing Commission In South Australia, a tradie found without a licence can be reported to Consumer and Business Services, and working outside a licence's conditions can bring penalties. Consumer and Business Services In New South Wales, doing plumbing, draining or gasfitting work unlicensed is a breach of the Home Building Act 1989, and the fines are set out plainly: $22,000 for an individual or $110,000 for a company. Building Commission NSW
An expired licence and a suspended one are different states, and the registers name them apart. The ACT lists expired, suspended, surrendered and cancelled licences as separate statuses, and in New South Wales a false statement in a licence application can be prosecuted, and a licence issued on misleading grounds can be cancelled. Access Canberra Building Commission NSW When a card cannot be produced, or a number does not match the register, check with the regulator for your area before any work begins; the regulators' advice is always to check that the person doing the work holds the appropriate licence. Consumer and Business Services Access Canberra