To be qualified for the NSW building licence, the NSW building licence course is mandatory. It has two parts – The Certificate IV and Diploma in building and construction building. People tend to have some queries regarding this topic. All the covered in the following discussion.
Residential building works not only helps you to increase your scope of work but also increase your earnings as well. There are two requirements that you need to complete to get a builder’s licence. They are –
• Education
• Experience
The Department of Fair Trading would require you to hold some qualifications to acquire it. It is mandatory to have Certificate IV in building and construction in small to medium-sized construction businesses. Besides that, you can get a diploma in building and construction. You can also get a supervisor certificate that would help you to get such a licence. If you hold a university degree, then there is a chance that you may not need the above educational qualifications. You can also get a bachelor’s degree in Housing, Civil, Engineering, Construction, Construction project management, Structural Engineering, Architecture etc. If you have any queries, then you can contact the Department of Fair Trading of NSW to verify that if you are qualified or not to get a builder’s licence.
Several factors are needed to understand how much time it would need to complete this Owner Builder course. This course varies from institution to institution. Some take a few days and some can go for two to three weeks or months. There is no direct answer to that. It can be analyzed by the types of courses that are available to help the students to become owner builders. The whole
course includes 16 subjects that cover overall knowledge and it takes approximately 30 to 40 weeks depending on the institution. After all, it would be best to define the time duration of this course in terms of how would applicants or candidates are prepared for this assessment and how they are prepared to successfully manage their own projects.
Many applicants put a lot of effort into TAFE or similar degrees or do years of study but they don’t know about the experience requirements that are needed to be fulfilled by Fair Trading to get a builder’s licence. Some RTO’s charge a large amount of money to let them know that they are also not applicable for a builder’s licence. There are three criteria’s that are needed to be followed to get a builder’s licence They are-
• Financial or Criminal checks
• Experience
• Qualifications
Financial or Criminal checks
NSW Fair Trading checks all applicants’ personal information, previous business and criminal history backgrounds. If any of you have any bad financial history or criminal record, you are going to need to provide some additional documents as mentioned in the application form.
Experience
An applicant at least needs to have two years of relevant industry experience with a large area of building construction work and activities. A lack of experience and wrong experience can disprove getting a builder’s licence. In a simple way, Fair Trading verifies an applicant from his or her working history whether they had been supervised and paid or not. It shows your capability in a wide range of residential building work that will demonstrate all stages of construction work. It will prove that you have knowledge about the Building Code of that area and know how to deal with subcontractors, consumers and other parties. You need to have extensive experience in residential building work. Singular trade work will not meet up the requirements to get a builder’s licence. Besides all that, some papers are needed to show to prove your experience. A short employment history needs to fill up on an application form. In addition to that, a referee statement form, applicant’s residential building experience forms need to be completed. Previous work history papers need to be submitted. Building address, DA number, previous working partner’s licence number need to be submitted. If you have any doubts after all these, you should contact the NSW Department of fair trading for your other queries.
Qualifications
The Department of Fair Trading would require you to hold some qualifications to acquire it. It is mandatory to have Certificate IV in building and construction in small to medium-sized construction businesses. Besides that, you can have a diploma in building and construction. You can also get a supervisor certificate that would help you to get such a licence. If you hold a university degree, then there is a chance that you may not need the above educational qualifications. You can also get a bachelor’s degree in Housing, Civil, Engineering, Construction, Construction project management, Structural Engineering, Architecture etc.
If you are in contact with any building contractor for any services like residential building, plumbing, air conditioning or refrigerator work you need to check whether they have a valid contractor licence or not. You can check it online. If you have any problem finding it, you can contact NSW Fair Trading to confirm your doubts. According to law, all contractors must show their licence number on their visiting card, advertising and stationery sectors. You can check their validity using licence name, licence number, plate or suburb. By entering collected information, you can check them online.
There are few cases where licences get restricted or get conditions. Some get conditions like they can not take projects where insurance under Home Building Compensation Fund is needed. That is under $20000. A builder can’t take more than one project. This happens when a builder has little expertise or showed sub-standard work before. They can work on their own individual building but cannot take up any client’s project.
To expand your business, you should become official. It will help you to grow and to be a part of a growing industry. The process can take time but there are many good reasons to get a contractor’s licence. It will bring you more customers and will make you more trustworthy to your customers.
It shows your expertise in the department and achieves customer’s confidence. There are different types of contractor’s licence like – electrical, plumbing, training, fencing, well drilling, swimming pool and Spa installation, refrigeration, elevator mechanics etc. To get a contractor licence, some requirements need to be followed. They are-
Getting work experience or training- Previous work experience acts as a saviour to get a licence. It can be an apprentice under some supervisors or some contractual work. It shows that you are fully trained and capable of handling this business.
Contractor Licence
Passing a licensing exam- It’s not mandatory to sit on a test. It varies from state to state. Applicant needs to see the guidelines according to his/her state. If it’s mandatory in your state, then you have to pass it to prove your capability.
Getting general liability insurance and a construction Bond- It shows that you are financially capable of handling your business as you have insured yourself by getting general liability insurance. It means that if anything goes untoward, you can pay them (customers) back. It makes you trustworthy to your customers.
Completing an application form- At last, you will need to complete an application form online or in a mail form. You need to check the guidelines beforehand. It contains all your personal and professional information, work history etc.
Application Form
There are different ranges of licence fees according to their types.
| Licence Type | Licence Fee | Total |
| Building Contractor Licence -1year | $389 | $685 |
| Building Contractor Licence – 3 Years | $986 | $1282 |
| Building Qualified Supervisor Certificate – 3 Years | $161 | $249 |
The department of Fair Trading has full authority of providing a pool building licence in New South Wales. To get a licence, the whole market cost of the labour and materials need to be more than $5,000 including GST. Pool building work involves construction, renovation, repair, extension, maintenance, protective treatment of a swimming pool. It also includes safety fencing, pool water filtration and heating. It goes under the swimming pools act 1992. It is a swimming pool building licence type. To be qualified for a licence, you need to have a degree CPC 40808 certificate IV in swimming pool and building or a minimum of 4 years of practical experience in this department.
In commercial building work, there is no need for a licence and homeowners warranty insurance. Only domestic work needs an NSW licence. In that case, QBCC needs to restrict the QLD licence to “Domestic Building Construction Work” only.
Builder’s Licence is meant to protect people from any untoward incident. Professionals are assigned to provide service to people.
The commercial building work process doesn’t work the same way that residential building work goes in NSW. In commercial building work, the licence is not mandatory but in residential building work, it is. There are severe punishments if a person carries out residential building work without a licence. They can work on their own individual building but cannot take up any client’s project.
In commercial building work, there is no need for a licence and homeowners warranty insurance. There is also no need for a formal contract but it is suggested that there should be a proper contract between the parties to avoid any forthcoming dispute.