How to Obtain a Builder's License in the New South Wales (NSW)

To apply for your builder’s licence through Careers & Licensing Australia, you need to demonstrate at least 2 years of relevant industry experience within the last 10 years, covering a broad range of building and construction work.

You can gain this experience in one of the following ways:

There are four types of builder's license classes in the ACT, each allowing the holder to perform different types of building work:

1. As an employee of a licensed building contractor.
2. As a subcontractor holding an endorsed contractor licence and contracting to a building project.
3. As a qualified supervisor working as a nominated supervisor for a contractor licence that includes the full general building category, provided another nominated supervisor covers the building category.
4. As a qualified supervisor working as a nominated supervisor for a contractor licence subcontracted to a general building contractor.

Your relevant experience must meet these criteria:

• The building contractor must hold a full general building contractor licence.
• You must be supervised and directed by someone with an endorsed contractor licence or a qualified supervisor certificate in residential building work. This person must verify your experience using a referee’s statement form.
• You must have been financially compensated for the work you completed, in compliance with legal requirements.

To support your application, you will need enough referees to verify your 2 years of industry experience. Each referee will be required to fill out a referee statement form, available for download from the NSW Fair Trading website.