Checking a builder's licence in the ACT
Here, carpenters and bricklayers are not licensed here at all. What to look for in any state, and what a licence never tells you, is on the main guide.
Open the Access Canberra Construction Occupations public registers →
The direct search, not the regulator's front page. Opened and confirmed on 26 October 2026.
In the ACT, “are they licensed?” sometimes has no answer rather than a bad one, and knowing which situation you are in changes what you do next.
Whole trades sit outside the scheme
Builders need a licence under the Construction Occupations (Licensing) Act 2004, and so do owner-builders. But carpenters and bricklayers do not currently require a licence in the ACT.
So a carpenter who is not in any register is not evading anything, and checking for them is not a check that can fail. What that removes is a layer of assurance you may have assumed was there — on a job led by an unlicensed trade, the references, the insurance and the contract are carrying the weight that a licence carries elsewhere.
The register is unusually candid, if you open it
Access Canberra's construction registers show expired, suspended, surrendered and cancelled statuses rather than only listing the current and leaving the rest blank, and they carry the licence class, conditions and endorsements. Disciplinary action appears under a licence holder's Details tab — a tab, which means it is easy not to open — and separately in a Register of Disciplinary Actions published on the ACT open data portal.
The register is updated at least weekly, so a recent change may not be reflected for a few days. On a decision this size, that is a reason to look twice a week apart rather than to discount it.
the ACT: the register at a glance
- Register
- Access Canberra Construction Occupations public registers — the list of builders
- Builders need a licence under
- the Construction Occupations (Licensing) Act 2004, including owner-builders
- Trades that do not currently need a licence
- Carpenters and bricklayers
- The register lists
- Name, licence number, expiry date, occupation and class, and any conditions or endorsements
- Statuses shown
- Expired, suspended, surrendered and cancelled
- Disciplinary actions
- Under a licence holder's Details tab, and in a separate Register of Disciplinary Actions on the ACT open data portal
- Updated
- At least once a week
Read from Access Canberra, Public registers on 26 October 2026. Access Canberra is the authority on what applies to a particular licence, and a register is a record of permission rather than of competence.
Questions about the ACT licences
Who needs a licence in the ACT?
Builders, including owner-builders, under the Construction Occupations (Licensing) Act 2004. Carpenters and bricklayers do not currently need one.
My carpenter isn't in any register. Is that a problem?
Not in itself — carpentry is not a licensed occupation in the ACT, so there is nothing to find. It does mean the references, the insurance and the contract are carrying weight a licence would carry elsewhere.
Where is disciplinary history?
Under the licence holder's Details tab in the register, and separately in a Register of Disciplinary Actions on the ACT open data portal. The tab is easy not to open.
How current is the register?
Updated at least once a week, so a recent change may take a few days to appear. On a decision this size, look twice a week apart rather than discounting it.