Guide

How to check a builder’s licence, in every state

You can do this yourself in about five minutes. Almost nobody does, because almost nobody knows which register to search. Here is the list.

Last updated 13 September 2026 · Written by the Better Builds team

A builder’s licence is public information in every Australian state and territory. The register is free, it is searchable by name or licence number, and it will tell you whether the licence is current, what class it is, and in most cases whether there is disciplinary history attached to it.

What you are actually looking for

Is it current? An expired or suspended licence is the obvious one. Is it the right class? This catches more people. A licence permitting alterations and additions does not necessarily permit a new dwelling, and the distinction matters. Is the name on the licence the name on your contract? A licence held by an individual is not a licence held by the company you are signing with.

What a licence does not tell you

Whether the builder is solvent. This is the gap that matters most right now, and no licence register closes it. A licence can be perfectly current while a company is weeks from administration. For that you want the ASIC published notices register, recent court listings, and a frank conversation about their current book.

The register for each state

Building regulators and licence registers by state and territory
State or territory	Regulator	Register
New South Wales	NSW Fair Trading	fairtrading.nsw.gov.au ↗
Victoria	Building and Plumbing Commission	bpc.vic.gov.au ↗
Queensland	QBCC	qbcc.qld.gov.au ↗
Western Australia	Building and Energy WA	wa.gov.au/organisation/building-and-energy/building-and-energy ↗
South Australia	Consumer and Business Services	cbs.sa.gov.au ↗
Tasmania	Consumer, Building and Occupational Services	cbos.tas.gov.au ↗
Australian Capital Territory	Access Canberra	accesscanberra.act.gov.au ↗
Northern Territory	NT Building Practitioners Board	nt.gov.au/property/building ↗

Every link above was opened and confirmed on 2026-09-13. Note that Victoria’s regulator has been renamed — the Victorian Building Authority is now the Building and Plumbing Commission, and older paperwork and advice still says VBA.

Also worth checking

ASIC published notices lists companies in administration or liquidation. Search the company name on your contract, not the trading name on the sign.

ABN Lookup confirms the entity exists, when it was registered and whether the ABN is active. A building company registered three months ago is not necessarily a problem, but it is worth knowing before you pay a deposit.

How to actually do it, in order

Get the exact legal entity name. Not the trading name on the signage or the name on the brochure. It is on the quote, the contract and the business card, usually in small type next to an ACN. Builders frequently trade under a name that is not the company you would be contracting with.

Search the register by licence number if you have it. Name searches return near matches and builders share surnames. The number is unambiguous.

Read the class, not just the status. This is the check almost everyone skips. Registers show what the licence permits, and the permitted scope is narrower than most people assume.

Check the individual and the company. In several states a company holds a licence on the strength of a nominated individual. If that person leaves, the company's position can change. Both are worth looking at.

Screenshot it with the date visible. A check you cannot evidence later is worth very little if there is a dispute.

What a clean result does and does not prove

It proves the builder is permitted to do the work as at the day you looked. It does not prove they are solvent, that they have capacity to take your job on, that their insurance is current, or that they are any good. Those are four separate questions and only the first has a public register behind it.

Insurance is a separate check again

Statutory home warranty or indemnity insurance arrangements differ substantially between states, and in some the scheme is government-run while in others the cover is written by private insurers for your specific contract. Ask to be shown the certificate for your job, and confirm the position with your own regulator rather than assuming the arrangement you have read about elsewhere applies. Each state hub on this site sets out what we have verified and, where we have not been able to, says so.

When to repeat it

Before signing, and again before each significant payment. Licences are renewed, suspended and conditioned between the day you first looked and the day you hand over money. See how to check a builder is still trading.