Builder licence - Queensland

Description

You will need to apply for this licence to undertake any building work, with a value of more than $3,300. You can apply for this licence in a low rise, medium rise or open class.

A low rise licence will allow you to undertake work on:

  • a class 1 or 10 building
  • a class 2 to 9 building, with a gross floor area of no more than 2000 metres squared - not including Type A or Type B construction
  • any building work that consists of non-structural work on a building, regardless of the gross floor area or the class of building
  • preparing specification and plans, provided that they are for the licensee's personal use.

In addition to the work allowed under a low rise licence, a medium rise licence will allow you to undertake building work to a maximum of 3 storeys, provided it is not a Type A construction on classes 4 to 9 buildings.

Open licences allow you to undertake building work on all classes of buildings and prepare specifications or plans for the licensee's personal use.

For specific information about building classes, please see the Building Codes of Australia building classes document in the resources.

You can apply for this licence as a:

  • contractor - allows you to perform, supervise and enter into contracts for building work
  • company - allows a company to contract for and perform building work, provided a person is nominated as a supervisor
  • nominee supervisor - allows you to supervise work on behalf of a licensed company, but not to contract out individually to perform building work
  • site supervisor - allows you to supervise work on behalf of a licensed contractor, but not to contract out or be appointed as a nominated supervisor for a company.

You can undertake incidental work outside your licence class to finish a job, provided the total value of the work does not exceed $3,300. The value of the building work includes all labour and material costs and should be included in your contract.

Service type

Licence

A licence defines the need to obtain recognition / certification and registration to undertake a certain business activity.

Eligibility requirements

Your requirements will vary depending on your class of licence. To be eligible, you will need to meet the appropriate:

  • technical requirements
  • experience requirements
  • managerial requirements
  • financial requirements.

If you do not meet the technical qualifications, you may be able to obtain one through recognition of prior learning (RPL) by a registered training organisation (RTO). Please see the attached resources for specific information on these requirements.

If you are an interstate applicant, you may be eligible to obtain a licence through mutual recognition. If you are an international applicant, you may have to have an overseas qualification assessed for equivalency prior to applying.

Duration

1 or 3 years

Fees

Fees Details for this service in table format.

Task Type Business Structure Description
Apply Application All

You can find the current fees here.

Application process

Apply

To apply for this licence, you will need to fill out the builders licence application form, building and designer experience form and complete the referee report, providing:

  • details of your experience
  • evidence of your qualifications
  • written references (note if you cannot provide three written references to confirm your experience, the onus will be on you to suitability demonstrate to the agency the experience documented is true and correct)
  • financial information showing that you meet the minimum financial requirements (for contractor types only)
  • proof of identity
  • a current copy of your Record of Registration form from ASIC, if you are contracting under a trading name
  • if you are contracting under a partnership, proof of the business partnership
  • the applicable fees.

Approval time

Applications can take between 6 and 12 weeks to be processed, depending on their complexity

Transfer

You cannot transfer this licence.

Administering agency

Queensland Building and Construction Commission

Contact details

Contact Email, Phone and Address Details for this service in simple two column table format, header then data.