You can check any NSW builder’s licence for free. There are two places to look: the NSW Government’s public register at verify.licence.nsw.gov.au, and PointCPD’s free listing at /licence-check/. The government register is the authoritative record. PointCPD is not a government service, is not NSW Fair Trading, and is not endorsed by any regulator. What PointCPD adds is a plain-English listing that states the date it was last re-checked against the live register, so you know how fresh the information is.
The short version
Get the licence number off the written quote, search it on the government register, and read four things rather than one: the status, the expiry date, the licence classes, and any conditions. Then check Home Building Compensation Fund cover separately on icare’s register, because that is not on the licence record and it is the part most people miss.
This guide is written for two people. If you are about to sign a contract and hand over a deposit, the sections on status, class and insurance matter most. If you are a builder checking your own record before renewal, skip to the last section.
The quickest way to check a builder’s licence
Start with the government register. Go to verify.licence.nsw.gov.au and search. That is the source that counts. If you want a quicker read first, or you want to see when the record was last checked, search the same licence number on PointCPD’s licence check and follow the link from there to the official record.
Both routes end in the same place. The government register is the authoritative record, and no third-party site changes that.
What to search with
You can search by licence number, builder name, company name, ABN or ACN. A licence number is the most reliable. Names are not.
Here is the trap that catches most people. The person standing on your site is often not the licence holder. The licence may sit with a company, a partnership, or a nominated qualified supervisor. The trading name on your quote may be different again from the legal name on the licence. So a search for the name on the quote can come back empty even when the work is properly licensed.
Get the licence number off the written quote or contract before you search. A licensed builder will put it there. If it is missing, ask for it in writing.
One more thing about searching by name: the government register returns at most 200 results, so a common surname needs narrowing. Add the suburb, or switch to the licence number.
How to read the status
The status field is the first thing to read, and the one most often misread.
- Current. The licence is active. Check the expiry date as well, because a current licence can be close to running out.
- Expired. The licence has lapsed. Do not sign on the strength of an expired licence. Ask the builder to renew and show you the updated record before you proceed.
- Cancelled. Treat this as a stop. Do not sign, and do not pay a deposit.
- Suspended. The licence is not usable while the suspension stands. Do not sign until it is lifted and the record shows current.
- Not found. Nothing matched your search. More often than not the search terms were wrong. Try the licence number, then the company name, then the ABN. If it still returns nothing, ask the builder to show you their licence.
A renewal can take time to appear on the register. If a builder tells you they have renewed and the record still shows expired, wait for the record to update rather than accepting a screenshot, because a screenshot proves nothing about today.
Licence class: why “a builder’s licence” is not one thing
There is no single builder’s licence. There are individual contractor licences, company or partnership contractor licences, and qualified supervisor certificates, and they are issued for 1, 3 or 5 years. Each licence also carries one or more classes, and the class has to cover the actual work.
A licence that covers one kind of residential work does not automatically cover another. So do not stop at “current”. Read the classes on the record and match them to the job in front of you. If the scope on your quote sits outside the classes listed, ask the builder to explain how the work is covered, and get advice before you sign if the answer is unclear.
What else is on the record
A per-licence detail page shows more than a status. It shows the licensee, the address, the directors, the classes, any conditions, insurance and disciplinary history. Read all of it.
- Conditions. A licence can be current and still carry conditions that limit what the holder may do, including requiring supervision. If there is a condition, ask what it means for your job.
- Insurance. The record carries insurance details. Read them alongside the separate HBCF check below, because they are not the same thing.
- Disciplinary history. This is the part people skip, and it is the part that tells you how the licence has been used. Read it before you sign, not after.
The register carries no email addresses and no phone numbers. That is set by law rather than being an oversight, so a website offering you a builder’s contact details did not get them from the register.
The separate insurance check for residential work
Home Building Compensation Fund cover is a different thing from the licence, and it is not on the licence record. A licence is required for residential building work over $5,000, measured as labour plus materials including GST. HBCF cover is checked on icare’s HBCF register.
So a current licence is not the end of the check. For residential work over $5,000, check the HBCF register as well and confirm cover is in place for your job before you pay a deposit. Two checks, two registers.
Why some free licence-check sites are out of date
NSW Fair Trading publishes a bulk “Current Licence Extract” spreadsheet under a Creative Commons licence. The published copy states on its face that it is correct as at 4 December 2023. Any free licence-lookup site built on that file alone is showing data from that date.
That is the weakness in most third-party lookups. They are a snapshot, not a live record. A licence that was current in the snapshot may have expired, been suspended or been cancelled since, and a licence granted after that date will not appear at all.
PointCPD’s listings start from the same extract but are re-checked against the live register, and each listing states the date it was last checked and links to the official record. Read that date. If it is not recent enough for the decision you are making, use the link and read the government page instead.
Two things PointCPD deliberately does not publish, whatever the extract contains: the street address and the birth year. Listings show the suburb only, which is what the official public check shows, because a licence lookup is not a reason to put someone’s home address online.
If the licence does not check out
If the record shows expired, cancelled or suspended, do not sign and do not pay a deposit. Ask for the licence number and check it yourself rather than accepting a screenshot.
Unlicensed residential building work carries penalties of $22,000 for an individual and $110,000 for a company. Those penalties fall on the person doing the work. Your own exposure is separate and often larger: no HBCF cover, no recourse through the licence system, and a much harder path to getting defective work fixed.
If you have already signed or paid, stop further payments and get advice early. The sooner it is raised, the more options you have.
If you are a builder checking your own record
Check your own record before a client does. Search your licence number on the government register and read every field: legal name, trading names, address, directors, classes, conditions and insurance.
If something is wrong, contact NSW Fair Trading and correct it rather than leaving it. A client who finds a mismatch between your quote and your record will ask about it, and the answer you want is that it is already fixed.
One practical note for renewal time: CPD is a condition of renewal, so keep your records in order and know where your completed activities are documented. If you have completed your CPD with PointCPD and your licence number is verified, your PointCPD listing shows a CPD verified badge. Where it does not, the listing says plainly that this does not mean the builder has not done their CPD, only that PointCPD cannot confirm it. How that works is set out on our accreditation page.
PointCPD is not a government service. The NSW Government register at verify.licence.nsw.gov.au is the authoritative record, and it is the one to rely on when it matters.
Questions builders ask
How do I check if a builder is licensed in NSW?
Search the NSW Government’s public register at verify.licence.nsw.gov.au using the licence number from the written quote or contract. You can also search by builder name, company name, ABN or ACN, though the licence number is the only reliable one, because the person on site is often not the licence holder. PointCPD also publishes a free listing per licence at /licence-check/ that shows the date it was last re-checked against the live register and links through to the official record.
What does it mean if a builder’s licence shows as expired?
The licence has lapsed, and you should not sign or pay a deposit on the strength of it. A renewal can take time to appear on the register, so if the builder says they have renewed, wait until the record shows current rather than accepting a screenshot. The register is what a client, an insurer and Fair Trading will look at.
Is PointCPD’s licence check an official government service?
No. PointCPD is a private CPD provider, not NSW Fair Trading, and it is not endorsed by any regulator. Its listings are built from NSW Fair Trading’s published licence extract and re-checked against the public register, and every listing links to the official NSW Government record. Where the two differ, the government register is correct.
Sources: NSW Government public register, verify.licence.nsw.gov.au. Licence thresholds, terms and penalties from NSW Fair Trading licensing guidance as recorded in PointCPD’s reference notes. The bulk “Current Licence Extract” (CC BY) published via data.nsw.gov.au states on its face that it is correct as at 4 December 2023. Home Building Compensation Fund cover is administered by icare, separately from the licence register.