17,825 NSW builder licences fall due for renewal between September 2026 and August 2027. Each one belongs to a builder who must have earned 12 CPD points in the 12 months before that date, or the Commissioner can refuse the renewal.
We publish this because nobody else does. The register is public, but it is searchable one licence at a time, so the shape of the industry is invisible from it. These are the counts, the timing, and one finding that has a direct bearing on how many builders are quietly heading for a refused renewal.
Key figures, August 2026 snapshot
42,795 current builder licences in NSW · 17,825 expiring in the next 12 months · 78% on three or five year terms · 61% in Greater Sydney · busiest month July 2027 (1,858), quietest December 2026 (1,109)
When they fall due
Busiest month, July 2027 · Quietest, December 2026
| Month | Licences expiring | Month | Licences expiring |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | 1,363 | March 2027 | 1,611 |
| October 2026 | 1,374 | April 2027 | 1,411 |
| November 2026 | 1,445 | May 2027 | 1,713 |
| December 2026 | 1,109 | June 2027 | 1,777 |
| January 2027 | 1,313 | July 2027 | 1,858 |
| February 2027 | 1,442 | August 2027 | 1,409 |
The last quarter of 2026 accounts for 3,928 renewals. The load is reasonably even across the year, with a winter peak: May, June and July 2027 together carry 5,348, about 30 per cent of the annual total in three months.
The finding that matters: 78% are on multi-year licences
NSW issues builder licences for one, three or five years. The split among current builder licences is:
78% of current builder licences run three or five years — the population whose annual CPD accrues with no renewal to prompt it.
| Licence term | Licences | Share | CPD points owed across the term |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 years | 17,088 | 40% | 60 |
| 3 years | 16,464 | 38% | 36 |
| 1 year | 9,243 | 22% | 12 |
The CPD requirement is annual, not per renewal. A five-year licence carries 12 points in each of its five years, 60 in total, and only 11 surplus points may be carried between years, so they cannot be banked in one hit at the end.
Nothing is lodged in the intervening years. NSW CPD is self-recorded: no return, no portal, no annual prompt. So for 33,552 builders, more than three quarters of the licensed population, the obligation accrues for years with no external signal that it is accruing at all. The first moment anyone checks is renewal, or an audit, and by then a missing year cannot be backfilled: points count only in the 12 months before the renewal they apply to.
This is the structural reason CPD non-compliance is discovered late in NSW. It is not that builders on long licences care less. It is that a one-year licence holder is reminded twelve times more often than a five-year holder, by the renewal itself.
Where they are
| Location | Current builder licences | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Greater Sydney | 26,161 | 61% |
| Rest of NSW | 16,524 | 39% |
Greater Sydney here means postcodes 2000–2249, 2555–2574 and 2745–2770, stated so the split can be reproduced. A postcode was present for 99 per cent of current builder licences.
The ten suburbs with the most licensed builders are Merrylands (372), Greenacre (314), Castle Hill (284), Greystanes (254), Baulkham Hills (227), Strathfield (227), Sydney (225), Port Macquarie (216), Punchbowl (208) and Parramatta (207). Port Macquarie is the only non-Sydney entry in the top ten, which says something about how concentrated the industry is in Western Sydney.
Who holds them
Of the 42,795 current builder licences, 23,820 (56%) are held by individuals and 18,975 (44%) by organisations. The distinction matters for CPD, because a company licence earns no points: the individual nominated as qualified supervisor carries the obligation personally. In practice that means the CPD duty for the organisation half sits with a named person who may not be the one who opens the renewal notice.
What this means if you hold one of them
- Find your renewal date on your licence card or the public register, and work back 12 months. That window is the only one that counts.
- If your licence runs three or five years, treat each anniversary as its own deadline. Twelve points, every year, whether or not anything arrives in the post.
- Keep a diary as you go. NSW expects one, and it is the thing an audit asks for. Our CPD diary template is a spreadsheet you can copy.
- If you are behind, the gap in points is the gap in hours at the standard rate. The catch-up guide covers the compliant way to close it.
Method
Figures are drawn from the NSW public licence register, the same register behind the public licence-check site, as it stood in August 2026.
- “Builder licence” means a Contractor Licence carrying the Builder class. Swimming pool builder licences are counted separately and are not included in the 42,795.
- “Current” is the register’s own status field. Cancelled, surrendered, suspended and expired licences are excluded.
- Counts are of licences, not people. One person may hold more than one, so this is not a headcount of builders.
- Known limitation: a small number of licences (597) carry status Current with an expiry date already in the past at the start of our window. We have left them as the register reports them rather than reclassifying them, and they are excluded from the 12-month expiry counts.
- Nothing here identifies an individual. Every figure is an aggregate.
Each edition is produced the same way from a fresh snapshot, so the quarterly figures are comparable with one another rather than assembled ad hoc.
Citing this report. Journalists, associations and other providers are welcome to use these figures. Please attribute them to PointCPD and link to this page, so readers can see the snapshot date and method. If you need a cut we have not published, such as a single region, licence class or expiry window, get in touch and we can assist.
Published quarterly. The next edition updates the snapshot and the twelve-month window. For the rules these renewals turn on, read the complete NSW builder CPD guide.
Questions builders ask
How many licensed builders are there in NSW?
At the August 2026 snapshot the public register held 42,795 current contractor licences carrying the Builder class, plus 971 current swimming pool builder licences. These are counts of licences rather than people: one person can hold more than one.
How many NSW builder licences expire each month?
Between roughly 1,100 and 1,900, averaging about 1,485. The quietest month in the coming year is December 2026 at 1,109; the busiest is July 2027 at 1,858.
Where does this data come from?
The NSW public licence register, the same register behind the public licence-check site, as it stood in August 2026.
Can I cite or republish these figures?
Yes. Please attribute them to PointCPD and link to this page so readers can see the method and the snapshot date. If you need a cut we have not published, such as a particular region or licence class, get in touch and we can assist.
Sources: NSW public licence register, August 2026. NSW Government, Continuing professional development for builders and swimming pool builders.