Is it illegal to do residential building work without a licence in NSW?

Yes. In NSW, residential building work valued over $5,000 (including labour and materials) must be carried out by the holder of an appropriate contractor licence issued by NSW Fair Trading.

Does a current licence mean the builder is financially sound?

No. A licence can be "Current" while the company behind it is in financial distress. Licence status and ASIC insolvency status are separate registers — check both.

How to check if a builder is licensed in NSW

Short answer

Search the builder's name, ABN or licence number on the NSW Fair Trading public register (onegov.nsw.gov.au/publicregister). Confirm the licence is "Current", that its class covers your type of work, and that the licence holder's name matches the company you'll actually contract with. BuilderCheck does this for you and adds ASIC and disciplinary history the register doesn't show.

Verifying a licence is the single most important pre-contract check, and it takes five minutes.

1. Find the official register

NSW contractor licences are published on the NSW Fair Trading public register at onegov.nsw.gov.au/publicregister. It is free and authoritative. Search by licence number, business name, or person’s name.

2. Confirm the status is “Current”

A licence can be Current, Expired, Suspended, or Cancelled. Only Current means the holder may lawfully contract for residential building work today. An expired or cancelled licence is a hard stop — do not sign.

3. Match the licence class to your job

Licences are issued by class (for example Building, or a Specialist class like waterproofing or electrical). The class must cover the work you are contracting for. A waterproofing specialist licence does not authorise a full home build.

4. Match the name to who you actually contract with

This is where people get caught. The quote may come from “Smith Homes” but the contract names a different Pty Ltd, or the licence belongs to an individual, not the company. The entity you sign with must be the entity that holds the licence. A mismatch is a red flag.

What the register does not tell you

The Fair Trading register shows licence status right now. It does not show:

whether the company is in administration or has been deregistered by ASIC;
whether the directors have a history of failed companies (a phoenix pattern);
disciplinary findings that have since been removed from public listings.

That longitudinal, cross-register picture is exactly what BuilderCheck assembles — one search across the licence register, ASIC, Fair Trading disciplinary records, and the planning portal, with dates and sources.