Bricklaying work
You must have a licence or certificate to do bricklaying work. You need the required qualifications and experience before you apply.
Key information
- In NSW, you need a contractor licence to do any residential building or trade work, including bricklaying, which is valued at more than $5000 in labour and materials (including GST).
- There are different types of licences and certificates available depending on the work you need to do.
- You must have the right qualifications and experience before you can apply for a licence or certificate.
- You can apply for a 1, 3 or 5 year licence or certificate.
What is bricklaying work?
Bricklaying work is trade work.
Bricklaying means erecting structures (such as buildings) by putting together ‘individual masonry units’ known as bricks or blocks.
A brick is a solid or perforated masonry unit used for building purposes such as walling or paving.
Bricks are generally rectangular in shape and small enough to be picked up with one hand.
A block is a component made from concrete, clay, gypsum or similar materials that is used to build walls or partitions. A block is usually larger than a brick.
Blocks are generally perforated (have holes in them), have hollow cores or are made of autoclaved aerated concrete to reduce their weight.
Bricklaying work includes:
- brick fences and footings for freestanding brick fences where the footings will not have to bear loads other than the completed brickwork, gates or decorative features
- brick retaining walls that do not require approval under the Local Government Act 1993 (retaining walls that need this approval are, for licensing purposes, considered to be structural landscaping work or general building work)
- flashing associated with bricklaying work
- concreting works that are minor and provide needed support for bricklaying work, such as footings for free standing fences or walls that are only going to bear the weight of parts that make up the fence or wall.
The licensing category of bricklaying does not include:
- concrete footings for the walls of a dwelling or for retaining walls that require approval under the Local Government Act 1993.
- concreting that is structural in nature or provides structural support (for example, concrete slabs, or concrete footings) except for footings for free-standing fences or walls that are only going to bear the weight of the parts that make up the fence or wall.
To learn more about what is considered bricklaying see the definition in schedule 4 of the Home Building Regulation 2014.
You must have a contractor licence to carry out, advertise or contract for building or trade work that is valued at more than $5,000 in labour and materials (including GST).
You can be fined $22,000 as an individual or $110,000 as a company under the Home Building Act 1989 for doing unlicensed work.
Applying for a licence or certificate
Licence types you can apply for
There are different types of licences available in NSW depending on whether you want to:
- contract to do the work,
- supervise work,
- do the work, or
- do a combination of these roles.
The licence types that apply to this category of work are:
- Individual contractor licence (or endorsed contractor licence)
- Company or partnership contractor licence
- Qualified supervisor certificate
You can apply for these licence types for 1, 3 or 5 years.
You can also get started with applying for your licence or certificate at Service NSW.
Time frames for licensing and registration applications
Find out about the current application processing times for different licence and registration categories.
Qualifications and experience needed
To get a licence or certificate to do bricklaying, you must complete one of the qualifications listed below.
Current qualifications
You must have completed one of the following:
- CPC33020 Certificate III in Bricklaying and Blocklaying, or
- CPC30111/ CPC30108/ BCG30103 Certificate III in Bricklaying/Blocklaying, or
- BCG30698 Certificate III in General Construction (Bricklaying/Blocklaying), TAFE course #8064, or
- Qualification 4640 Certificate III in Bricklaying Trade, TAFE course #2160, or
- Certificate III in Bricklaying Trade TAFE course #5159.
Previous licence or certificate holders
You do not need to show your qualifications if you have
either:
- ever held an endorsed contractor licence or qualified supervisor certificate in bricklaying that had no restrictions or conditions. If you apply for a new endorsed contractor licence or qualified supervisor certificate, we will accept your previous licence or certificate in place of the current qualification requirements.
or:
- held an endorsed contractor licence or qualified supervisor certificate in the last 5 years in bricklaying that had restrictions or conditions. We will assess your application and reissue you a licence or certificate that reflects the scope of work that your licence or certificate covered. This may include some conditions or restrictions.
If your application is approved, you will be issued the same licence or qualified supervisor number you had before.
To find organisations that deliver nationally recognised training, go to https://www.yourcareer.gov.au/learn-and-train/courses and search via the course code or name.
If you are currently an apprentice or trainee, you cannot be issued with a licence or certificate. Once you have completed your apprenticeship or traineeship, you will need to apply for a contractor licence if you intend to do, or contract for, building or trade work.
If you hold a licence from interstate or New Zealand, and want to work in NSW, see Working interstate and mutual recognition.
This category of building and trade work is included under the NSW Automatic Mutual Recognition (AMR) scheme.
If you trained overseas, see Overseas trained applicants.
Do not make false or misleading claims
Providing false or misleading information is a serious offence.
If your license was obtained based on false or misleading information, you could face criminal prosecution, and your licence or certificate may be cancelled.
What would you like to do now?
Get in touch with Building Commission NSW
Need help with an application or want to know more about training and accreditation? Get in touch with Building Commission NSW.
From overseas, call:+612 3814 0545