Kitchen, bathroom and laundry renovation work
You must have a licence or certificate to do kitchen, bathroom, or laundry renovation 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 kitchen, bathroom and laundry renovation work, 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 required 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 kitchen, bathroom and laundry renovation work?
Kitchen, bathroom and laundry renovation is in the other building work category.
Kitchen, bathroom and laundry renovation is work involved in the installation, refurbishment, restoration and on-site repairs of or to a kitchen, bathroom or laundry.
It does not include work affecting any internal or external load bearing part of the building that is essential to the stability of the building or any part of it, including things such as foundations, floors, walls, roof, columns and beams.
Any contract for kitchen, bathroom or laundry renovations can include any specialist work that needs to be done as part of the overall job. The specialist work must be subcontracted to the holder of a contractor licence in the relevant category of specialist work, and appropriately supervised by the holder of an endorsed contractor licence or qualified supervisor certificate in that category.
To learn more about what is considered kitchen, bathroom and laundry renovation, 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 kitchen, bathroom and laundry renovation work, you must hold one of the qualifications from Group A and one from Group B, as listed below.
You must either:
- hold a contractor licence or qualified supervisor certificate, which is current on the date you lodge your application, in the category of:
- carpentry, or
- joinery, or
- plumbing, or
- wall and floor tiling, or
- have a qualification approved under section 33D(1) of the Home Building Act 1989 for the issue of for such a licence or certificate.
You must also hold one of the following 7 Group B qualifications:
1. Complete the following units of competency:
- CPCCBC4001 (current) Apply building codes and standards to the construction process for Class 1 and 10 buildings, and
- CPCCBC4053 (current) Apply building codes and standards to the construction process for Class 2 to 9 Type C buildings, and
- CPCCBC4002 (current) Manage work health and safety in the building and construction workplace, and
- CPCCBC4003 (current) Select, prepare and administer a construction contract, and
- CPCCBC4004 (current) Identify and produce estimated costs for building and construction projects, and
- CPCCBC4005 (current) Produce labour and material schedules for ordering, and
- CPCCBC4006 (current) Select, procure and store construction materials for building and construction projects, and
- CPCCBC4007 (current) Plan building and construction work, and
- CPCCBC4008 (current) Supervise site communication and administration processes for building and construction projects, and
- CPCCBC4009 (current) Apply legal requirements to building and construction projects
OR
2. Complete the following superseded units of competency:
- CPCCBC4001A/ BCGBC4001A Apply building codes and standards to the construction process for low-rise building projects, and
- CPCCBC4002A/ BCGBC4002A Manage occupational health and safety in the building and construction workplace, and
- CPCCBC4003A/ BCGBC4003A Select and prepare a construction contract, and
- CPCCBC4004A/ BCGBC4004A Identify and produce estimated costs for building and construction projects, and
- CPCCBC4005A/ BCGBC4005A Produce labour and material schedules for ordering, and
- CPCCBC4006A/ CPCCBC4006B/ BCGBC4006A Select, procure and store construction materials for low-rise projects, and
- CPCCBC4007A/ BCGBC4007A Plan building or construction work, and
- CPCCBC4008A/ CPCCBC4008B/ BCGBC4008A Conduct on-site supervision of building and construction projects, and
- CPCCBC4009A/ CPCCBC4009B/ BCGBC4009A Apply legal requirements to building and construction projects
OR
3. Complete the following units of competency:
- MSFFT4013 (current) Coordinate onsite installation of cabinetry or MSFFT4001/ LMFFT4001A/ LMFFT4001B Coordinate on-site installation of furnishing products, and
- MSFFDM4009 (current) MSFFT4009/ LMFFT4009A/ LMFFT4009B Match furnishing style and materials to customer requirements, and
- MSFGN3006 (current)/ MSFGN3002/ LMFGN3002A/ LMFGN3002B Estimate and cost job, and
- MSFFM3041 (Current) Determine and document requirements for cabinetry installation or MSFFM3011/ LMFFM3013A/ LMFFM3013B Measure and draw site layout for manufactured furniture products, and
- MSFFM3042 Fabricate cabinetry (current) or MSFFM3005/ LMFFM3005A/ LMFFM3005B Fabricate custom furniture, and
- MSFFM3043 (current) Install cabinetry or MSFFM3006/ LMFFM3006A Install furnishing products/ LMFFM3006B Install furnishing
OR
3A. Complete the following skillset:
- MSFSS00014 – Kitchen and Bathroom Installer Licence
OR
4. Complete the following modules from Course 3477 Certificate IV in Building:
- ABC005 Materials 1, and
- ABC069 Cost Control and Planning 1, and
- ABC077 Building Quantities and Estimating 1B, and
- ABC082 Building Site Supervision, and
- ABC091 Business Management for Building Industry 1A, and
- ABC092 Business Management for Building Industry 1B, and
- ABC102 Residential Site Safety, and
- ABC088 Building Technology 1
OR
5. Complete the following modules from the TAFE Certificate IV in Building Studies, TAFE Course #1261:
- 2182L Cost Control and Planning 1, and
- 2182F Building Quantities and Estimating 1B, and
- 2182H Building Site Supervision, and
- 2182G Business Management for Building Industry 1A, and
- 2182GG Business Management for Building Industry 1B, and
- 2182J Residential Site Safety, and
- 2182C Building Technology 1, and
- 2182B Construction 1
OR
6. Complete the following module from the TAFE Certificate IV in Plumbing Technology, TAFE Course #8081 with the following units:
- 1496 Plumbing contracting principles, and
- BCGBC4001A/ CPCCBC4001A Apply building codes and standards to the construction process for low-rise building projects, and
- BCGBC4004A/ CPCCBC4004A Identify and produce estimated costs for building and construction projects, and
- BCGBC4006A/ CPCCBC4006A or B Select, procure and store construction materials for low-rise projects, and
- BCGBC4007A/ CPCCBC4007A Plan building or construction work
OR
7. Complete the following modules from the TAFE Certificate IV in Plumbing Technology TAFE Course #8081 and course 3477 Certificate IV in Building or TAFE Certificate IV in Building Studies TAFE Course #1261:
- 1496A Plumbing contracting principles, and
- ABC005 Materials 1 or 2182A Materials 1, and
- ABC077 Building Quantities and Estimating 1B or 2182F Building Quantities and Estimating 1B, and
- ABC088 Building Technology 1 or 2182C Building Technology 1.
You may need to show your qualifications if you have
either:
- ever held an endorsed contractor licence or qualified supervisor certificate in kitchen, bathroom and laundry renovation 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 kitchen, bathroom and laundry renovation 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.