Minor maintenance and cleaning work
You must have a licence or certificate to do minor maintenance and cleaning 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 minor maintenance and cleaning, 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 minor maintenance and cleaning work?
Minor maintenance and cleaning means non-structural maintenance (including minor repairs) or cleaning of existing works, structures or buildings.
To learn more about what is considered minor maintenance and cleaning work, 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 minor maintenance and cleaning work, you must complete one of the qualifications listed below.
Note: The minor maintenance and cleaning category must have at least one of the following endorsements included on the licence.
When you apply for a licence or certificate, you must make sure you give us your statement of attainment from your training institution showing you have completed the units listed below to be able to get the endorsement you are applying for.
If you complete a certificate without doing these units, you will not qualify.
Complete one of the following:
1. CPC10120 / CPC10111 Certificate I in Construction including the following electives and additional units:
- CPCCCM2004 / CPCCCM2004A Handle construction materials, and
- CPCCCM1011 / CPCCCM1011A Undertake basic estimation and costing, and
- CPCCPD2013 / CPCCPD2013A Remove and replace doors and door and window components.
OR
2. CPC10108 Certificate I in General Construction, including the following electives and additional units:
- CPCCCM2004A Handle construction materials, and
- CPCCCM1001A Undertake basic estimation and costing, and
- CPCCPD2003A Remove and replace doors and door and window components.
OR
3. CPC10120/ CPC10111/ BCG10103 Certificate I in General Construction including the following electives and additional units:
- CPCCCM2004/ CPCCCM2004A/ BCGVE1001B Handle construction materials, and
- CPCCVE1011/ CPCCVE1011A/ BCGVE1002B Undertake a basic construction project, and
- CPCCCM1011/ CPCCCM1011A/ BCGVE1004B Undertake basic estimation and costing, and
- CPCCCA2011/ CPCCCA2011A/ BCGCA2001B Handle carpentry materials, and
- CPCCCA2002/ CPCCCA2002B / BCGCA2002B Use carpentry tools and equipment, and
- CPCCCA3010/CPCCCA3010A Install windows and doors / BCGPD2003B Remove and replace doors, and door and window furniture.
OR
4. BCG10198 Certificate I in Construction TAFE course #1206.
Complete one of the following:
1. CPC10120 or CPC10111 Certificate I in Construction including the following electives and additional units:
- CPCCCM2004 or CPCCCM2004A Handle construction materials, and
- CPCCCM1011 or CPCCCM1011A Undertake basic estimation and costing, and
- CPCCPD3029 or CPCCPD3029A Remove graffiti and apply protective coatings
OR
2. CPC10108 Certificate I in General Construction, including the following electives and additional units:
- CPCCCM2004A Handle construction materials, and
- CPCCCM1001A Undertake basic estimation and costing, and
- CPCCPD3009A Remove graffiti and apply protective coatings
OR
3. CPC10120/ CPC10111 Certificate I in Construction or BCG10103 Certificate I in General Construction including the following electives and additional units:
- CPCCCM2004A/ CPCCCM2004/ BCGVE1001B Handle construction materials, and
- CPCCVE1011/ CPCCVE1011A/ CPCCVE1001A/ BCGVE1002B Undertake a basic construction project, and
- CPCCCM1011A/ CPCCCM1011/ BCGVE1004B Undertake basic estimation and costing, and
- CPCCPD3029/ CPCCPD3029A/ BCGPD3009B Remove graffiti and apply protective coatings
OR
4. BCG10198 Certificate I in Construction TAFE course #1206.
Complete one of the following:
1. CPC10120 or CPC10111 Certificate I in Construction including the following electives and additional units:
- CPCCCM2004 / CPCCCM2004A Handle construction materials, and
- CPCCCM1011 / CPCCCM1011A Undertake basic estimation and costing, and either:
- CPCCPD3030 / CPCCPD3030A / CPCCPD3030B Apply protective paint coating systems, or
- CPCCWF3004 / CPCCWF3004A Repair wall and floor tiles.
OR
2. CPC10108 Certificate I in General Construction, including the following electives and additional units:
- CPCCCM2004A Handle construction materials, and
- CPCCCM1001A Undertake basic estimation and costing; and either:
- CPCCPD3010A Apply protective paint coating systems, or
- CPCCWF3004A Repair wall and floor tiles.
OR
3. CPC10120/ CPC10111 Certificate I in Construction or BCG10103 Certificate I in General Construction including the following electives and additional units:
- CPCCCM2004/ CPCCCM2004A/ BCGVE1001B Handle construction materials, and
- CPCCVE1011/ CPCCVE1011A / BCGVE1002B Undertake a basic construction project, and
- CPCCCM1011/ CPCCCM1011A/ CPCCCM1001A/ BCGVE1004B Undertake basic estimation and costing; and either:
- CPCCPD3030/ CPCCPD3030B/ CPCCPD3030A/ CPCCPD3010A/ BCGPD3010B Apply protective paint coating systems, or
- CPCCWF3004/ CPCCWF3004A/ BCGWF3004B Repair wall and floor tiles.
OR
4. MSM30216 / MSA30309 Certificate III in Surface Preparation and Coating Application.
OR
5. BCG10198 Certificate I in Construction TAFE course #1206.
You do not need to show your qualifications if you have
either:
- ever held an endorsed contractor licence or qualified supervisor certificate in minor maintenance and cleaning 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 minor maintenance and cleaning 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.