As at 10 October 2026, ACT Planning says that to provide a construction service in the ACT you need a licence, and it names the occupations that need one; carpenters and bricklayers are not among them for now. In the Northern Territory, the Government says work is prescribed when its value tops $25,000 and it falls within one of six listed kinds of building work, and prescribed work must be done by a registered builder or contractor.
General informationDotto is not a builder, tradesperson or property manager. Dotto holds no builder’s or trade licence. It does not do, offer, contract for or arrange any building, trade or maintenance work, and does not refer anyone to a tradesperson. This is general information, not advice.
In the ACT, licences are issued under the Construction Occupations (Licensing) Act 2004 and the register of licensed construction practitioners is kept on the Access Canberra website. In the Northern Territory, the Building Practitioners Board records its inquiries and disciplinary actions against building practitioners. Each is the place to check a particular job.
ACT: the occupation decides
ACT Planning lists the occupations that need a licence. You need one in the ACT if you are any of these:
- a builder, including an owner-builder
- an electrician
- a plumber, a drainer or a gasfitter, or more than one of these, including a medical gas installer or technician
- a building surveyor (a private certifier)
- a building assessor
- a gas appliance worker
- a works assessor, or
- a plumbing plan certifier.
Every one of those occupations is licensed under the Construction Occupations (Licensing) Act 2004. Carpentry and bricklaying are named as trades that need no licence in the ACT at present. So the question for a repair in the ACT is not what it costs but who is doing it, and whether the work falls within a licensed occupation.
A corporation or partnership that wants to provide or advertise construction services in the ACT needs a licence of its own.
The four builder classes
There are four classes of builder licence in the ACT, each with its own scope of work. The lowest of them is the one most closely shaped to small, non-structural work.
| Class | Scope of work |
|---|---|
| Class A (unlimited) | Any Building Code of Australia class at any height, specialist building work excepted, plus basic building work. |
| Class B (medium rise) | Building work, other than specialist building work, on a building of 3 storeys or lower, of any class, and basic building work. |
| Class C (low rise residential) | Building work, other than specialist building work, on a class 1, 2 or 10a building of 2 storeys or lower, certain ancillary class 10b structures, and basic building work. |
| Class D | Non-structural basic building work, other than specialist building work. |
Specialist building work, which ACT Planning names as demolishing a building and installing a swimming pool, needs an endorsement added to a builder’s licence. ACT Planning’s advice to owners hiring a builder is to make sure, for work that needs a licensed builder, that the builder holds the right class for it.
A change being considered in the ACT
The ACT Government says it is “exploring options to extend licensing to trades such as brick and block laying, carpentry, concreting, glazing, painting and decorating, plastering, tiling and waterproofing”. As at 10 October 2026, its Trade Licensing Project is in the policy development phase, consultation has closed, no final decision will be made until a detailed impact assessment is done, and any changes are not expected before 2027. Until then, the occupation list above is the rule.
Northern Territory: a dollar line for listed work only
The Northern Territory Government says prescribed residential building work has to be done by a registered builder, and that only some residential work needs a registered building contractor. Work is prescribed when its value is more than $25,000 and it falls within one of these:
- a class 1a building: a house, whether detached or a townhouse or duplex joined to others
- a class 2 building, meaning flats or units
- an extension or renovation of a class 1a or class 2 building that increases its floor area
- a class 10 building such as a garage, carport or shed, joined to a class 1a or 2 home and built with it
- a retaining wall, whenever it was built, that a class 1a or class 2 building depends on for its integrity even though the two are not attached
- relocating an existing building.
Both conditions must be met: the value, and a listed kind of work. A renovation counts only where it adds floor area, and the list names no repair work as such, so on the Government’s page a repair to an existing home does not appear to be prescribed work.
That is not the end of the question for a larger job. The Government says a renovation or extension may still need a registered building contractor, and points to its table of residential building work that needs permits to check.