Excavating
NSW Fair Trading
Information about excavating licences and certificates.
You must have a licence before you do any residential building work in NSW, including excavating, that is valued at more than $5000 (incl GST) in labour and materials.
Excavating means removing earth or rock down to a previously decided level or excavation line, to form a hole or trench for structural supports, for building walls or floors, or for structural landscaping work.
To learn more about what is considered excavating see the definition in schedule 4 of the Home Building Regulation 2014.
There are different types of licences available in NSW depending on whether you want to contract for another party or supervise work.
A contractor licence allows you to contract and advertise to do work. You can only do the types of work described on your licence card. Contractor licences can be issued to individuals and to companies and partnerships.
From 1 July 2020, you can apply for a 1, 3 or 5 year contractor licence.
A qualified supervisor certificate allows you to supervise and do the work described on your certificate. Qualified supervisor certificates are only issued to individuals. A qualified supervisor certificate does not allow you to contract for work.
From 1 July 2020, you can apply to have a Qualified Supervisor Certificate issued for 1, 3 or 5 years.
An endorsed contractor licence is issued to individuals who apply for a contractor licence and who also have the qualifications and experience needed to be a qualified supervisor. Endorsed contractor licence cards have ‘contractor licence (Q)’ printed on them to show they are also equivalent to a Qualified Supervisor Certificate.
