It seems that there is some difference in getting a Builders Licence depending on the state.

Common ground in qualifications though, either carpentry or bricklaying cert 3 and certificate 4 in residential building. AQF levels.

I have 15 years + UK experience and those quals which were done in Sydney in the past with TAFE but having looked at getting my licence in Queensland or NSW it seems NSW is the worst.

Both states require 2 years "minimum industry experience" but are very different in applicants providing proof of that.

Fair Trading in NSW will ONLY accept signed declarations from 2 fully licenced NSW builders that you have worked for in NSW over a min 2 year period.

BSA in Queensland however will accept paperwork from UK proving experience i.e. references, drawings, photos etc etc.

So it's a bit of a none brainer between those states do I a) go to NSW and have to work for someone for 2 years at award hourly rates, which must be hard after 15 years self employed or b) head to Queensland and work for self??

Does anyone have experience of applying for Builders Licence in other states, if so how do they compare on the experience issue?

Hmm - this is an interesting one. I've just been having a look on the "Referee's Statement Form" and as you say, it says "The person providing this statement must have held a Qualified Supervisor Certificate or Individual Contractor Licence" etc.

But here's the thing:

1) the regulation itself only says

"28 Additional requirements for obtaining certificates
(1) Before a certificate is issued, the Director-General must be satisfied that the applicant:
(a) has such qualifications or has passed such examinations or practical tests, or both, as the Director-General determines to be necessary to enable the applicant to do, or to supervise, the work for which the certificate is required, and
(b) has had experience of such a kind and for such a period, as the Director-General considers would enable the applicant to do, or to supervise, the work for which the certificate is required, and
(c) is capable of doing or supervising work for which the certificate is required."
http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/ma...95+2004+cd+0+N

2) from what I can see (and I only googled briefly, I admit), there aren't licences by exactly those names in other Australian states.

These two things put together make me think that - at least as far as non-Australian applicants go - there is the possibility that that experience could be proven in some other ways. Two reasons: firstly, administrators like the D-G aren't allowed to set unreasonable/inflexible rules. Secondly, there are constitutional reasons why states can't set up unreasonable barriers to people from other states showing up to work in their states.

This doesn't help you directly - and I could be completely wrong or there could be a very "reasonable" reason why the forms are actually written that way. But the point I am grasping at is that DFT might already be used to accepting proof of experience from interstate people not on the forms - so my question is, have you actually asked them on the phone or are you just going by what is written on the forms (which would be reasonable enough)?

3)

There might be another, simpler, option: head to Queensland, get licensed there, and then exchange your Qld licence for an NSW one.

http://blis.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/_...09/ap4747a.pdf

As far as I can see (but maybe I am missing it), there is not even a requirement for you to be a Qld resident before you apply for the Qld licence so long as you can tick all the other boxes.

When I applied for my licence I had to be living in Queensland & have PR status. Don't know if that has changed since 2002/3 though if it has the DET website will say so.
The link below will give details of licencing requirements state by state
http://www.immi.gov.au/asri/occupati...er-4411-11.htm

Edit Just found the link on the det website you need to be both an Australian resident with permission to work & be resident in queensland.

http://www.training.qld.gov.au/infor...ion/index.html

Overseas qualification recognition

Download the Application for overseas qualifications assessment form [PDF 91kB].
1. Do you meet all of the criteria below?

1.
Are you an Australian resident, or have permission to work or study in Australia?
AND
2.
Are you a Queensland resident?
AND
3.
Have you completed a formal technical or tertiary qualification overseas?

Yes, go to General academic assessments below.
No, go to the skills recognition is unable to assess your qualification page.

That link is for skills recognition rather than licensing itself but it's slightly different from the page I was looking at, which was: http://www.bsa.qld.gov.au/BuildersCo...pplicants.aspx

You can get a UK vocational qualification assessed in the UK before you arrive but only if it's AQF 1-3, apparently. I don't really understand whether this is what the OP has.

Also, it might be that that you don't have to be a Qld ressie to get the licence but you would if you wanted to get overseas skills assessed. I had understood (but might be wrong) that in the days before mutual recognition of trades licences it wasn't unusual for tradies who did work in two states/territories e.g. Albury/Woodonga, Queanbeyan/ACT to be licensed in both states, and obviously in one of those states they wouldn't be residents.

But everything I say may be complete nonsense or wrong, I am just suggesting it as a starting point - and you actually have the licence, I don't! I am not disagreeing with what you say at all.

Lol you need a degree just to interpret the bloody red tape mate. While the QBSA may not require you to be a resident to hold a licence the DET, who assess whether your able to apply for one, require you to be both
PR & Qld resident.
If only they could make it easier then tradies with years of experience could earn a living when they arrive instead of scratching about for crumbs until they get a licence

I'd assume it's the unions that don't want immigration that's at least partly responsible for barriers to entry - at least that's my immediate assumption about NSW, given the dodginess that goes on between the unions and NSW Labor.

There's a big problem (well, according to TT/ACA...) with individual (often immigrant) subcontractors (who are really just groups of 2/3 guys) winning a lot of business from unionized firms on industrial/ commercial projects and then getting screwed on payment/OH&S by the contractor. Was the union's reaction to try to recruit them into the union by persuading them they'd be better off with wages protection, safety, training, super etc in the union than they'd be getting used and abused by the head contractors? No - it tried to bully the head contractors into locking the individual dudes out of the contracting process. But the contractors will never do that because the individuals are cheaper and expendable... "The workers united will never be defeated...unless they're bloody immigrants, mate, in which case we don't fancy 'em"

Yes I asked them via email and received a letter to my house in UK advising that they had checked it and is definateley the case that a licence will not be issued until 2 years worth of work under NSW licenced builders has been completed!

They do recognise ineterstate licence holders though so if you have a QLD, WA etc licence then there is recognition! Seems crazy! Not fully read up on that though so they may say if you have had a licence interstate for at least 2 years??

Still wondering about other states as we are flexible and may head to WA, ACT, VIC, SA - how have people gone on with this in those states?

Now looking at NSW Qualified Supervisors Certificate as if I have to work for another contractor to gain NSW experience required for full building licence then companies require you to have this certificate (seen it in job ads on seek.)

So, go to Fair Trading website open application forms and guess what - 2 referee statements required from NSW licenced contractors!!!!!

This seems to be one big vicious circle!!!!!!

Immigration give people 60 points for being in building industry and then you hit the Fair Trading wall on arrival!!!

Has anybody managed to get UK experience recognised for a NSW builders licence if so please help and advise!?

To be honest there is so much bu!!lshite and redtape and LIABILITY attached to a building licence I really wouldnt want one without masses of OZ training and recent experienc and study. ( I know you have live in OZ before but its crazy now) ,

For eg, aussie partner built many houses several years ago, they are now out of the standard warranty, however all legal advice has told us even when we go back Overseas, keep up all liablity insurance till you drop dead!! seriously thats from the QBSA, Master builders our own lawyers.....

Anything you build here, people will come back on you years down the track, we know builders its happened to, frankly its not something you want without knowing every law and regulation inside out and upside down and back again.

We had faulty windows in one house, nothing we had done, in fact it seemed pretty obvious the owner had removed them to fit in huge furniture, even with all the insurances the BSA ruled we had to fix them at our cost. Thats a few windows, a few thousand bucks, many builders getting out of it now its a nightmare.

Fair comments but I'm now just trying to get this supervisors certificate so I can be foreman for bigger builders and then that's their problem.

Seen site supervisor/foreman jobs paying around $120k with car etc so that'll do me very nicely thank you and none of the usual stress of looking for work, quoting, chasing money etc etc!

BOG OFF with your spam! I thought someone was helping for a min then when I go the email saying there were new posts!

So annoying you spammers!

Hi there - we are in Queensland and tried to get skills recognised for my husband's builders licence but they would only allow him a contractors licence until he held a Cert IV in Building & Construction. 1 year later of college work and $3000 dollars, he now has his Cert IV, even though he has been part of NHBC in UK for 25 years. We now have to apply for the licence which is another 4-500.
Even though he now can get his licence, getting a supervisory job at the moment is just plain ridiculous as there are so many builders with no work.

Good luck!!!

In Queensland my husband only got builder restricted and it took 2 years and I was very on the case. He shoudl have just gone for the full license to start with in retrospect but thought it would be easier this way, cost about 5k

I know the other builder is talking about getting out of it- that is interesting - but what would be then the alternative? owner builder and just build to sell?

sure on owner builder you are only allowed a house every so many years (might be every 5)

BSA won't issue another owner builders licence to an individual if they have had one in the previous 6 years. There are also insurance problems & indemnity problems if you sell the house before the 6 year period is up. Usual BSA insurance is not valid for "owner builds"
They now are a useless organisation created to provide jobs funded purely by tradies. As an owner they have little impact on a shoddy job & as a tradie they now do jack all if you meet a customer with no intentions of paying.