Going out on your own as a roofer in QLD
Checked against Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) on 8 August 2026.
To take jobs in your own name
Contractor licence in the right roofing class
No single roofer licence in Queensland. Metal and sheet work sits under "Roof and wall cladding"; tiles sit under "Roof tiling". Which one you need depends on the material, and doing both means holding both.
And underneath it, to do the work
Nominee supervisor or site supervisor licence, same class
Lets you supervise the work but not contract for it.
This is the one people get wrong: the licence that lets you DO the work and the one that lets you CONTRACT for it are different. Working for a boss you only need the first. Going out on your own you need both.
- What you need before you apply
- The qualification and experience for the class, plus the financial requirements for your revenue category.
- What it costs
- New individual contractor application: $773.89 for SC1 (turnover up to $200,000), $920.68 for SC2 (up to $800,000), rising from there. Cheaper if you already hold a current individual QBCC licence.
- How long it takes
- QBCC says most applications are fully processed within a few weeks.
- What you can do without it
- The same $3,300 rule as all QBCC building work, which in practice catches almost any real roofing job.
- Insurance the regulator requires
- Professional indemnity is not a condition of either roofing class.
Read this before you rely on it
- Fees are indexed every 1 July and QBCC's pages carry mixed review dates. Confirm the current figure.
Where this came from
Read off Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) on 8 August 2026. Fees and processing times usually change on 1 July, so check before you budget.
Once you are up and running, we also have a page on what ONARA Ops does for roofers.
When you are ready to take the first job
Once the licence is sorted, you need to look like you have been doing this for years: a website people can book from, and quotes and invoices with your logo that go out the same day you finish. That part is us.
Other trades in QLD
We are not accountants, lawyers or insurance brokers, and none of this is advice. It is what the regulators and the ATO publish, gathered in one place with links to the source, so you know what to go and ask about. Rules and fees change, so check with the authority before you act on anything here. Government fees shown are for the 2026-27 year and are indexed every 1 July.