Starting a trade business in Victoria
Licensing is the part that differs state to state, and VIC has its own quirks. Pick your trade for the licence you actually need, what it costs, and how long the wait is.
Search for the Building and Plumbing Commission, not the Victorian Building Authority. The VBA now trades as the BPC and its old vba.vic.gov.au addresses redirect to bpc.vic.gov.au, so a lot of what you will find online still uses the old name. Victoria is also strict about its two levels: registration lets you do the work, a licence lets you certify it and contract for it in your own name.
Who licenses you in VIC
Energy Safe Victoria (electrical) and the Building and Plumbing Commission (plumbing, gas and building)
Pick your trade
Electrician
Registered Electrical Contractor (REC)
What you need →Plumber
Licence, in each class of plumbing work
What you need →Gas fitter
Plumbing licence, class Gasfitting work
What you need →Builder
Registration as a building practitioner, Domestic Builder (Unlimited) or (Limited)
What you need →Roofer
Depends entirely on the material, and doing both means holding both
What you need →Air conditioning and refrigeration
Plumbing licence, same class
What you need →Solar installer
Registered Electrical Contractor (REC)
What you need →Not your trade, or not your state?
The national side covers everything that is the same wherever you are: ABN, GST, insurance, records and workers comp. For licensing anywhere else, your own state’s regulator is the place to start.
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.
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.