Going out on your own as a roofer in VIC
Checked against Building and Plumbing Commission on 8 August 2026.
To take jobs in your own name
Depends entirely on the material, and doing both means holding both
Metal roofing, flashings, gutters, downpipes and stormwater are PLUMBING work: the class is "Roofing (stormwater)", with the usual registration then licence steps. Roof tiling is a separate building registration. The BPC says it plainly: work on metal roofs can be undertaken only by registered or licensed plumbers.
- What you need before you apply
- For the metal side, the prescribed units for the Roofing (stormwater) class, then registration and, to certify and contract, the licence. Tiling has its own path.
- What it costs
- Plumbing side, 2026-27, GST exempt: application $66.30, registration $416.30 for 3 years, licence $369 for 12 months.
- What you can do without it
- Roof cleaning, painting and preparation are carved out of the stormwater class, so long as you are not connecting, disconnecting or altering anything.
- Insurance the regulator requires
- Public liability is a hard condition of a plumbing licence: the BPC wants a certificate of currency before it will issue or renew.
- Who issues it
- Building and Plumbing Commission
Read this before you rely on it
- If you do metal roofs and tiled roofs you are in two different regulatory streams at once. Budget for both.
- No processing time is published for any of these.
Where this came from
Read off Building and Plumbing Commission 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 VIC
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.