Going out on your own as a builder in WA
Checked against Building Services Board, through Building and Energy on 8 August 2026.
To take jobs in your own name
Building contractor registration (individual, Form 13)
This is what lets you contract with the public. You have to hold the practitioner registration first. WA has no separate residential class: one builder registration covers it.
And underneath it, to do the work
Building practitioner registration
Lets you be the nominated supervisor for a registered building contractor. Building and Energy states plainly that a practitioner may not provide building services directly to another person, so on its own it does not let you take a job from a customer.
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
- Practitioner registration first, then contractor on top. The contractor application requires you already hold the practitioner registration.
- What it costs
- Effective 1 July 2026. Practitioner: $1,133 ($290 application plus $843 registration). Contractor, individual: $854 ($290 plus $564). About $1,987 all up, renewable every three years.
- How long it takes
- Building and Energy aims to decide within 50 business days when everything is supplied, longer if they have to come back to you.
- What you can do without it
- Registration only bites when all three are true: the work needs a building permit, AND it is worth $20,000 or more ($50,000 for a Class 10a building like a shed, garage or carport), AND it is inside the prescribed area, which covers 122 of WA's local government districts. Miss any one of those and you can contract without registering.
- Who issues it
- Building Services Board, through Building and Energy
Read this before you rely on it
- Home indemnity insurance is not a condition of registration, but it is a per contract legal obligation on residential work over $20,000 and it bites the moment you start trading. Sort your broker before your first job, not after.
Where this came from
Read off Building Services Board, through Building and Energy 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 builders.
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 WA
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.