Going out on your own as a gas fitter in WA
Checked against Director of Energy Safety, through Building and Energy on 8 August 2026.
To take jobs in your own name
There isn't one, and that surprises people
WA has no separate gas contractor licence, which is the opposite of WA electrical and WA plumbing. Do not assume WA copies the eastern states. The unrestricted Class G permit is the gate. Note that a gasfitting authorisation is not a contractor licence either: it ties you to one named employer.
And underneath it, to do the work
Class G gasfitting permit, unrestricted
There is a restricted version of the same permit that only lets you work under supervision. A restricted holder cannot certify work or submit notices of completion, so in practice they cannot run their own jobs. The unrestricted permit is the one that matters.
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
- A plumbing apprenticeship or a Certificate III in Gas Fitting, plus on the job training and the Toolbox session. For a permit that lets you certify or supervise, that means a minimum of 250 hours of on the job training, recorded in your training record book. Miss either the hours or the Toolbox session and you only get the restricted permit. From 1 July 2025 new applicants sign a criminal history declaration.
- What it costs
- New Class G permit, effective 1 July 2026: $155 for 1 year ($73 registration plus $82 application), or $447 for 5 years ($365 plus $82). Renewal is $73 or $365.
- How long it takes
- Building and Energy says most applications are determined within five weeks, faster if you lodge complete and online.
- What you can do without it
- Effectively nothing, and there is no dollar threshold at all. The only work carved out of the definition is swapping a gas cylinder, some work on mobile engines, and work on the supplier's own reticulated network. Everything else needs the permit at any value.
- Insurance the regulator requires
- None required by the regulator as a condition of the permit. Public liability is a commercial decision, not a licensing one, though you will struggle to get on a site without it.
Read this before you rely on it
- If you take on residential work over $20,000 that needs a building permit, home indemnity insurance may apply to you under the Home Building Contracts Act. We could not confirm whether standalone gasfitting counts as home building work for that Act. Ring Building and Energy on 1300 489 099 before you sign anything that size.
- The Toolbox session is referred to in the guidance but not defined on any page we could read, so ask what it involves when you apply.
Where this came from
Read off Director of Energy Safety, 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 gas fitters.
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.