How to check a roofing contractor’s licence and insurance before hiring

Roofing is not a trade where "seems to know what they're doing" is enough of a check before handing over a deposit. It is a licensed, regulated trade across every Australian state and territory, and it is also genuinely dangerous work carried out at height, which is exactly why checking a contractor's licence and insurance before work begins is worth the ten minutes it takes rather than something to skip because a quote sounded reasonable.

Each state and territory runs its own licensing system with its own thresholds and regulator, so what counts as "needing a licence" varies depending on where you live. In Queensland, a Queensland Building and Construction Commission licence is generally required for roofing work valued over $3,300, and the QBCC issues specific licence classes covering roof and wall cladding work. In New South Wales, a licence from NSW Fair Trading is generally required for residential building work over $5,000, and Fair Trading issues distinct licences for roof plumbing, roof tiling and roof slating rather than one blanket roofing licence. In Victoria, a registered building practitioner through the Victorian Building Authority is generally required for roofing work that is managed or arranged for over $10,000 including both labour and materials. Western Australia's licensing sits with Building and Energy WA, South Australia's with Consumer and Business Services, and Tasmania's with Consumer, Building and Occupational Services, while the ACT and Northern Territory each run their own licensing systems as well.

Checking a licence is generally straightforward, since every state regulator maintains a free public register that lets you search a licence number or business name and see whether it is current and what class of work it covers. A legitimate, established roofing contractor will give you a licence number without hesitation and will not be put off by a quick check against the public register before you commit to anything — treat any reluctance to provide this as a warning sign in its own right.

Insurance is just as important as the licence itself, and arguably more directly relevant to your own protection as the homeowner. Roofing work carries a genuine risk of property damage or injury, given the height and physical nature of the job, so a responsible contractor should carry current public liability insurance, and where they have employees working with them, appropriate workers' compensation cover as well. Asking to see a certificate of currency for public liability insurance before work starts is a reasonable request, not an unusual one, and it confirms the cover is actually active rather than simply claimed. This protects you if something goes wrong during the job — damage to your property, or an injury on site — rather than leaving you exposed if the contractor turns out to be uninsured.

It is worth being specifically alert to one well-known pattern in Australia: door-to-door or unsolicited roofers who appear in a neighbourhood shortly after a significant storm or hailstorm, offering to inspect your roof for free and pressuring you to sign a contract on the spot. This kind of high-pressure, immediate-signature approach is a recognised scam pattern that shows up repeatedly after major weather events, and it is worth being wary of anyone unwilling to give you time to check their licence, get a second opinion, or simply think it over before committing. A legitimate contractor with genuine licensing and insurance will not object to you taking a reasonable amount of time to verify their details.

This article is general information about how licensing and insurance checks typically work across Australia, not legal advice for your specific situation, and exact thresholds and requirements can change over time, so checking directly with your state's regulator is worthwhile for anything unusual. Our directory lists Australian roofing contractors by area if you are ready to start comparing options.

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