By Greg Allan, tradesman and creator of Data First Coaching
What licence does a roofer need to trade legally in Australia?
There is no single national roofing licence. Each state sets its own rules, and which one applies depends on the type of roofing work and where the job is. In Queensland, cutting and fixing roof tiles, including concrete, clay, metal or similar material, shingles and shakes, setting out and fixing battens, and bedding, pointing and installing associated flashing sits under the roof tiling licence run by the QBCC. In New South Wales, roof plumbing work above a contract value set by NSW Fair Trading needs a contractor licence, and the current figure is on that page rather than repeated here because it changes.
South Australia licenses most domestic building work, and the Law Handbook notes that builders must be licensed to carry out most types of domestic building work and face significant penalties if they carry out work without the right one, under the rules Consumer and Business Services administers for building work. Western Australia runs a similar registration system through Building and Energy and the Building Services Board, covering builders' registration for work above a set value and permit requirement.
Does a roofer need a separate licence for metal roofing, tiling or roof plumbing?
Often yes, because the licence classes are set by the type of work, not by the trade name "roofer". A business doing tile re-roofs, metal roofing, guttering, flashing, ridge capping and roof plumbing on the same house can sit across more than one licence class depending on the state.
In Victoria, work on metal roof coverings, flashing and roof drainage systems sits under the roofing stormwater class run by the Building and Plumbing Commission, and most people applying for that class must sit the relevant exam unless they qualify through mutual recognition from another state. Consumer Affairs Victoria adds that anyone handling a domestic building contract above a set value, or combining trade skills such as plastering and roofing on one job, must register as a building practitioner. A roofer working across sarking, valley flashing, downpipes and skylight work in Victoria may need to check both pages, not just one.
What about company or partnership licences for a roofing business?
If a roofing business trades as a company or partnership, the business itself generally needs its own licence on top of any individual's. NSW Fair Trading says a company or partnership must hold a contractor licence before contracting, subcontracting or advertising residential building work above its set value, and that a licensed company or partnership must have a nominated qualified supervisor. South Australia's licensing guidance also lists a plumbing contractors licence as separate from a building work contractor licence, and notes that all plumbing, gas and electrical work must be carried out by a registered person. A roofer running a crew and taking on subbies for scaffold or height safety work should check which of these apply before the next insurance job lands.
Can a roofer be fully licensed and still lose money on a job?
Yes, and it happens more often than most owners expect. A roofing quote has more moving parts than almost any other trade: materials across tile, metal and sarking, scaffold hire, edge protection, subcontracted height safety work, weather days lost to rain, and the labour to pull it all together on a restoration or storm job. None of that sits inside a licence check.
A business can hold every licence it needs for the state it works in and still watch a busy storm season leave the bank account thinner than the profit and loss suggests it should. The gap is rarely the licence. It is usually a quote that allowed for what the job typically needs rather than everything it could need, so a bracket, a length of guttering or a roll of sarking gets left off, and nobody notices until the job is already on the roof.
What number actually protects a roofer's profit, beyond the licence?
The number that tells the truth is the gross profit margin on each individual job, not the figure estimated from the profit and loss at the end of the month. Checked job by job, from the roofer's own quoting and job data, it shows exactly where a re-roof, restoration or leak repair under-allowed, instead of leaving it to be discovered weeks later when the season has already moved on.
Picture a roofing business where quoting is slow and manual, and with scaffold, edge protection, tile, metal and sarking all on the one job, it is easy for a small item to be left off a quote and then be missing on site. That is a data problem before it is a pricing problem: the business is working from memory and habit rather than from what every past job actually cost once every bracket, post and hour of height safety work was counted. This is where data first thinking matters: pricing a roofing job properly means allowing for the full shopping list it could need, not just what is typically used, so the unused allowance becomes profit instead of the missed allowance becoming a quiet loss.
This is where AI agents earn their keep. An AI agent is software that does a job the way the owner would, following their own prices, their own wording and their own rules, rather than a generic template. For a roofer, an AI agent can carry the quoting checklist, the job costing and the margin tracking the business already uses, consistently, on every job, so the office work of chasing missing line items and reconciling margins does not fall on the owner at the end of a storm season.
This is general information, not legal, tax or employment advice. Check your own situation with the body named here or a qualified adviser.
Where can you check the current rules?
- Roof tiling (QBCC) covers the Queensland roof tiling licence, scope of work and the qualifications needed to apply.
- Roof plumbing licences (NSW Fair Trading) covers who needs a contractor licence for roof plumbing work in New South Wales.
- Company and partnership licences (NSW Fair Trading) covers licensing for roofing businesses trading as a company or partnership.
- Roofing stormwater work (Victorian Building Authority) covers the Victorian licence class for metal roofing, flashing and roof drainage work.
- Becoming a registered building practitioner (Consumer Affairs Victoria) covers when a roofer must register with the Building and Plumbing Commission.
- Building work (Law Handbook, South Australia) covers general licensing requirements for domestic building work.
- Licensing requirements and council contracts (Consumer and Business Services) covers South Australian plumbing and building contractor licences.
- Builders' registration (Western Australia) covers registration for building practitioners and contractors.
How does Data First Coaching approach this?
Data First Coaching, built by Greg Allan, starts from the roofing business's own job data rather than from a description of the business. Through the Trade Business Intelligence, it looks first at gross profit margin on individual jobs, because for a roofer that number carries scaffold hire, edge protection, subcontracted height safety work and every bracket and roll of sarking a re-roof could need, not just what was typically used. That is usually where the real problem sits, well below the licence question. Greg puts it simply: “I want to make sure I’ve covered myself and the business so that this person isn’t the problem.” The how, including the way quoting and margin tracking is built around a roofer’s own jobs, is worked through inside the Academy, with members, because the Trade Business Intelligence is powered by every member who joins it.
Looking for a business coach who starts from your numbers? Roofer Business Coach or every answer for roofers.
