Is there a licence for garage door work in NSW?
NSW has no licence for garage doors as such. Legal Aid NSW lists the installation or maintenance of fixed apparatus that moves people or things along fixed guides as work that is not home building work, and it names garage doors next to lifts, escalators and inclinators.
That matters because most NSW licence thresholds belong to home building. The NSW Government says a contractor licence is needed to carry out, advertise or contract for residential building work valued at more than $5,000 in labour and materials, GST included.
The exclusion is about the door itself. If a job also changes the building, for example a new or wider opening, ask the door specialist whether that part counts as home building work.
Contracts and insurance for a door job
For home building work, Legal Aid NSW says a contract over $5,000 must be in writing, and over $20,000 the contractor needs Home Building Compensation (HBC) insurance. Because it puts garage doors outside home building work, neither rule clearly reaches a door job.
Legal Aid NSW also notes that the Australian Consumer Law may still protect you on work that sits outside the home building rules.
Openers and wiring in NSW
In NSW, any electrical wiring work needs an electrical licence or certificate, whatever the job is worth and whether the property is a home or a business.
Something plugged into a power point is not part of the electrical installation under the NSW definition, so an opener that plugs into an existing point needs no electrical licence. A new power point near the ceiling is wiring work, and NSW Fair Trading tells homeowners never to put in, swap or move a power point unless they are qualified to.
Swapping a hard-wired opener is its own case. The NSW Government lists disconnecting and reconnecting fixed electrical equipment as specialist work, and its certificate for that work covers hard-wired appliances and motors at the equipment itself, like for like, but not changes to the fixed wiring.
Doing that disconnection without a licence or certificate is a breach of the Home Building Act 1989, the NSW Government says, with penalties of $22,000 for an individual and $110,000 for a company.
The certificate to ask for
Electrical work in NSW ends with a Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work, the CCEW. One has to be submitted for any work that installs, repairs, adds to or alters electrical equipment, so if a power point or wiring was part of your job, ask for your copy and keep it.
Looking up a licence in NSW
Service NSW runs a licence check that shows whether a contractor holds a valid NSW licence before work starts. Search by person or business name, licence number, licence category, ABN or ACN, or by suburb, postcode or council area. If the check fails you, Service NSW points you to NSW Fair Trading.
NSW law also shapes the ads you see. A licensed building or trade business must show the licensee's name and licence number in its advertising, in print, online and on air, and nobody may advertise electrical wiring without a current contractor licence.
Bush fire prone land
Every NSW council prepares a bush fire prone land map for its area, and the Commissioner of the NSW Rural Fire Service approves it. You can look a property up with the RFS online tool, ask council to see the map, or read the Section 10.7 planning certificate.
Ratings run in six steps, BAL-LOW at the bottom and BAL-FZ at the top, as the RFS sets them out. If your block has one, the BAL assessment and the building surveyor decide what a new garage door has to meet.
NSW rules at a glance
| The rule | Who says so | |
|---|---|---|
| Home building licence | Garage door work is listed as not home building work | Legal Aid NSW |
| Written contract | Home building work over $5,000 | Legal Aid NSW |
| HBC insurance | Home building work over $20,000 | Legal Aid NSW |
| Electrical wiring | A licence or certificate, whatever the job is worth | NSW Government |
| Disconnecting fixed equipment | Specialist work: a licence or certificate | NSW Government |
| Certificate | A CCEW for work that installs, repairs, adds to or alters electrical equipment | NSW Government |
Before you agree to a door job
- Find out whether the opener plugs in or is hard-wired
- If there is wiring, ask who does it and look up their licence on Service NSW
- Ask for the CCEW for any new power point or wiring
- Get the quote in writing, with the door, the opener and any electrical work listed separately
- On bush fire prone land, ask whether the new door has to meet the block's BAL
What we would do
Before you book, look up at the spot on the ceiling where the opener will sit. If there is no power point within reach of its cord, the job has an electrical part, so ask the door specialist to name who will do that part and check their licence on Service NSW before the day.