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Building Commission NSW

Building Commission NSW is the NSW building regulator: it licenses builders and trades, inspects residential work, and took over building from NSW Fair Trading in 2023.

By Chalkline. Last updated 25 May 2026. Verified 25 May 2026.

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Building Commission NSW is the standalone NSW regulator for the building and construction industry. It is who a NSW builder gets their licence from, renews with, and is inspected by, and it is the body that replaced NSW Fair Trading for building purposes.

What it is

Building Commission NSW was established under the Building Legislation Amendment Act 2023, with building and construction regulation transferring to it from NSW Fair Trading on 1 December 2023 (verified 2026-05-25). It brought together the building teams from Fair Trading and the former Office of the Building Commissioner into one specialist regulator, with substantially more inspectors and enforcement resources.

What it does

  • Licensing: issues and renews contractor licences, qualified supervisor certificates, owner-builder permits, and registers design practitioners and certifiers, under the Home Building Act 1989 and the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020.
  • Inspections: audits and inspects residential building quality, including targeted compliance inspections independent of the private certifier.
  • Complaints and enforcement: handles complaints about home building and licensed trades, and enforces the building laws.
  • Plumbing: acts as the NSW plumbing regulator for metro and coastal areas under the Plumbing and Drainage Act 2011.

It also runs the public licence check, where an owner (or you) can verify a NSW contractor licence online.

For a builder

  • It is your licensing regulator. Your contractor licence, renewals, fitness-and-propriety assessment, and CPD obligations run through Building Commission NSW.
  • “NSW Fair Trading” is the old name for this. Older references and documents say Fair Trading; for building, it is now Building Commission NSW.
  • It inspects and enforces. It can inspect your residential work and act on complaints, separately from the certifier; keep your licence and insurance current.

Also known as: BCNSW, NSW Building Commission.

See also

Last updated: 2026-05-25. Verified: 2026-05-25. Quarterly review for currency.

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