What is an Owner builder

In the ACT, owner–builders must be licensed under the Construction Occupations (Licensing) Act 2004 and meet all the eligibility requirements.

An owner–builder in the ACT takes on the same responsibilities as a licensed builder to supervise building work and make sure the building work complies with the Building Act 2004.

Licence classes

There is only one class of owner–builder licence. If granted a licence, the licence will restrict you to only undertaking work on a building approval where the work relates to a class 1, class 2 or class 10a building under the Building Code of Australia. You will not be authorised to undertake specialist building work such as demolition or swimming pool construction.

Eligibility

You need certain qualifications to apply for an owner–builder licence. These are explained in the Construction Occupation (Licensing) (Qualifications – Builder and Building Surveyor License) Declaration 2019 (No 2).

To apply for any owner–builder licence class you will need to:

• complete an owner–builder course (within the last five years) OR
• hold an active class A, B or C builder licence in the ACT