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How do I check a tradesperson's licence in the ACT?

The short answer

Search the Access Canberra construction occupation registers. The ACT registers are unusually informative: they show expired, suspended, surrendered and cancelled licences as well as current ones, and record disciplinary action against a licence holder.

TradieAnswers editorial · written in-house and sourced to the authorities listed below

Checked against 3 published sources, listed in full at the end of this page. How we source this

Access Canberra holds the public registers for ACT business and occupational licences, including the construction occupations. They are free to search and need no account.13

The ACT registers show more than most

Most state registers answer one question: is this licence current. The ACT construction occupation registers go further, and the extra detail is the reason to use them properly rather than glancing at a status.1

  • Detailed licence status, including expired, suspended, surrendered and cancelled licences rather than only current ones.
  • Disciplinary action taken against a licence holder, shown under the licence's details.1

A surrendered or cancelled licence appearing against someone who has quoted you as a licensed builder is worth far more than a blank result, because a blank result is ambiguous and a cancelled licence is not. Read the details rather than stopping at the first line.1

What to do

  1. Ask for the licence number and the exact name it is held under, before work is discussed rather than after.
  2. Pick the register for the occupation, since the ACT publishes a separate register for each construction occupation rather than one combined list.
  3. Search, then open the details rather than reading only the status line.
  4. Check the class covers the work you are having done.
  5. Check for recorded disciplinary action, which is the part no other check will give you.12

Related questions

Do the ACT registers show if a builder has been disciplined?
Yes. Access Canberra publishes disciplinary action taken against a licence holder under that licence's details, alongside statuses including expired, suspended, surrendered and cancelled. That is more than most Australian registers publish.

Sources

Every source below was fetched and its response recorded on the date shown. Where a government site blocks automated clients, that is noted rather than reported as a successful check.

  1. Public registers · Access CanberraChecked 2026-08-18 · responded 200 OK
  2. Choosing a tradesperson · Access CanberraChecked 2026-08-18 · responded 200 OK
  3. Access Canberra · Access CanberraChecked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK

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