Wellrun guide

Licences when you sell a business, state by state

In every state and territory, building, electrical and plumbing licences are issued to a named person or company, and a buyer of the business assets does not take them over: the buyer needs its own licence, usually with a licensed nominee or supervisor, before it trades. If shares in a licensed company are sold instead, the regulator expects to be told about new directors and nominees within days, and the rules differ by state.

By Wellrun. Last updated 20 October 2026.

Why a licence rarely comes with the business

A contractor licence is issued to the person or company that applied for it, after the regulator has looked at that applicant's qualifications, finances and fitness. So when the assets of a business are sold, the buyer is a different applicant and needs a licence of its own. The sale contract cannot hand it over.

Two things decide what a buyer needs on the day. First, whether the licence is held by a person or by the business: an electrician's or plumber's own licence leaves with that person. Second, whether the sale is of the assets or of the shares in the company that holds the licence. In a share sale the company is still the holder, but the regulators expect to be told about new directors and nominees within days, and no regulator page we read says outright what a share sale does to the licence. Ask the regulator before you agree a date.

What to write down before you sell

• Every licence and registration, its number, its class and its expiry date.
• Whose name each one is in: a person, or the company.
• The nominee, supervisor or qualified person each company licence depends on, and whether they are staying.
• Which state or territory issued it.
• The insurance a licence needs, such as public liability, and whose name the policy is in.
• Home warranty or residential building cover on jobs still running, which is taken out by the builder for each job.

State by state

Queensland

On a sale. A QBCC contractor licence can be held by an individual or a company; a partnership cannot hold one and a trust holds one only through its trustee. A company must tell the QBCC within 14 days of a change of directors or nominee, and the QBCC's fitness test reaches anyone holding half or more of the shares. The Electrical Safety Office says a change of entity needs a new electrical contractor licence, and a change of qualified technical or business person must be notified within 10 business days.

What a buyer of the assets needs. Its own QBCC contractor licence, as an individual or as a company with a licensed nominee, and for electrical work its own contractor licence with a qualified technical person and a qualified business person.

Check it. Search the public register for the licence number: QBCC licensee register; Electrical licence search; RSHQ registers of gas work licences and authorisations. In Wellrun, the same link sits beside each licence you record in Queensland.

Sources: QBCC, licence requirements for a company, partnership or trust; QBCC, update the details on your licence; Electrical Safety Office, are you restructuring your electrical contracting business; QBCC licensee register.

New South Wales

On a sale. A contractor licence is held by an individual, or by a company or partnership with a nominated supervisor. The Home Building Act 1989 has a section headed Transfer prohibited. A licence holder must say within 7 days if it has no nominated supervisor, and more than 30 days without one may lead to cancellation; changes of directors recorded with ASIC must be notified.

What a buyer of the assets needs. Its own contractor licence before it contracts, subcontracts or advertises the work, and for a company or partnership an acceptable nominated supervisor.

Check it. Search the public register for the licence number: NSW Government, verify a licence. In Wellrun, the same link sits beside each licence you record in New South Wales.

Sources: Building Commission NSW, company and partnership licences; NSW, verify a licence.

Victoria

On a sale. The Building and Plumbing Commission says an individual registration will not be transferred to a company registration, and a building company must report a change of nominee director within five working days. Plumbing registration and licensing is for individuals only. Energy Safe Victoria says a company with a different ACN must apply for a new registered electrical contractor registration, and changes to supervisors or structure must be notified within 10 business days.

What a buyer of the assets needs. A buying company needs its own building company registration with a director registered in the right class; for electrical work its own registration with a business supervisor and a technical supervisor; and licensed individual plumbers to do or supervise plumbing.

Check it. Search the public register for the licence number: Building and Plumbing Commission, find and check a practitioner; Energy Safe Victoria, search a public register. In Wellrun, the same link sits beside each licence you record in Victoria.

Sources: Building and Plumbing Commission, building companies and partnerships; Building and Plumbing Commission, which plumbing registration or licence; Energy Safe Victoria, changing registered electrical contractor details.

South Australia

On a sale. Individuals, partnerships and companies can be licensed. CBS asks to be contacted before a change of business structure, because the licence may need to change, and a change of company directors or of a nominated supervisor must be notified within 14 days. The Plumbers, Gas Fitters and Electricians Act 1995 has no provision for transferring a licence.

What a buyer of the assets needs. Its own contractor licence, a registered building work supervisor for building work, and registered workers authorised for the plumbing, gas or electrical work.

Check it. Search the public register for the licence number: CBS, find a licence holder. In Wellrun, the same link sits beside each licence you record in South Australia.

Sources: sa.gov.au, building work contractor's licence; sa.gov.au, plumbing, gas fitting and electrical licences; CBS, find a licence holder.

Western Australia

On a sale. Individuals, partnerships and companies can be registered as building contractors and licensed as electrical contractors. A company must notify a new director within 7 days, and an electrical contractor must keep at least one licensed nominee. A plumbing licence can only be held by a natural person and is not transferable.

What a buyer of the assets needs. Its own building contractor registration with a nominated supervisor for work over the threshold, its own electrical contractor licence with a nominee, and licensed plumbing contractors to carry out and supervise plumbing.

Check it. Search the public register for the licence number: Building and Energy licence and registration search. In Wellrun, the same link sits beside each licence you record in Western Australia.

Sources: WA Government, apply for building contractor registration; WA Government, apply for an electrical contractor's licence; ABLIS, WA plumbing contractor's licence.

Tasmania

On a sale. A company or partnership can hold an entity licence for building work, with a licensed building services provider who is a director or partner. Electrical, plumbing and gas-fitting contractor licences need a nominated manager, and a contractor whose nominated manager leaves has 60 days to find a new one.

What a buyer of the assets needs. Its own entity or contractor licence, a suitably licensed director or nominated manager for each kind of work, and the insurance in its own trading name.

Check it. Search the public register for the licence number: Consumer Affairs Tasmania, find a licensed tradesperson. In Wellrun, the same link sits beside each licence you record in Tasmania.

Sources: Consumer Affairs Tasmania, building licences for a body corporate; Consumer Affairs Tasmania, nominated managers; Consumer Affairs Tasmania, find a licensed tradesperson.

Northern Territory

On a sale. An electrical contractor licence is not transferable by the licensee, and nor is a plumbing licence. ABLIS says a residential building contractor registration cannot be transferred. A building corporation must tell the Board within 7 days if a nominee or registered director stops acting, and an electrical contractor whose nominee leaves has 30 days to notify.

What a buyer of the assets needs. Its own building registration with a registered director or nominee, its own electrical contractor licence with a nominated person, and plumbing done by people who hold the right licence.

Check it. Search the public register for the licence number: Building Practitioners Board, register of building practitioners; NT WorkSafe, check an electrical contractor licence; Plumbers and Drainers Licensing Board, currently licensed plumbers and drainers. In Wellrun, the same link sits beside each licence you record in the Northern Territory.

Sources: Electrical Safety Regulations 2024 (NT), regulation 48; Plumbers and Drainers Licensing Act 1983 (NT), section 35A; ABLIS, NT residential building contractor registration.

Australian Capital Territory

On a sale. An individual, a corporation or a partnership can be licensed, and a corporation needs at least one nominee who holds the matching individual licence. The Construction Occupations (Licensing) Act 2004 has no provision for transferring a licence. A licensee must notify the Registrar within two weeks after a person becomes or stops being a director or nominee.

What a buyer of the assets needs. Its own corporation or partnership licence, with a licensed nominee in each occupation it trades in.

Check it. Search the public register for the licence number: Access Canberra public registers. In Wellrun, the same link sits beside each licence you record in the Australian Capital Territory.

Sources: ACT Planning, corporation and partnership licences; Construction Occupations (Licensing) Act 2004 (ACT).

Check the business itself

A buyer and their accountant also look the business itself up on the government's public registers. ABN Lookup shows the ABN and who it is registered to, free. The PPSR organisation search shows whether anyone has registered a security interest against the organisation's assets, for a fee. ASIC's company search shows a company's basic details free and sells a company extract. Wellrun links to all three from Business details, beside the ABN you recorded, and sends none of them anything.

Other licences a business may hold

Liquor, food, motor dealer, security, pest control and transport operators are licensed too, by different regulators in each state. The Australian Business Licence and Information Service, run by the Australian Government with the states and territories, lists the licences and permits for an activity and a location.