Electrical work licence or contractor licence?
You need both, and they do different jobs.
Electrical work licence
The person
Lets you do the work with your hands, like an electrical mechanic licence. It's yours, it follows you from job to job, and it can be renewed for up to 5 years.Electrical contractor licence
The business
Lets the business do electrical work for others and take their money. It's held by the sole trader, partnership or company, and lasts one year at a time.WorkSafe Queensland's line is "You must hold an electrical contractor licence to perform electrical work for others as a sole trader, partnership or company." It comes from the Electrical Safety Office, not QBCC.
Source: WorkSafe Queensland, Electrical contractor licences, read 25 October 2026.
The rules moved on 1 September 2026, when the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 replaced the 2013 one. WorkSafe says it "does not introduce new policy or regulatory obligations", the sections just have new numbers. Older guides quoting the 2013 sections still describe the same rules.
Source: WorkSafe Queensland, Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (updated 14 August 2026), read 25 October 2026.
Who are the qualified technical person and the qualified business person?
Every contractor licence names at least one of each. As a sole trader they're usually both you. In a company they have to be a director, an executive officer, a member or an employee.
The qualified technical person (QTP) performs or supervises all the electrical work the business does and makes sure it's electrically safe. Under section 164 of the regulation they need an electrical work licence for the work, held "for at least 2 years, or a shorter period considered acceptable by the regulator", and to be fit and proper and competent. WorkSafe adds that a new unrestricted contractor licence needs the QTP to have finished "the suite of competency required for eligibility", which its eligibility guide lists. Only the QTP can sign the documents about electrical work the law or the network asks for.
The qualified business person (QBP) covers the money and paperwork side. Section 163 says they've run a business "for a period of, or periods totalling, 5 years", or hold "a diploma or higher level qualification in business", or have finished a business course the regulator approves.
Source: Queensland Government, Electrical Safety Regulation 2026, sections 162 to 166, read 25 October 2026.
Source: WorkSafe Queensland, The role of the qualified technical person, read 25 October 2026.
Lose either person and the clock starts. If the licence goes 30 days with no QTP or no QBP endorsed, it's automatically suspended, and 30 days after that it's cancelled. Tell the Electrical Safety Office within 10 business days when one leaves.
What insurance does the licence need?
Section 165 sets two minimums, and the policy has to be in the business's legal name.
- Public and products liability of at least $5,000,000.
- Consumer protection insurance of at least $50,000.
WorkSafe adds that the policy must cover liability from testing and certifying your work, injury or damage from faulty design work and from incorrect advice "including where you did not charge a specific fee", and goods in your care. You declare you've checked this with your insurer, you don't upload the policy, and the Electrical Safety Office audits contractors to check. Ask your broker to confirm those four in writing before you apply.
Source: WorkSafe Queensland, Electrical contractor licences, insurance requirements, read 25 October 2026.
Are you ready to apply?
Ready to apply check
Against sections 162 to 165 of the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026. Answer for the person who'll be your QTP and QBP. Everything stays in this browser.
From the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026, sections 162 to 165, and WorkSafe Queensland's table of fees (raised 3.4% on 1 July 2026), both read 25 October 2026. The Electrical Safety Office decides every application and can ask for a course or exam. A check, not legal advice.
Source: WorkSafe Queensland, Table of fees, read 25 October 2026.
How do you apply?
Online, through the Electrical Licensing Portal, after you verify your identity with a Digital ID (call 1300 632 993 if you can't). You name the QTP, the QBP and an authorised person, who for a sole trader is you and for a company is a director or executive officer. Each of them gets an email to confirm their identity and accept, and nothing moves until at least one QTP and one QBP have said yes. Then you give the insurance details, make the declaration and pay the $464.30 by card.
Source: WorkSafe Queensland, Electrical contractor licences, how to apply, read 25 October 2026.
The contractor licence is renewed every year, at the same fee. The QTP's work licence has its own renewal, so diary both.
The week your licence arrives
Your number goes on your ads. Section 188 says an advertisement for your business must state your licensed name or registered business name, that you're licensed under the Act, and your electrical contractor licence number, with a maximum penalty of 40 penalty units. That's your van, website, social pages and directory listings.
Source: Queensland Government, Electrical Safety Regulation 2026, section 188, read 25 October 2026.
Customers look you up. The Electrical Safety Office tells people to look for the contractor licence number "and confirm that it’s current before agreeing to any work", on its Electrical Licence Search. Search your own number the day it arrives, so the name a customer finds matches the one on your quotes.
Source: Electrical Safety Office, Electrical licence search, read 25 October 2026.
Your paperwork changes. After the job, the customer gets a certificate of testing and compliance, signed by the QTP. Which certificate the customer should get explains it from their side. Your QTP's name and licence also sit on WorkSafe's public register, with any conditions or disciplinary action.
What happened when one job left a live cable out of the wall
WorkSafe's September 2026 bulletin lists what its Electrical Licensing Committee did in April to August. Two entries describe the same kind of job, and together they show what the contractor licence adds. "An energised unterminated cable with exposed live parts" was left hanging out of a wall for a light switch to be fitted later, and the homeowner got a shock touching it.
In April the electrician who did the work got conditions on their work licence, training within three months, a caution and a $700 penalty. In June the electrical contractor, for a job with the same cable and the same shock, got a caution, a $1,000 penalty on top of an $800 penalty from the Electrical Safety Office, and an independent electrical safety system audit within six months.
Source: WorkSafe Queensland, Electrical licensing disciplinary action, eSafe Electrical, September 2026, read 25 October 2026.
That's the deal with a contractor licence. The work is still one electrician's, but the system behind it is the business's, and the regulator checks both. Test before you leave every job, and write down who tested it.
Put your licence number on every quote and invoiceYamate sells software to tradies. This guide and its check are free and ask for nothing. In the app you add your contractor licence once in Settings, and it prints on every quote and invoice you send.
Related
General information, not tax advice and not legal advice. A plain reading of the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 and WorkSafe Queensland's pages, and the Electrical Safety Office decides every application. Check the eligibility guide before you apply. Yamate doesn't lodge anything for you.