Registration and licensing of carpenters not expected to begin until 2021

The VBA has received a growing number of enquiries about trades registration over the past few weeks.

Rumours circulating in the industry claim that the registration and licensing of carpenters will start on 1 September 2020, with other trades to follow.

This is incorrect. The VBA advises that no date has been set specifying when full or provisional registration and licensing of carpenters is to begin.

Regulations for carpentry work are expected to be in place by 1 September 2020 but are not expected to commence until 2021.

Other trades will then enter the registration and licensing scheme over a five-year period.

The VBA and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning will provide industry with plenty of notice before any registration and licensing changes come into effect.

To keep up to date with key changes relating to the registration and licensing of trades, please visit the Engage Victoria website.

About trades registration

The State Government introduced a new registration and licensing scheme for tradespersons in late 2018. The scheme aims to reduce non-compliant building work, enhance industry accountability and ensure tradespersons have adequate qualifications, skills and experience.

In November 2019, the government announced that carpentry would be the first trade to become subject to the new registration and licensing scheme.

Options for implementing the new scheme were proposed in March 2020, with feedback sought from industry and the community via an Options Paper.

Draft regulations indicating a preferred approach to registering and licensing carpenters will be released later this year, alongside a regulatory impact statement seeking further public comment.