After you have completed the NSW Owner Builder Course enrolment form, and paid the course fee, all the course material will be automatically emailed to you instantly. Please make sure you enter your correct email address when you enrol!
Becoming an Owner Builder
Obtaining an Owner Builder Permit
Obtaining an Owner Builder Permit
Obtaining an Owner Builder Permit
In NSW, if you are planning on undertaking residential building work on your home to the value of $10,000.00 or more, and you are not contracting a licensed builder to undertake and supervise this work, then you will need to obtain an Owner Builder Permit from NSW Fair Trading before commencing construction work. To obtain an owner build
In NSW, if you are planning on undertaking residential building work on your home to the value of $10,000.00 or more, and you are not contracting a licensed builder to undertake and supervise this work, then you will need to obtain an Owner Builder Permit from NSW Fair Trading before commencing construction work. To obtain an owner builder permit from NSW Fair Trading, you need to show that you have successfully completed the NSW Owner Builder Course
The NSW Owner Builder Course
Obtaining an Owner Builder Permit
Obtaining an Owner Builder Permit
The Course comprises of five topics, namely:
Apply WHS requirements, policies and procedures in the construction industry (Course code CPCCWHS2001)
Read and interpret plans and specifications (Course code CPCCOM2001)
Undertake basic estimation and costing (Course code CPCCCM1011)
Plan and organise work (Course code CPCCOM1013)
Conduct workplace communication (Course code CPCCOM1014)
About Live and Learn
Obtaining an Owner Builder Permit
About Live and Learn
Live and Learn Pty Ltd is a registered training organisation (RTO provider number 91542). Live and Learn has been in existence since 2009. To check that we are an RTO go to www.training.gov.au and click on "training providers" and search for "Live and Learn" and all our details will be displayed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Please reach out to us if you cannot find an answer to your question.
We are doing our bit to keep your construction costs low. We can assure you that we have not compromised our course in any way and that we offer a top quality training experience.
All registered training organisations are listed on the www.training.gov.au website. Choose the “RTO/Organisation” search engine option on this website, type “Live and Learn”, and our details will appear.
We are not only here to assist you in completing the owner builder course, we are also happy to help out with any questions you may have during the owner builder construction process. Simply contact Leo on 0407 466 220 for assistance.
To become an owner builder in NSW you need to complete two courses, the NSW Owner Builder Course, and the white card course (a construction safety course) - Live and Learn also offers white card courses - for dates and times please see the "White Card Course" page of our website.
People often become owner builders to save on construction costs (such as a builder’s margin), to minimise variation costs, and to have greater control over the construction process.
Apart from an extremely competitive price, we can also assist you with competitive insurance premiums for your owner builder work. In addition, our assessment is set up in a user friendly manner – the assessment document is provided to you in a “Microsoft Office Word” format and you can stop and start the assessment as you please as long as you save your work before closing the document. If you don’t like computers, then simply print the assessment document and hand write your answers in the space provided and then scan and email or post your work back to us.
The cost of an owner builder permit from NSW Fair Trading is $273 (owner builder fee of $198 plus an administration fee of $76).
You can apply for an owner builder permit every five years. However, if a second owner builder permit application is lodged in relation to the same property, and less than five years has lapsed since the issue of the first permit, usually NSW Fair Trading will approve the second permit.
Service NSW processes owner builder permits on the spot and usually takes around ten minutes to process.
You can only obtain an owner builder permit for a property that you intend on living in.
OWNER BUILDER TIPS AND TRICKS
Please reach us at if you cannot find an answer to your question.
Our white card courses place a heavy emphasis on obligations of owner builders.
Under Work Health and Safety legislation, owner builders are persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU). Owner builders need to ensure they prepare a Job Safety and Environmental Analysis (JSEA) before commencing work - for free sample templates of JSEAs see www.safework.nsw.gov.au .
Owner builders need to ensure they complete a Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) before commencing high risk work (such as working at heights on a roof) - for free information and a sample template of an SWMS see www.safework.nsw.gov.au .
The Home Building Act 1989 (NSW) is the legislation that regulates residential building in NSW. Please take time to familiarise yourself about the various consumer protection measures in this legislation by visiting the NSW Fair Trading website (https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/ )
The NSW Fair Trading website (https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/ ) has free contacts that you can download to assist you with preparing your trade contracts.’ We recommend you utilise these contracts and list all work that needs to be undertaken by the trade contractor (room by room). You should also include hourly rates of the tradesperson you are contracting with as they are useful in calculating the cost of variations to building work.
The long service levy is applied to all NSW building and construction projects of $250,000 or more (inc. GST). The current rate is 0.25% of the total cost of the work. Owner builders may be eligible for a reduction of up to 50% of the cost of the levy – The reduction is calculated on the value of any voluntary labour that the owner builder does on the job. For more information (and for the form to make an application for a reduction in the levy) see https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/ .
Go through and list all electrical work in each room of the house: for example, bedroom one work might include four ceiling mounted halogen lights to be switched from bedroom entrance door and also from near bedside table in a spot to be marked by the owner builder; two general purpose outlets in positions marked on architectural plan …
Include an hourly rate for electrician and apprentice so if there are any variations you can provide the materials and you can use a timer to time how long it takes to do the variation work. This greatly reduces the chances of having a dispute.
Don’t forget to check whet the electrician is including and what the electrician is not including.
Go through and list all plumbing work in each room of the house
Include an hourly rate for plumber and apprentice so if there are any variations you can provide the materials and you can use a timer to time how long it takes to do the variation work. This greatly reduces the chances of having a dispute.
Don’t forget to check whet the plumber is including and what the plumber is not including.
The www.yourhome.gov.au website has useful information on passive design (insulation, glazing, shading), reducing electricity usage, and reducing water usage. The website also provides useful instructions on installation – for example, the “insulation” section of the website provides instructions on how to install insulation properly.
The www.energyrating.gov.au website provides useful information on how to reduce energy use, how to reduce emissions, and how to save money.
The www.waterrating.gov.au website provides useful information on how to reduce water use and how to save money.