Licence verification by state

Every state and territory runs its own licensing register for the building trades, and each one exposes different information at different reliability. Karven (on Pro) calls each register weekly to verify your licence (and your subbies' licences) are current. This article covers what each state checks and the edge cases worth knowing.

What Karven verifies

For each registered licence, Karven checks:

1. Status, current, suspended, lapsed, surrendered, cancelled.
2. Class / scope, that the licence covers the work you're claiming to do.
3. Conditions, any restrictions or notations.
4. Expiry date, when it next needs to be renewed.
5. Holder name, that the registered holder matches what you've put in Karven.

Mismatches surface as warnings in Settings → Compliance. Suspensions or cancellations trigger an email within 24 hours.

NSW: Fair Trading

Karven calls the NSW Fair Trading public licence lookup. NSW exposes status, class, conditions, and the registered name. Expiry dates are exposed when the licence is current and unsuspended.

Edge case: a renewal in progress shows as "current" with a near-term expiry; Karven flags this as a soft warning rather than a problem, but it's worth renewing before the date.

VIC: VBA

Karven calls the Victorian Building Authority register. VBA exposes status, class, name, and any disciplinary actions on file. Expiry dates aren't always exposed on the public register for some classes, Karven pulls the data that's there and asks you for the rest in your vault entry.

Edge case: domestic builder limited and unlimited classes are tracked separately. Make sure the class you've added in Karven matches the work you actually do.

QLD: QBCC

Karven calls the QBCC online licence search. QBCC exposes a lot, status, class, expiry, conditions, and a public history of payment of fees. Karven flags any QBCC notation as soon as it appears.

Edge case: QBCC's licence classes are granular (e.g. "Builder, open" vs "Builder, medium rise"). Mismatches between your registered class and the work you're quoting will surface as warnings.

SA: CBS

Karven calls Consumer and Business Services SA. CBS exposes status, class, expiry, and name. Less data than QBCC but enough for the checks Karven runs.

WA: BCS / DMIRS

Karven calls the WA Building Commission's register. Status, class, expiry, name are all exposed.

Edge case: WA has distinct registration for builders, plumbers, gasfitters, and electricians, each on their own register. If you hold multiple, Karven checks each separately.

TAS: CBOS

Karven calls Consumer, Building and Occupational Services Tasmania. Status, class, and expiry are exposed.

ACT: Access Canberra

Karven calls Access Canberra's construction occupations register. Status, class, expiry, and conditions are exposed.

NT: NT Build / Plumbers and Drainers Board

Karven covers NT Build (commercial builders) and the Plumbers and Drainers Board (plumbing). Other trades in NT have lighter registration requirements that Karven currently asks you to attest manually.

Cross-border work

If you work across state lines (common in border towns: Tweed/Coolangatta, Albury/Wodonga), Karven supports holding multiple state licences on one profile. Each is verified independently against its own register.

For mutual recognition arrangements (you're QLD-licensed and doing one-off work in NSW under MR), Karven flags the MR arrangement on the quote PDF so the customer knows the basis on which you're operating.

Subbie verification

The verification flow is the same for subbies you've added to your roster. If a subbie's licence status changes, Karven pauses RCTI on that subbie and removes them from your "available for new jobs" list until the issue is resolved.

This sounds aggressive, and it is. Better than discovering at audit that you paid a subbie whose licence was cancelled three months ago.

What if the register's wrong?

The state registers are imperfect. Occasionally a recently renewed licence still shows as "expired" because the register hasn't been updated. If you see a false-positive warning, click Mark as renewed, verified via certificate and upload the renewal receipt. Karven re-checks daily and clears the warning the moment the register catches up.

Privacy

The verification calls don't expose anything that isn't already on the public register. Karven doesn't share your subbies' details with anyone outside your business. The verification audit log is private to your account.

A common gotcha

If you change your business name (move from sole trader to Pty Ltd), the licence may need to be transferred. Karven flags this as a name mismatch warning until the licence is reissued in the new name. Don't ignore it, quoting in the new name with the old name's licence is a problem.