Property developers licensing scheme

You will need a property developer licence if you are the person or entity that is doing any of the following related to building and construction projects with 3 or more residential dwellings:

• applying for development approval
• applying for a building approval
• applying for a building commencement notice or a certificate of occupancy for a project issued with building approval after 1 October 2026
• selling or advertising the sale of residential property off-the-plan.

You will need to hold a property developer licence throughout the time that you are undertaking residential building work, from when a building approval is issued until a certificate of occupancy is issued.

Regulated residential building – residential buildings, or mixed-use buildings that include a residential component, which are constructed as part of a project to construct 3 or more dwellings.

Residential building work – building or altering a regulated residential building.

See the list of key terms and definitions here.

To be eligible for a licence you must:

• have the operational and financial capacity to undertake residential development activities
• be suitable to undertake residential development activities
• not be disqualified from applying for a licence
• meet any other eligibility requirements prescribed by regulation.

As part of an application, you will need to attach a rating report that has been prepared by an approved rating entity. That a rating report will cover each of the suitability requirements. Details on obtaining and submitting a rating report as part of a licence application will be made available before the scheme opens for applications.

The Registrar will use the rating report to help inform a decision to grant a licence (with or without conditions) or refuse a licence.

To be suitable to undertake residential development activities, the Construction Occupations Registrar (the Registrar) will look at the following:

• your character
• history of compliance (e.g. if you have had regulatory action taken against yourself or been convicted of an offence against a law that affects your suitability to undertake residential development activities)
• ability to demonstrate compliance with the Act or relevant laws
• operational and financial ability to be a property developer (e.g. past performance and credit history)
• competency requirements check (if any)
• history of cancelled or suspended licence.

If you are applying for a licence as a corporation, the Registrar may also look at the following:

• any associated entities or key persons
• former associated entities or key persons.

If you are applying for a licence as an individual, the Registrar will also look at whether you:

• have been insolvent
• were an executive officer of a corporation within 2 years before the corporation went into administration, receivership or liquidation
• have been disqualified from managing a corporation.

The Minister may determine qualifications, experience, continuing professional development or other competencies that a person must have to be a licensee. At this stage, there are no proposed competency requirements for licensed property developers. Experience and competency will be assessed through the rating report process.

The Registrar may issue a licence for up to 7 years. The Registrar may impose or vary conditions on a licence throughout the term of a licence. Licensees will be subject to ongoing reporting and compliance obligations.

The Act provides the Minister with the power to approve a Code of Practice for licensed property developers, and other persons prescribed by regulation. View the approved Property Developers (Relevant Property Developer) Code of Practice 2025.

The Code of Practice commences at the same time as the mandatory licensing requirements, on 1 October 2026.

A person may complain to the Registrar about a licensed property developer if the person believes on reasonable grounds that the developer has:

1. contravened the Act
2. when conducting a residential development activity, the licensed property developer has:
   1. failed to meet the standard expected of a property developer
   2. not demonstrated a level of competence expected of a property developer
   3. engaged in improper or unethical conduct.

The approval instrument and conditions of approval is contained in the Property Developers (Rating Entity – Equifax Australasia Credit Ratings) Approval 2025.

The following entities are approved rating entities:

Rating entities are approved for a maximum period of five years.

An entity seeking approval must:

• hold an Australian financial services licence
• have appropriate processes to undertake assessment of the operational and financial capacity of an applicant
• have procedures for training and monitoring people employed/engaged to undertake assessments
• have the operational and financial capacity to undertake assessments
• impose fees that are reasonable
• have appropriate processes for internally reviewing assessments and managing complaints.

Approved rating entities may charge the applicant a fee for providing rating reports. In seeking approval to be a rating entity, an entity must include details of proposed fees and how those are reasonable in relation to the services they will offer.

Further information is available in the Guidelines for rating entities applying to be approved under the Act [PDF 401.3 KB].

Entities who wish to be approved as a rating entity under the Act should email CEDConsumerProtectionPolicy@act.gov.au.

You will need a property developer licence if you are doing any of the following related to building and construction projects with 3 or more residential dwellings:

• applying for development approval
• applying for a building approval, building commencement notice or a certificate of occupancy
• selling or advertising the sale of residential property off-the-plan.

The City and Environment Directorate (CED) is developing a regulation which will exclude certain groups and individuals from requiring a licence. This information will be published online once the regulation has been made. The CED will continue to engage with industry on the proposed exclusions.

The following table illustrates the points at which a licence must be held, and the person who must hold the licence.

The licensing scheme will open for applications on 1 October 2025. It will be mandatory to hold a property developer licence from 1 October 2026 if you are doing one of the activities listed above.

There will be costs associated with applying for a licence and for the rating report. We are currently developing these fees. More information will be provided as it becomes available.

In most instances, developers of retirement villages will need a property developer licence. A property developer licence is required to undertake building work on a regulated residential building. Regulated residential buildings are:

• residential dwellings constructed as part of a project to construct 3 or more dwellings
• class 1 or class 2 buildings, and buildings that contain class 2 buildings.

This definition applies to most retirement villages, meaning that property developers working on these projects will need to be licensed.

The Property Developers Regulation 2025 will exempt retirement villages where the property developer is an approved aged care provider that is also registered as public benevolent institution by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. These entities will not need a property developer licence when constructing retirement villages.

All other people and entities that conduct each of the activities that require a licence, as detailed in section 7 of the Act, will require a licence.

The scheme applies to community housing providers (CHPs).

CHPs must be licensed in order to undertake regulated residential building projects. They must provide a rating report from an approved rating entity to support their licence application, and pay licence fees, including the licence application fee and the annual licence term fee.

CHPs are exempt from the activity-based component of the fees. This will support the viability of CHP-delivered projects and assist these organisations in continuing to deliver social and affordable rental housing. This fee exemption only applies to projects constructed by registered CHPs or their wholly owned subsidiaries.

The activity-based fee will apply to projects that are delivered through joint venture arrangements between CHPs and non-CHP entities.

The provisions in Part 5 of the Act, which relate to rectification orders, stop work orders, and undertakings apply to CHPs. Directors of CHPs are excluded from the director liability provisions in Part 5 of the Act.

Part 5 of the Act deals with rectification orders, stop work orders, and undertakings. Section 46 of the Act, which is in Part 5, includes a definition of “property developer” that only applies to Part 5 of the Act. Section 47 of the Act, also in Part 5, introduces a definition of serious defect. Serious defects relate to defects in certain important elements of a building, such as waterproofing and fire safety systems. Any defect in relation to one of these building elements, whether minor and easily fixed defect, or a major defect that would be costly and complex to fix, will meet the definition of a serious defect.

The Registrar has discretion in relation to taking regulatory action under this Part of the Act.

A residential property development can be undertaken by a single licensee or by several people who each hold a licence at various stages of the development. For example, the landowner may apply for development approval for a residential project, which requires a licence under section 162A of the Planning Act 2023. That owner could then sell the land, complete with an approved Development Application (DA), to another person. That person could then engage in off-the-plan sales, apply for building approval, complete the project, and be issued with a Certificate of Occupancy.

For some steps, like submitting a DA, a licence can be held at the time that step is being done at a point in time. However, once building approval is given, a licence must be “attached” to a project up until a certificate of occupancy has been issued. This means an appropriately licensed person must be responsible for the project during the entire construction phase.

There is currently one approved rating entity, Equifax, who offer a product called iCIRT. The Construction Occupations Registrar has asked that anyone applying for a property developer licence provide a “standard” level iCIRT report with their application. If the Registrar has concerns or needs additional information to help decide an application, they may ask the applicant provide a “detailed” level iCIRT report.

Property developers are encouraged to consider taking out decennial liability insurance for their projects. The Act requires the Registrar to consider if a project has a decennial liability policy attached to it if they are considering issuing rectification orders, stop work orders, or undertakings using the regulatory powers under Part 5 of the Act, however it is not mandatory to have this insurance.

The licensing scheme opens for applications on 1 October 2025, with a 12-month transition period before mandatory licensing commences on 1 October 2026. From 1 October 2026, a licence will be required for certain activities (detailed on this page). The time at which a licence is required will depend on the specific project timing.

For projects which have received development approval before mandatory licensing commences on 1 October 2026, transition arrangements are provided which allow for an application for minor amendments to the development approval to be made without a property developer licence. This is detailed in new section 162B of the Planning Act 2023, which can be found in schedule 2, Part 2.5 of the Property Developers Act 2024.

Part 5 of the Property Developers Act 2024 (rectification orders, stop work orders and undertakings) applies to building work for which a development approval is given on or after 11 July 2024. Residential building projects which received development approval before 11 July 2024 are not subject to the scheme.

You can find the latest information on the scheme on this webpage. The webpage will be updated as information becomes available. You may also email EPSDDConsumerProtectionPolicy@act.gov.au if you have any questions about the scheme.

If you have bought a dwelling off-the-plan from a licenced property developer, you do not need a property developer licence if you on-sell that dwelling prior to a certificate of occupancy being issued for the project.

The Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Amendment Regulation 2025 (No 1) excludes people who are on-selling an off-the-plan dwelling from the requirement to hold a property developer licence. However, you are required to include the property developer licence number on any subsequent advertisement or contract for sale.

Scenario

• A landowner owns a single residential block of land with an existing detached house on it.
  • They have no prior experience in building or property development.
  • They are an individual, not a company.
  • They have entered a development agreement with a property developer to demolish the existing dwelling and build 3 new townhouses on the land.
• The property developer holds a property developer licence and will coordinate all aspects of the development, including:
  • Obtaining project finance for the project;
  • Overseeing all aspects of design and construction, including engaging design professionals, engineering services, and ensuring statutory compliance obligations are met.
• The Developer will have significant interest financially over the land as part of their contractual arrangement with the landowner.
• The townhouses will be offered for sale off-the-plan.

The following table illustrates who will need a licence for this residential development scenario.