QBCC Licensing Explained: What to Check Before Hiring a Tiler

As the General Manager of Allspex Tiling, I deal with the licensing, compliance, recruitment and paperwork that sits behind running a legitimate tiling company in Queensland. After enough years of reading quotes, trialling tradespeople and untangling who is actually licensed to do what, I can tell you this: the system is not well understood, even inside the industry. A Certificate III, an ABN, a business name and a QBCC licence are all different things, and a ute with a logo on the side does not magically turn them into the same thing.

So this is the plain-English guide to finding a QBCC licensed tiler on the Gold Coast. Here’s what homeowners should check before handing someone the keys to a bathroom, shower or balcony.

A Certificate III in Wall and Floor Tiling is a recognised trade qualification. It is an important step, but it is not a QBCC contractor licence and it does not automatically mean the person holding it is ready to run your project.

This is one of those things you only really appreciate once you start recruiting. We have trialled people who arrived with the right piece of paper but very little practical experience working independently on real jobs. Some could perform training exercises but struggled with the things that matter on site: preparation, setting out, diagnosing a failed wet area, working around existing structures and knowing what to do when the job does not look like the textbook example.

That is not an attack on the qualification. It is simply the difference between completing a course and becoming an experienced tradesperson. Tiling is a trade learnt with your hands, over time, and usually after making a lot of dust.

A QBCC contractor licence is a separate process. The qualification is one part of that process, not the finish line.

The simplest distinction: a qualification shows trade training. A contractor licence is what allows the licence holder to legally enter into contracts for the work covered by that licence.

Qualified, experienced and licensed are three different things

These words get thrown around as though they mean the same thing. They do not.

• Qualified but inexperienced
• Experienced but not licensed to contract directly
• Licensed, but not especially experienced in the type of repair you need
• Qualified, experienced and appropriately licensed

For a straightforward tile installation, that distinction may not feel important. For a leaking balcony, failed shower or bathroom repair, it matters a great deal.

A leaking balcony repair can involve poor falls, failed waterproofing, saturated screed, movement, drainage problems and old work completed by several different trades. A shower repair can look simple from the outside while hiding a completely different problem underneath the tiles.

Being able to lay a neat tile is useful. Knowing why the area failed in the first place is what stops you paying for the same problem twice.

A company is a separate legal entity from the people who own it. That sounds like accountant language, but it matters when something goes wrong.

If a company is issuing your quote, signing the contract, and invoicing you for licensed building work, the company itself needs the appropriate QBCC contractor licence. It cannot simply borrow the credibility of a director’s personal licence and call it a day.

The company also needs an appropriately licensed nominee to provide the technical supervision behind that licence.

At Allspex Tiling, the company holds its own QBCC licence, and Marco holds the relevant individual licence and acts as the company’s nominee. In practical terms, there is a clear line of responsibility between the person making the technical decisions on site and the company entering into the contract. You can read more about how that handover to Marco came about.

Yes, in some circumstances. This is where the whole thing starts to make people’s eyes glaze over.

Employees, apprentices and developing tradespeople can work under a licensed contractor without each person necessarily holding their own contractor licence. That is normal. Nobody expects a first-year apprentice to arrive with a contractor licence in one hand and a waterproofing specification in the other.

The issue is supervision.

We have seen failed bathrooms and balconies where the licence number on the paperwork looked perfectly respectable, but the person actually doing the work had very little experience and the licence holder was barely involved.

A licence at the top of a contract does not automatically mean the licence holder personally checked the preparation, the waterproofing or the finished work.

A very fair question to ask before signing anything is: who is actually doing the work, and who is supervising and taking responsibility for it?

Because doing things properly costs money. That is not a very glamorous answer, but it is the truth.

A legitimate contractor may be carrying costs for:

• Individual and company licensing
• Qualified supervision
• Insurance
• Written contracts and administration
• Employee wages, superannuation and workers’ compensation
• Regulatory compliance
• Warranty obligations
• Returning to rectify genuine defects

Someone avoiding some or all of those responsibilities can obviously come in cheaper. That does not mean every cheap quote is dodgy, but it does mean you should understand what you are comparing.

The real question is not just, “How much is the quote?” It is, “Who is still answering the phone if this leaks again in six months?”

This is one we have seen often enough to mention.

For most insurable residential construction work in Queensland above $3,300, the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme comes into play. If a contractor starts doing creative maths to split, shave or structure a larger job so it conveniently sits under that threshold, do not treat that as a clever discount.

If someone tells you they are saving you money by avoiding the insurance premium, ask yourself what else is being avoided at the same time.

Our view: if the job genuinely falls below the threshold, fine. If a larger job is being massaged to look smaller on paper, run. (We also cover this in our FAQs if you want the short version.)

It takes about two minutes. Search the exact individual or company named on your quote using the QBCC Online Licence Search, then check that the licence is current and covers the work being offered.

If the quote comes from a company, check the company, not just the name of the person standing in your bathroom.

Wet areas are where small mistakes become expensive ones.

A leaking shower or balcony may involve failed waterproofing, incorrect falls, drainage issues, deteriorated screed, movement, plumbing penetrations or moisture travelling from somewhere completely different to where it finally appears.

The visible tiles are often the least interesting part of the problem.

That is why our wet-area inspections and repair work focus heavily on diagnosis and preparation before anyone starts talking about tile colours. It usually starts with moisture readings to find where the water is actually going, and it is the same reason we are cautious about quick fixes like sealing balcony tiles without removing them. If the waterproofing underneath has failed, the surface is not where the fix lives. Proper balcony waterproofing has to address what is happening below the tiles.

Licensing does not automatically make someone a wet-area specialist. It does, however, create a clear line of legal and technical responsibility, and in a leaking bathroom or balcony that matters.

This is the part where our opinion is shaped less by theory and more by what keeps arriving at our door.

We regularly inspect bathrooms, showers and balconies that have already been “fixed” once. We see competing quotes from people who do not appear to hold the appropriate licence. We have trialled qualified applicants who were nowhere near ready to work independently. We speak to builders, training organisations, apprentices and other trades, and the same issue keeps coming up: the person doing the work is not always the person whose experience you thought you were buying.

That does not mean every builder, subcontractor or training provider is doing the wrong thing. It does mean homeowners should stop feeling awkward about asking basic questions.

Who is doing the work? Who is supervising it? What licence does the contracting entity hold? Who comes back if it fails?

Those are not difficult-customer questions. They are sensible questions when you are handing someone a wet area inside your home, whether that is a repair or a full bathroom renovation.

What to check before hiring a tiler

• Who is the legal person or company issuing the quote?
• Does that exact entity hold a current QBCC licence?
• Does the licence class cover the proposed work?
• If it is a company, who is the listed nominee?
• Who will physically complete the work?
• Who will supervise and inspect it?
• Does the contractor have real experience with this type of project?
• Is the complete scope written down?
• Are preparation and waterproofing clearly included?
• Is Queensland Home Warranty insurance required and included where applicable?
• What workmanship warranty is provided?
• Who comes back if the work fails?

The construction industry has earned some of the distrust homeowners have towards tradespeople. We work in it every day, so we understand why.

A QBCC licence is not a halo. It does not guarantee perfect workmanship, great communication or common sense. It is simply an important first check that tells you who is legally standing behind the work.

After that, look at experience, supervision, the written scope, the repair method, and the warranty.

A polished quote can tell you what someone wants to charge. Proper licensing, experience and accountability tell you a lot more about who you are actually hiring.

If you would like a straight answer on a leaking shower, balcony or wet area, you can send us photos or request a free assessment, and we will tell you what we think is going on. You can also see where we work across the Gold Coast.

Allspex Tiling Pty Ltd | Gold Coast remedial tiling specialists