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Last edited 23 Jan 2025

Builder's licence

In 2013, the former Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) commissioned Pye Tait Consulting to investigate international licensing schemes for domestic contractors, to identify the various constituent components of such systems. The report included descriptions of arrangements operating in Australia: Including South Australia, (ACT apital Territory, New South Wales and Queensland), Europe (including Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands) and the USA (including the States of California, Florida, New Mexico, and Washington and New York City).

The report concluded on examination that such regimes appeared to benefit all parties, with: Consumers more likely to regard the industry in a more favourable light with greater confidence in the competence and ability of the tradespersons they employ. Contractors becoming more competent and confident in their role because of consumer confidence and able to command higher wages. Operators of the licensing scheme sustain revenues from the administration of tests, licences education and examination fees.

On 2 July 2018 the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) alongf with Pye Tait consulting published a research report 'Licence to build: A pathway to licensing UK construction' The research report looked at the potential benefits of introducing a mandatory licencing scheme for UK construction, and what it could look like in operation.

On 12 June 2019, the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) announced the creation of a Construction Licensing Task Force to: ‘...develop a mandatory licensing scheme for all UK construction companies to transform the sector into a high quality and professional industry.’

The Task Force is supported by a range of leading industry bodies and chaired by Liz Peace CBE, former CEO of the British Property Federation (BPF). It was created following a recommendation in ‘Licence to build: A pathway to licensing UK construction’ a research report by Pye Tait published in 2018, which set out the benefits of a licensing scheme.

A ‘Licence UK Construction’ (LUKC) campaign was launched.

Liz Peace said: “Mandatory licensing has the potential to transform our industry into a world-leading sector. Licensing will help drive up standards and help address the issue of quality and professionalism, which is some areas, is falling short. At the heart of what we’re trying to do is increase protection for the ordinary person who engages with the construction sector. Indeed, according to research by the FMB, one third of homeowners are so worried about having a bad experience with their builder, they are putting off commissioning construction work altogether. This could be costing the economy as much as £10 billion per year.”

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said: “In countries like Australia and Germany, building firms require a licence and we want to develop a scheme that regulates our industry in a similar manner.”

However, in November 2020, a Task Force newsletter announced it was moving away from the mandatory licensing system, which was not supported by government, and calling instead for the existing TrustMark quality scheme to be a requirement to qualify for government grant schemes.

The newsletter stated: ‘Largely due to Covid-19, but also in part due to the current government’s reluctance to introduce widespread regulation, it was decided that the campaign should tactically ‘pivot’ in the short term. Instead of wholesale mandatory licensing across the sector, the government should be lobbied to make any government grants schemes for refurbishments and energy efficiency improvements conditional upon the suppliers having an approved quality mark, such as Trustmark. This was already the case with the Green Homes Grants Scheme but should become accepted policy for any further schemes or initiatives.’