How do I check a fencing contractor's licence?

There is no national register. Each state and territory has its own regulator — NSW Fair Trading, the Building and Plumbing Commission and Energy Safe Victoria in Victoria, QBCC in Queensland, Building and Energy in WA, Consumer and Business Services in SA, CBOS in Tasmania, Access Canberra in the ACT, and the NT Government. Search the licence number the business gives you on the regulator for the state the work is happening in.

What percentage of Australian fencing contractors have a verifiable ABN?

16.7% of the 1,007 fencing contractors in this directory publish an ABN we could confirm against the national register, against 19.5% across all trades.

How many reviews should a fencing contractor have?

The median fencing contractor here has 20. Treat a five-star rating from a handful of reviews with more caution than a slightly lower rating from hundreds.

How to choose a fencing contractor

Short answer

Check the licence first — fencing contractors need a licence for some work and not other work. Then check that the business is who it says it is: of the 1,007 Australian fencing contractors in this directory, only 16.7% publish an ABN you can confirm, and 7% list a phone number that contradicts the one on their own website.

Fencing Contractors handle new fences, replacements, gates and retaining walls. This is what to check before you let one into your house, and what the evidence says about the category as a whole.

Fencing Contractors are licensed for some work and not others

Fencing is often unlicensed below a value threshold, but retaining walls above a certain height become structural work and need a licensed builder plus, frequently, council approval.

There is no national licence register in Australia — each state and territory runs its own. The regulator for your state is listed at the bottom of this guide, and checking a number takes about a minute.

What 1,007 Australian fencing contractors actually publish

We check every business in this directory the same way, and publish the result whether it flatters the trade or not. For fencing contractors:

What we checked	Fencing Contractors	All trades
Publish an ABN we could confirm	16.7%	19.5%
Listed phone matches their own website	65.1%	59.8%
Listed phone contradicts their own website	7%	6.8%
Website responded when we checked	82.6%	82.6%
Corroborated by two or more sources	88.5%	79.8%
Median number of Google reviews	20	40

What goes wrong with fencing contractors

A boundary assumed rather than surveyed, which is how neighbour disputes start
Retaining walls built above the height that needs engineering
Your neighbour never consulted about a shared fence, which affects who pays

What to ask before the work starts

How are we establishing where the boundary actually is?
Does any part of this need council approval or engineering?
What are the post depths and footings?

A fencing contractor who answers all three of those without hesitating is telling you something useful. One who is vague about a licence number is telling you something too.

The median matters more than the average

The median fencing contractor in this directory has 20 Google reviews. That is the number to hold in your head when you see a perfect five-star rating: five stars from four reviews and 4.6 from three hundred are not comparable, and the second is almost always the safer hire.

It is also why the ranking here weights review volume more heavily than review score. A business cannot buy its position, and a handful of glowing reviews does not move it far.

Where the fencing contractors are

Melbourne (84), Sydney (73), Brisbane (66), Perth (65), Gold Coast (39), Adelaide (37). A shortlist for your own area is more useful than a national ranking — the best fencing contractor in the country is no help if they are four states away.

Where to check a licence, by state

There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state where the work is happening.

NSWNSW Fair Tradingbuilders, electricians, plumbers and specialist trades
VICBuilding and Plumbing Commission, and Energy Safe Victoria for electricalbuilding practitioners and plumbers; electricians are Energy Safe Victoria
QLDQueensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC)building and most trade contractor licences
WABuilding and Energybuilders, electricians, plumbers and gas fitters
SAConsumer and Business Servicesbuilding work contractors and supervisors
TASConsumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS)building and occupational licences
ACTAccess Canberraconstruction occupations licensing
NTNT Government building practitioner registrationbuilding practitioners and electrical workers

Common questions

Do fencing contractors need a licence in Australia?: Sometimes. Fencing is often unlicensed below a value threshold, but retaining walls above a certain height become structural work and need a licensed builder plus, frequently, council approval.
How do I check a fencing contractor's licence?: There is no national register. Each state and territory has its own regulator — NSW Fair Trading, the Building and Plumbing Commission and Energy Safe Victoria in Victoria, QBCC in Queensland, Building and Energy in WA, Consumer and Business Services in SA, CBOS in Tasmania, Access Canberra in the ACT, and the NT Government. Search the licence number the business gives you on the regulator for the state the work is happening in.
What percentage of Australian fencing contractors have a verifiable ABN?: 16.7% of the 1,007 fencing contractors in this directory publish an ABN we could confirm against the national register, against 19.5% across all trades.
How many reviews should a fencing contractor have?: The median fencing contractor here has 20. Treat a five-star rating from a handful of reviews with more caution than a slightly lower rating from hundreds.

Compare fencing contractors near you

1,007 fencing contractors, ranked on the evidence described above rather than on advertising.

How to choose a fencing contractor in Australia