Entry 1
The work, job by job
A termite system is not one job. QBCC’s booklet names two QBCC licence classes for termite management, chemical and physical, and a contractor needs one of them to give advice or reports about termite systems or infestations.
A summary of QBCC’s licence pages and booklet, and Queensland Health’s licensing page. The full scope of each licence is on those pages.
| The job | The licence it calls for |
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| Chemical treatment before the slab and around the perimeter of new building work | QBCC termite management (chemical). Anyone supervising or performing the work also needs a Queensland pest management licence from the Department of Health. |
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| Installing a physical system, such as graded stone or stainless steel mesh | QBCC termite management (physical), for the material or system named on the licence, installed to the manufacturer’s specification or another applicable standard. |
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| Inspecting a completed building and reporting on its termite systems or an infestation | The chemical class covers both. The physical class covers advice or a report about the use of its own named material or system. |
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| Treating timber pests with a pesticide | A current pest management licence. Each licence lists the activities its holder may carry out, and treating timber pests is one of the authorisations Queensland Health lists. |
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QBCC also puts chemical termite management on its list of work that needs a QBCC licence to contract for at any value, beside plumbing, gas fitting and completed residential building inspections.
Entry 2
The people on site
QBCC’s page on when a licence is needed sorts people by the part they play. Read for a termite job, it falls out like this.
- The owner
No QBCC licence is needed for building work on your own property valued at no more than $11,000, or as an owner-builder working under a permit. The same page says an occupational licence is needed for chemical termite management whatever the work is worth, and Queensland Health says a pest management activity using a pesticide must only be done by someone holding a current pest management licence.
The Medicines and Poisons Act 2019 carves out a householder using a household pesticide at home, meaning one ordinarily used in households and sold in retail stores, provided it is used as its approved label says.
- A handyman
Needs no QBCC licence for work up to $3,300 that is not electrical or plumbing work and does not need an occupational licence. Chemical termite management needs one, so it sits outside that exemption.
- An employee
An employee of a licensed contractor usually needs no QBCC licence, but does need an occupational licence to personally perform or supervise chemical termite work. A nominee or site supervisor must hold a QBCC licence in the class for the work.
- A subcontractor
Working for a licensed trade contractor, a subcontractor usually needs no licence of their own, because the contractor carries the responsibility. QBCC adds that chemical termite management needs an occupational licence regardless of the value or the contracting arrangements.
- A trainee
Someone doing a pest management course may work under a licensed technician’s supervision. The business operator answers for that supervision, and penalties apply if it is missing.
Entry 3
Checking before work starts
QBCC keeps its registers on one page, Our lists and registers. One is easy to miss: the excluded individuals register. People on it are excluded from holding a QBCC trade licence and should not be doing building work.
A successful applicant is posted a licence card and a licence letter, which gives the licence number and the scope of work for the class. For the health licence, Queensland Health’s page for pest management technicians sets out the activities a licence can authorise.
Entry 4
The paper at the end
For new building work, the termite method has to be shown on the drawings and specifications that go with the building application, and the building certifier may require the licensed installer to certify the installation. QBCC’s booklet lists what that certificate should contain, from the owner’s and builder’s names to a diagram of the termite work, and it belongs in the house file.
Where an accredited product is used, the booklet says it must be installed according to the conditions in its accreditation certificate. Buying a house rather than building one? Tab 4 covers the inspection before you buy.