Insurables — Australian business risk, sourced and dated

Solar installers: public liability requirements in Australia

Cover for legal liability to third parties for personal injury or property damage arising from business activities.

Data as at

Verified requirements, by state

  • Licence liability condition: No insurance condition on the electrical contractor licence itself. What applies instead is the general residential building rule: home building compensation cover is required for each home building project over $20,000 including GST, which catches larger residential solar jobs and not smaller ones. So the answer depends on the size of the job, not on being a solar installer. NSW · effective 2015-03-01 Building Commission NSW · 2026-08-13
  • Licence evidence required: Where home building compensation cover applies, it must be taken out BEFORE requesting or accepting any money — including a deposit — and before doing any residential building work under the contract. Taking a deposit first is itself the breach. NSW · effective 2015-03-01 Building Commission NSW · 2026-08-13
  • Licensing body: Two layers, and only one of them is a licence. The LICENCE: only the holder of a building or electrical contractor licence can contract in NSW to install solar panels on the roof of a residential property or other premises — and electrical work is NSW "specialist work", licensed regardless of the value of the job, with no $5,000 threshold. The ACCREDITATION: accreditation through the industry scheme (formerly Clean Energy Council, now Solar Accreditation Australia) is required for a system to qualify for federal rebates. That is industry accreditation, not a government licence, and conflating the two is the most common mistake in this trade. NSW · effective 2012-01-01 Building Commission NSW · 2026-08-13
  • Licence liability condition: Yes. A Registered Electrical Contractor in Victoria must hold public liability cover with a minimum of $5,000,000 for personal injury or damage to property in conjunction with the electrical contracting work, and must hold it whenever carrying out OR OFFERING TO carry out electrical contracting work. Quoting for a job without cover in place is caught, not just doing it. VIC · effective 2009-01-01 Energy Safe Victoria · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: Proof of insurance to Energy Safe Victoria whenever requested, and the obligation is continuous: an REC must not carry out electrical contracting work unless both registration and insurance are current. There is no grace period built into the wording. VIC · effective 2009-01-01 Energy Safe Victoria · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: Two things, only one of which is a licence. The LICENCE: an unrestricted (Class A) electrical licence registered with Energy Safe Victoria, and REC registration to contract for the work. The ACCREDITATION: Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme accreditation, needed for grid-connected systems to qualify for the federal scheme, now operated by Solar Accreditation Australia after it took over from the Clean Energy Council. Accreditation is not a government licence and cannot substitute for one. VIC · effective 2009-01-01 Energy Safe Victoria · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: Yes, and Queensland's requirement is the most precisely specified of any state. Section 51 of the Electrical Safety Regulation requires an electrical contractor licence holder to have a policy with public and products liability at a minimum limit of indemnity of $5,000,000 AND consumer protection insurance of at least $50,000. The consumer protection component is the unusual part — it is a second, separate limb most general liability policies do not automatically include. QLD · effective 2002-10-01 Electrical Safety Office, WorkSafe Queensland · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: By declaration at application and at renewal: the licensee declares they have confirmed with their insurer that the policy meets the mandatory requirements. The Electrical Safety Office then conducts periodic audits, and on audit the contractor must produce a copy of the policy or written confirmation from the insurer. Declare up front, prove on demand. QLD · effective 2002-10-01 Electrical Safety Office, WorkSafe Queensland · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: Two layers again. The LICENCE: an unrestricted Queensland electrical contractor licence from the Electrical Safety Office is required to install photovoltaic solar panels. The ACCREDITATION: installer accreditation under the federal small-scale scheme, needed for a system to qualify for rebates. Accreditation is industry accreditation and does not authorise the electrical work. QLD · effective 2002-10-01 Electrical Safety Office, WorkSafe Queensland · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: Yes, through the electrical contractor licence: the regulations require a current policy of insurance against civil liability in respect of the work of an electrical contractor, held with a reputable insurer. WA · effective 2012-06-29 Consumer Protection WA · 2026-08-13
  • Licence evidence required: A certificate of currency for public liability insurance issued or printed within the last 30 days, in the name of the individual, partnership or company rather than a trust or trading name. WA · effective 2012-06-29 Consumer Protection WA · 2026-08-13
  • Licensing body: An electrical licence and, to contract, an electrical contractor licence from the Electrical Licensing Board — solar photovoltaic installation is electrical work. Separately, accreditation under the federal small-scale renewable energy scheme is needed for rebate eligibility and is industry accreditation, not a government licence. WA · effective 2012-06-29 Consumer Protection WA · 2026-08-13
  • Licence liability condition: No insurance condition on either licence. Insurance, insured and indemnity return zero across the complete Plumbers, Gas Fitters and Electricians Act 1995 and zero across its current Regulations. The building work contractor licence carries no professional indemnity or public liability condition either. What does bite is separate and per-project: because solar panel installation on a house is prescribed domestic building work, it falls within the South Australian building indemnity insurance scheme once the contract value crosses the threshold. That is an obligation attaching to the contract, not to the licence. National installer accreditation schemes are industry arrangements rather than South Australian licences and appear nowhere in the Act or Regulations. SA · effective 2026-08-25 South Australia Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: Nothing insurance-related at licensing. Building indemnity insurance evidence is owed to the building owner under the contract rather than to the licensing regulator. SA · effective 2026-08-25 South Australia Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: South Australia needs two licences for a rooftop solar job, and the second one is the one people miss. The electrical work requires an electrical contractor licence from the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs under the Plumbers, Gas Fitters and Electricians Act 1995. Separately, the Building Work Contractors Regulations 2011 expressly prescribe the installation of solar panels in relation to a building as building work, and installation in relation to a house as domestic building work. A licensed electrical contractor is exempt from also holding a building work contractor licence, but only on condition that the building work performed is limited to what their electrical licence authorises. SA · effective 2026-08-25 South Australia Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: Yes, through the electrical licence. Section 27(1) of the Occupational Licensing Act 2005 lets the Administrator require licence holders to hold insurance of a type and amount specified in a Gazette notice, and the amount lives in that notice rather than in any of the published instruments, so it cannot be quoted here. Electrical work is the one Tasmanian trade where the requirement is enforced at the counter rather than only on request. TAS · effective 2026-08-25 Consumer, Building and Occupational Services Tasmania · 2026-08-25
  • Licence evidence required: Evidence is checked at the counter, which is unusual for Tasmania. Regulation 9(1) of the Occupational Licensing (Electrical Work) Regulations 2018 provides that an electrical contractor's licence is not to be issued or renewed unless the Administrator is satisfied the applicant holds a current policy as required by the section 27 notice, and that the term of the policy extends into, for or beyond the term for which the licence is sought. Building services providers face no equivalent gate — theirs is production on request only. TAS · effective 2026-08-25 Consumer, Building and Occupational Services Tasmania · 2026-08-25
  • Licensing body: Solar installation is licensed in Tasmania, on the electrical footing rather than as a distinct trade. Photovoltaic work is electrical work under Schedule 2 Part 1 of the Occupational Licensing Act 2005 and is licensed on that basis regardless of what the building services Determination says about trade classes. TAS · effective 2026-08-25 Consumer, Building and Occupational Services Tasmania · 2026-08-25
  • Licence liability condition: No insurance condition on the licence. Only four of the ten ACT construction occupations carry one — building assessor, building surveyor, plumbing plan certifier and works assessor — and all four are professional indemnity, not public liability. The trade classes carry none. What does apply to every licensee, including this one, is section 47 of the Construction Occupations (Licensing) Act 2004: before providing a construction service the licensee must give the client evidence of what insurance they hold. The Act treats advertising the cover as sufficient, and gives the example of details on the vehicle used to provide the service. ACT · effective 2026-08-25 Australian Capital Territory Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence evidence required: Nothing is lodged with the registrar, because there is no insurance requirement on this work to evidence. The disclosure duty in section 47 still runs to the client rather than the regulator: whatever cover is held has to be shown to the client before the service is provided, and a fidelity certificate counts as evidence of insurance for that purpose. ACT · effective 2026-08-25 Australian Capital Territory Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licensing body: Solar installation is not a separately licensed occupation in the ACT. Section 7 of the Construction Occupations (Licensing) Act 2004 sets out the complete list of construction occupations in the ACT, and there are ten: builder, building assessor, building surveyor, drainer, electrician, gasfitter, gas appliance worker, plumber, plumbing plan certifier and works assessor. The word solar does not appear at all in either instrument. Solar photovoltaic work is electrician work in the ACT and is licensed on that footing. ACT · effective 2026-08-25 Australian Capital Territory Government · 2026-08-24
  • Licence liability condition: Yes, and it is one of the firmer conditions in the country. Regulation 39(d) of the Electrical Safety Regulations 2024 makes it a condition of eligibility for an electrical contractor licence that the applicant holds at least $5,000,000 of public and products liability insurance for liability arising from personal injury or property damage from the electrical work performed under the licence, and regulation 45(c) turns the same requirement into a continuing condition to maintain it. Note who it binds: the condition attaches to the electrical contractor licence, meaning the business that contracts for the work. An employed installer holds an electrical work licence and carries no personal insurance condition. NT · effective 2026-08-25 Northern Territory Government · 2026-08-25
  • Licence evidence required: Cover must be held at application, and the Regulator can test it at any time afterwards: it may require written proof by notice that the holder continues to hold the cover, verifiable by statutory declaration, with a minimum period to respond. Lapse is not automatic suspension. Breaching the maintain-cover condition is an offence, and it is a disciplinary ground on which the Board may cancel, amend or suspend the licence — but nothing makes suspension self-executing. NT · effective 2026-08-25 Northern Territory Government · 2026-08-25
  • Licensing body: Solar installation is licensed in the Northern Territory, as electrical work rather than as a trade of its own. The Electrical Safety Act 2022 gives solar panels and storage batteries as a statutory example of an electrical installation, and the Electrical Safety Regulations 2024 devote a division to photovoltaic arrays. Licensing sits with the Electrical Safety Regulator within NT WorkSafe. National installer accreditation, now administered by Solar Accreditation Australia rather than the Clean Energy Council, is a Commonwealth small-scale certificate eligibility condition run by a private scheme operator — it is not a Territory licence, and it sits on top of one rather than instead of it. NT · effective 2026-08-25 Northern Territory Government · 2026-08-25

By state and territory

Licensing is a state matter, so the requirement behind this cover changes at the border. These pages track the licence question in each jurisdiction.

What contracts commonly ask for

Principals and head contractors set their own insurance requirements, and those are frequently higher than a licence condition. The requirement that binds is the higher of the two, and both have to be read from the actual document.

What this cover costs

This site publishes no cost benchmark for this cover. A benchmark needs a real sample of documents, and none is published until the sample is large enough to compute a median honestly. A benchmark from a handful of policies is a guess with a decimal point.

Sources