What joinery covers
NSW defines joinery as “the making and installing of non-structural timber, timber composite or metal components or elements for buildings.” That takes in doors, windows and stairs, and the built-in furniture most homes are full of: cupboards, wardrobes and entertainment units, generally made off site and installed as a finished unit.
A good dovetail is strong because each tail locks against its neighbours. The rules around joinery work the same way: a licence question leads to a contract question, a benchtop question leads to a dust question. Each guide below is one tail of the joint.
Three things worth knowing first
The licence line depends on the state
In NSW, a contractor licence is needed for residential joinery work valued at more than $5,000 in labour and materials, including GST. In Queensland, the QBCC has cabinet making and joinery licence classes, and a licence is needed for building work valued over $3,300. The ACT says a licence is needed to provide a construction service, but that trades like carpenters “do not currently need a licence”. The detail for every state is in who may build your joinery.
Engineered stone benchtops are banned, and old ones may stay
Since 1 July 2024, a business may not make, supply, process or install engineered stone benchtops, panels or slabs anywhere in Australia. Safe Work Australia says available evidence suggests an installed benchtop does not pose a safety risk as long as it is not processed, for example cut or polished, and it asks householders not to work on engineered stone themselves if they are not qualified. Three guides take this further: the ban and its dates, silica dust and the duties of the business doing the work, and when a top may come off for cabinet repairs.
Your rights come with the job
The consumer guarantees apply automatically when you buy goods and services, and they “can’t be taken away by anything a business says or does.” How they apply to made-to-measure work is in your rights with custom joinery, and the paperwork that sits beside them is in contracts and deposits for joinery work.
Before a joinery job starts
- QLDEvery licensed contractor is listed on the QBCC licensee register, and if you cannot find someone there, the QBCC says there is a chance they are not licensed.
- NSWBuilders and tradespeople must give you the Consumer Building Guide before a contract for residential building work costing more than $5,000, and NSW’s advice is plain: “Don’t pay any money without a written contract.”
- VICFor work worth $10,000 or more, the Building and Plumbing Commission says you must have a written contract with a registered builder.
How these guides are written
Every rule here comes from an official page: a state building regulator, a fair trading office, a work health and safety regulator, Safe Work Australia or the ACCC. Each page lists its sources at the foot, with the date they were checked. Where a rule belongs to one state, it carries that state’s label, because a Queensland rule is not a Victorian one. Where the official pages we drew on say nothing for a state, the guide says so rather than filling the gap.
A licensed joiner or cabinetmaker, a builder registered for the work, or your state’s regulator can answer questions about your own job. These guides are here so you can ask those questions knowing what the rules say.