Finding honest labour made easier with NSW digital trade licence

Trade workers in New South Wales are now able to access their construction licences on their phones via the Service NSW app as part of the NSW Government's digital licensing transformation.

The initiative comes after about 1400 tradies said goodbye to compulsory plastic licences in a successful trial.

Customer Service and Digital Government Minister Victor Dominello said the move makes it hard for dishonest workers to "defraud" the system.

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"This will absolutely give customers peace of mind," he said.

The revolutionised digital licence will ensure NSW consumers have a way of checking a tradesperson is qualified to conduct work.

Plumber Alex Ironside says dodgy operators leave a trail of substandard work.

"I see it everyday," he said.

Two trade licences have already been digitised, including the white card and contractor licence.

A white card is required by anyone who wants to carry out construction work, such as tradespeople, labourers, site managers and other people who work in construction areas.

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Builders and tradespeople in NSW need to hold an individual contractor licence to do building work where the total cost of labour and materials is more than $5,000.

Mr Dominello said the reforms build on the digital driver licence, which has been downloaded by more than 2.54 million motorists since its launch in November 2019.

The online licence doesn't show whether a tradie has been the subject of a previous complaint, but could do in the future including any information held by Fair Trading.