[ Licence Verification ]
Trade licence verification that checks the real register
A lapsed or fake trade licence is one of the most common gaps on a construction site — and one of the hardest to catch by hand, because every state runs its own register, on its own website, with its own quirks. Novato checks the licence number your subcontractor gives you against the actual government source, not a photo of a card.
Included on every Novato plan, no exceptions — safety-related features aren't paywalled.
How it works
A GC or reviewer opens a Tradie's licence document
From the Documents or Review screen, next to the uploaded licence.
Novato calls the real register for that state and licence type
In NSW, that's a live call to Fair Trading's OneGov Trades Register API — the same data the regulator itself holds, not a cached copy.
The match comes back with the details that matter
Holder name, licence status, and any flagged compliance actions — disciplinary actions, suspensions, prosecutions, infringement notices, CTTT orders, public warnings — pulled straight from the register.
The reviewer decides, with the evidence in front of them
Approve or reject the document with the register result attached — not a guess based on what the card looks like.
How this fits Australian WHS compliance
This ties directly to Fair Trading NSW's official Trades Register, accessed through their OneGov API — a genuinely live government data source, not a scraped or manually-maintained list. Where a state doesn't offer a live API, Novato links straight to the correct regulator tool for that licence type instead of a generic search page, so a reviewer is never checking the wrong register.
Common questions
Does Novato verify licences in every state?
Coverage varies by state and licence type. NSW has the deepest live-API coverage today; other states are being added as their registers support it — see our state-by-state compliance pages for exactly what's checked where.
What happens if a licence isn't found on the register?
The reviewer sees a clear "no match found" result rather than a false pass, and can request the Tradie re-check their licence number or upload a valid one.
Does this replace my own judgement as a GC?
No — Novato surfaces the register's own data (status, flagged actions) so you can make an informed call quickly. The approve/reject decision is always yours.
Is this a real-time check or a cached list?
Where a live API exists (NSW today), it's a real-time call to the government's own system at the moment you check. It is not a static or periodically-synced list for those sources.
Is licence verification included on every plan?
Yes — included on every Novato plan, no exceptions, including the free trial. This is a deliberate decision: safety-related features like licence verification aren't paywalled.