WA’s Builder Registration & CTF Levy Changes: What They Mean for Your Patio

From 1 July 2026, Western Australia raised two key thresholds that affect who can build your patio, carport, or shed — and how much of the job goes toward apprenticeship training. Here’s what actually changed, and what it means if you’re planning a build.

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What’s Actually Changed

The CTF (Construction Training Fund) levy is a charge on higher-value building jobs; the money collected funds apprenticeships and training.

• Before 1 July 2026: the levy applied to any job over $20,000 in contract value.
• From 1 July 2026: that threshold rose to $100,000.
• Levy rate: 2% of contract value, once a job exceeds the threshold.

It applies regardless of structure type — patio, carport, shed, or garage — the trigger is purely the dollar value of the contract, not what’s being built. This is a WA-only change, not part of a broader national shift.

In practical terms: a job would need to be a very large patio project to come anywhere near the new $100,000 threshold.

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What It Means for Homeowners

A registered builder is required for jobs over $50,000 in contract value. Below that threshold, a homeowner can instead apply for owner-builder approval — a short online course plus a fee, done online.

This change does not affect approval timeframes at all — it only changes who is legally permitted to carry out the work. There’s no direct government fee shift either way, but going the owner-builder route shifts the “red tape” onto your own labour and time — professional installation is generally the safer call unless you’re confident doing it yourself.

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Cutting Through the Confusion

Seeing a “red tape cut” headline doesn’t mean a homeowner can skip a registered builder altogether. The underlying law hasn’t loosened — the dollar thresholds have simply moved. If a customer asks whether the headline applies to their job, the right answer is to point them to the specific threshold clause rather than assume the change applies at their scale.

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The One Thing to Remember

Don’t worry about the shire approval side of things — Patio Factory manages that end-to-end, regardless of which threshold your job falls under.

Get in touch with Patio Factory to find out exactly what applies to your project.