There is no licence called damp proofing. The one that matters is waterproofing, and it is worth two minutes to check.
Talk it throughRising Damp Newcastle arranges damp assessments across Newcastle and the Hunter.
NSW defines waterproofing work as “any protective treatment of a home to prevent water or moisture getting into it”, and separately as the protective treatment of wet areas such as a shower to stop water escaping from them. Stopping moisture climbing into a wall from the ground sits squarely in the first half of that definition.
A contractor licence is required for residential building or trade work valued at more than $5,000 in labour and materials, including GST. That figure is higher than Queensland's and lower than the point at which most whole-wall damp course work lands, so in practice a real damp job in Newcastle needs a licensed contractor.
Three licence types can apply: an individual contractor licence, a company or partnership contractor licence, and a qualified supervisor certificate. Which one you are shown depends on how the business is set up, not on how good they are.
A good deal of this city sits over old workings, and a wall can crack and take up water because the ground under it has moved. No waterproofing licence covers subsidence. If the damp arrived with new cracking, the question to settle first is what moved — and that is a different trade and a different report.
Ask what was measured, and what was ruled out. A licensed contractor injecting a damp course into a wall whose real problem is a leaking downpipe has done licensed work and wasted your money. The licence proves who may do the work, never that the work is the right work.
This site passes enquiries to a damp specialist. Ask them everything on this page.
We arrange assessments across Newcastle and the lower Hunter, including:
Rising Damp Newcastle