Home Services & Construction Business (cleaning, repairs, trades)

Pick your service (and know what needs a licence)

In simple words

Some jobs anyone careful can learn, like cleaning windows or painting a fence. Other jobs, like fixing electric wires or gas pipes, can hurt people badly if done wrong, so the law says only trained, licensed people may do them.

Key facts

Service	Usually easier to start	Usually needs a licensed trade or permit
Cleaning (homes, offices, move-out, windows)	Yes	Rarely, but follow chemical safety rules
Lawn care, gardening, snow removal	Yes	Pesticide use may need a licence; check local rules
Painting, small repairs, furniture assembly, handyman	Yes, for small non-structural work	Larger or structural work may need permits
Electrical	No	Yes, in many countries
Gas fitting and gas appliances	No	Yes, in many countries
Plumbing	Depends on place and job size	Often yes
Building, renovation, roofing	Depends on size and value	Often a builder or contractor licence plus building permits

Examples of licensed work:
Canada (Ontario): Electrician (Construction and Maintenance, 309A) is a compulsory trade. Also, by law, if a homeowner hires someone to do electrical work in their home, it must be a Licensed Electrical Contractor licensed by the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA).
UK: anyone who does work on gas fittings must be on the Gas Safe Register.
Philippines: under the Contractors' License Law (RA 4566, amended by RA 11711 in 2022), a contractor must hold a licence from the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) before engaging in the business of contracting.
Start with what you can legally and safely do today, then train toward a licensed trade if you want to grow.

In your country

Trades licensing and building permits are provincial and local, not national. Ontario example: plumbing is a compulsory trade (you need a training agreement, provisional certificate or Certificate of Qualification from Skilled Trades Ontario).
Ontario: electrical work for others must be done by a licensed electrical contracting business and notified to the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) before it starts. Homeowners may do their own work.
Sources: Skilled Trades Ontario, plumber: www.skilledtradesontario.ca/trades/plumber/ ; ESA, DIY electrical work: esasafe.com/compliance/diy-electrical-work/

No national licence for electricians, plumbers or contractors was found. States, and often cities, regulate these trades.
Look up your state's licensing board for the trade, and your city or county building office for permits.
Source: SBA, Apply for licenses and permits: www.sba.gov/business-guide/launch-your-business/apply-licenses-permits

Electricians: the New Electrical Engineering Law (RA 7920) has the Board of Electrical Engineering under the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) examine and license registered electrical engineers and registered master electricians. A master electrician applicant must be at least 18.
Source: RA 7920 text: lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra1995/ra_7920_1995.html

Electrical work is a "special operation": workers must pass training and assessment and hold a special operation certificate before working. It is valid for 6 years nationwide.
Source: Order No. 30 text (MEM): www.mem.gov.cn/fw/flfgbz/xgxywj/201505/t20150529_237958.shtml

A construction business needs a permit unless it only takes minor jobs (for example contracts under 5 million yen; thresholds differ by work type). The prefectural governor issues it, or the Minister for offices in two or more prefectures.
Source: MLIT Kanto, Construction business permit (Japanese): www.ktr.mlit.go.jp/kensan/index00000003.html

Construction contractors register by category of work under the Framework Act on the Construction Industry. Minor works set by decree need no registration.
Electrical contractors register under the Electrical Construction Business Act; ask the local office which body handles registration now.
Sources: Framework Act on the Construction Industry, English text (KLRI): elaw.klri.re.kr/eng_service/lawViewContent.do?hseq=26041 ; Electrical Construction Business Act, English text (KLRI): elaw.klri.re.kr/eng_service/lawViewContent.do?hseq=6012

Step by step

Write down three services you could offer this month (for example, home cleaning, painting a fence, lawn care).
Look at the table in this lesson and find each service.
Next to each one, write "no licence needed", "licence needed" or "not sure, must check".
For every "not sure", open the official links for your country in Lesson 6 and look up the rule.
Remove any service that needs a licence you do not have.
Pick the service you can do legally and safely right now.
Check: your chosen service is something you can do today without breaking a licensing rule. If you want to grow later, note which licensed trade you could train toward.

Watch on YouTube

Hire a licensed electrical contractor and get a permitElectricalSafetyESA · YouTube · youtube.com

Videos by other creators on YouTube, for reference. They are not made by or affiliated with The Future Market.

LESSON 01Pick your service (and know what needs a licence)

LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:15

Voice

Read the video script

[Host] "Home services are some of the easiest businesses to start. But not every job is open to everyone."
[Text on screen: Cleaning, lawn care, painting, handyman] "Cleaning, gardening, painting and small repairs: most people can start with training and care."
[Text on screen: Electrical, gas, plumbing, building] "Electrical, gas, plumbing and building work often need a licence."
[Host] "In Ontario, electrical work for homeowners must be done by a licensed electrical contractor. In the UK, gas work needs Gas Safe registration."
[Host] "Start with what you can legally do today. Train for the rest."

Try it now

List three services you could offer this month. For each one, write "no licence needed", "licence needed" or "not sure, must check", and look up the "not sure" ones in Lesson 6.

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Home Services & Construction Business (cleaning, repairs, trades)" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "Pick your service (and know what needs a licence)".

What the lesson teaches:
- Service - Usually easier to start - Usually needs a licensed trade or permit
- Cleaning (homes, offices, move-out, windows) - Yes - Rarely, but follow chemical safety rules
- Lawn care, gardening, snow removal - Yes - Pesticide use may need a licence; check local rules
- Painting, small repairs, furniture assembly, handyman - Yes, for small non-structural work - Larger or structural work may need permits
- Electrical - No - Yes, in many countries
- Gas fitting and gas appliances - No - Yes, in many countries
- Plumbing - Depends on place and job size - Often yes

The exercise I'm working on:
List three services you could offer this month. For each one, write "no licence needed", "licence needed" or "not sure, must check", and look up the "not sure" ones in Lesson 6.

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.

I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "Pick your service (and know what needs a licence)" from the course "Home Services & Construction Business (cleaning, repairs, trades)".

Here's what the lesson says:
Some jobs anyone careful can learn, like cleaning windows or painting a fence. Other jobs, like fixing electric wires or gas pipes, can hurt people badly if done wrong, so the law says only trained, licensed people may do them.

The activity:
List three services you could offer this month. For each one, write "no licence needed", "licence needed" or "not sure, must check", and look up the "not sure" ones in Lesson 6.

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.

Open Claude

Sources

Skilled Trades Ontario, Electrician – Construction and Maintenance: www.skilledtradesontario.ca/trade-information/electrician-construction
Electrical Safety Authority (Ontario), Homeowners: esasafe.com/homeowner/
GOV.UK Regulated Professions, Registered gas engineer: www.regulated-professions.service.gov.uk/professions/registered-gas-en
Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines, Contractors licensing and registration overview: construction.gov.ph/contractors-licensing-and-registration/clr-overvie
RA 11711 (amending RA 4566): batasnatin.com/laws/ra-11711

My notes

I learned this