Professional registration

Any person who engages in a profession, trade, business or calling ("professional activity") may be required to register and pay an annual fee to either the Chief Labour Officer or the Registrar of the Supreme Court, depending on the professional activity undertaken, or to be undertaken, by that person.

Annual registration fee

The annual fee varies depending on the professional activity of the person in question. The prescribed fees are shown in the list below.

Persons who engage or intend to engage in more than one professional activity must be registered and pay the appropriate fee in respect of each such professional activity.

Annual fees must be paid to the relevant authority by January 31st of each year. Any person who fails to pay the prescribed fee before the deadline will also be required to pay a penalty of the same amount.

If you are already registered and seek to renew your licence, it is now possible to pay the annual licence fee online via EZPay+, the official payment gateway of the Barbados Government.

Registering for the first time

It is not possible to pay the licence fee online for first time registrations. Persons who are not registered will need to attend in person to have their documentation authenticated and to pay the prescribed fee.

For first time registrations with the Registrar of the Supreme Court, visit the Registration Department at Whitepark Road.

For first time registrations with the Chief Labour Officer, visit the Ministry of Labour at the Warrens Office Complex.

Persons to whom the Act applies

A – C

Required to register with the Chief Labour Officer:

• Architect
  ^BDS $1,250
• Accountant
  ^BDS $1,250
• Auto-mechanic
  ^BDS $375
• Advertising Agent
  ^BDS $375
• Auto-parts Dealer
  ^BDS $375
• Antique Art Dealer
  ^BDS $25
• Auto-body Technician
  ^BDS $375
• Coach Builder
  ^BDS $375
• Customs Broker
  ^BDS $375
• Commercial Artist
  ^BDS $25
• Commission Agent
  ^BDS $375

Required to register with the Registrar of the Supreme Court:

• Actuary
  ^BDS $1,250
• Auctioneer
  ^BDS $375
• Audiologist
  ^BDS $375
• Ancupuncturist
  ^BDS $375
• Attorney at Law
  ^BDS $1,250
• Builder
  ^BDS $375
• Contractor
  ^BDS $375
• Chiropodist
  ^BDS $375
• Chiropractor
  ^BDS $375
• Cardiac Technologist
  ^BDS $375

D – F

Required to register with the Chief Labour Officer:

• Discotheque proprietor
  ^BDS $25
• Dress maker, tailor or designer
  ^BDS $25
• Embalmer
  ^BDS $375
• Employment Agency Operator
  ^BDS $25
• Furniture Manufacturer
  ^BDS $25

Required to register with the Registrar of the Supreme Court:

• Dietitian
  ^BDS $375
• Draughtsman
  ^BDS $375
• Dental Hygienist
  ^BDS $375
• Dental Technician
  ^BDS $375
• Dental Practitioner
  ^BDS $1,250
• Engineer – not including software engineers
  ^BDS $1,250
• Emergency Medical Technician
  ^BDS $25
• Emergency Medical Dispatcher
  ^BDS $25
• Flying Instructor
  ^BDS $375
• Funeral Director
  ^BDS $375

G – I

Required to register with the Chief Labour Officer:

• Gauger
  ^BDS $375
• Handicraft Dealer
  ^BDS $25
• Interior Decorator
  ^BDS $375
• Insurance Practitioner
  ^BDS $25

J – L

Required to register with the Chief Labour Officer:

• Jeweller
  ^BDS $25
• Journalist (freelance)
  ^BDS $375
• Landscape Artist
  ^BDS $25
• Legal Investigator
  ^BDS $25

Required to register with the Registrar of the Supreme Court:

• Land Surveyor
  ^BDS $1,250

M – O

Required to register with the Chief Labour Officer:

• Masseur
  ^BDS $25
• Musician, singer and entertainer
  ^BDS $25
• Manufacturer of any type of building material
  ^BDS $25
• Naturopath
  ^BDS $375
• Nightclub proprietor
  ^BDS $25
• Organ Builder
  ^BDS $25
• Operator of boats – a person, including a company, providing excursions, tours, water-skiing, parasailing and other such services
  ^BDS $375

Required to register with the Registrar of the Supreme Court:

• Master Stevedore
  ^BDS $375
• Medical Practitioner
  ^BDS $1,250
• Medical Laboratory Technologist
  ^BDS $375
• Nutritionist
  ^BDS $375
• Nuclear Medical Technologist
  ^BDS $375
• Orthotist
  ^BDS $375
• Orthoptist
  ^BDS $375
• Osteopath
  ^BDS $375
• Optometrist
  ^BDS $375
• Ophthalmic Dispenser
  ^BDS $375
• Occupational Therapist
  ^BDS $375

P – R

Required to register with the Chief Labour Officer:

• Photographer
  ^{BDS $375}
• Private Inquiry Agent
  ^BDS $25
• Race-horse Breeder or Trainer, including breeder of studs
  ^BDS $375

Required to register with the Registrar of the Supreme Court:

• Podiatrist
  ^BDS $375
• Paramedic
  ^BDS $75
• Prosthetist
  ^BDS $375
• Pharmacist
  ^BDS $375
• Psychologist
  ^BDS $375
• Physiotherapist
  ^BDS $375
• Professional Promoter
  ^{BDS $375}
• Persons licensed to perform Dental Services
  ^BDS $375
• Quantity Surveyor
  ^BDS $1,250
• Reflexologist
  ^BDS $375
• Real Estate Agent
  ^BDS $375
• Radiographer (Diagnostic or Therapeutic)
  ^BDS $375

S – U

Required to register with the Chief Labour Officer:

• Ships' Chandler
  ^BDS $375
• Taxi or Truck Proprietor
  ^BDS $25
• Transient Trader – a person who is not ordinarily resident in Barbados and who visits for the purpose of selling or procuring orders for the sale of or furthering or promoting the sale of goods manufactured or produced outside Barbados
  ^BDS $25

Required to register with the Registrar of the Supreme Court:

• Speech Therapist
  ^BDS $375
• Town Planner
  ^BDS $375
• Undertaker
  ^BDS $375

V – X

Required to register with the Chief Labour Officer:

• Vehicle Maker
  ^BDS $375
• Water Sports Instructor – a person engaged in teaching scuba diving, parasailing, water-skiing and other such water sports
  ^BDS $375

Required to register with the Registrar of the Supreme Court:

• Veterinary Surgeon
  ^BDS $1,250

Persons exempted from the Act

• Shopkeepers operating without a liquor licence

Relevant legislation

The principal Act is the Profession, Trade and Business Registration Act, Cap. 373 which came into operation on the 1st January, 1979.

The prescribed fees were last updated by Parliament under the Profession, Trade and Business Registration (Amendment) Act, 2017 which came into operation on the 1st January, 2017.

The list of occupations were last updated by the Minister responsible for Finance under the Profession, Trade and Business Registration Order, 2011 which came into effect on the 1st January, 2012.

The exemption from registration for shopkeepers operating without a liquor licence is provided under the Profession, Trade and Business Registration (Exemption) Order, 1979, which came into effect on the 1st January, 1979.