Licensing criteria for home-based ECE services

Section 10 of the Education and Training Act 2020(external link) defines home-based ECE services as the provision of education or care, for gain or reward, to children who are under the age of 5 years, or who are aged 5 years but not enrolled at school, in:

  • the children’s own home; or
  • the home of the person providing the education or care; or
  • any other home nominated by a parent of the children.

These services are licensed in accordance with the Education and Training Act 2020 under the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008(external link), which prescribe minimum standards that each licensed service must meet. Licensing criteria are used to assess how the services meet the minimum standards required by the regulations.

For each criterion there is guidance to help services meet the required standards.

The publication of the criteria on its own can be downloaded as a PDF [PDF, 1.3 MB] and printed.

The licensing criteria were last updated in September 2022.

PF6 Flooring

  • Criteria
    • Criteria

      Premises and Facilities criterion 6

      Floor surfaces are durable, safe and suitable for the range of activities to be carried out (including wet and messy play), and can easily be kept clean.

      Rationale/Intent:

      To ensure safe, hygienic and appropriate flooring.

  • Guidance
    • Guidance

      Any examples in the guidance are provided as a starting point to show how services can meet (or exceed) the requirement. Services may choose to use other approaches better suited to their needs as long as they comply with the criteria.

      Floor surfaces should be easy to clean and suitable for the activities being undertaken.

      Homes will have different floor types. If easy to clean floors are not available, consider laying down a coversheet over existing flooring to enable children to engage in creative or messy activities.