The EAA, licensing and business particulars

How the Estate Agents Authority is made up and what it does, which licence each role in an agency needs, the licensing requirements for individuals, partnerships and companies, the Statement of Particulars of Business, and the rules on the register, renewal, conditions, suspension and revocation. Syllabus 2.1 to 2.3.8 is at Level 4 in the EAQE, so expect scenarios in which you are the person setting up or running the agency.

Part I · Stand-alone questions10 min read9 sections

Checked against the Estate Agents Ordinance (Cap. 511), ss.2, 5–9, 13–21, 24, 27, 31, 38 and Schedule; Estate Agents (Licensing) Regulation (Cap. 511A), ss.10, 13 and 14; Estate Agents (Exemption from Licensing) Order (Cap. 511B), ss.2–3; EAA Licence types, Licence fees (effective since 1 Jan 2002) and Mandatory CPD Scheme pages; EAA Paper-based Examination Handbook, Aug 2026, paras 1.2, 2.2 and 5.1; EAA, A Study Guide to Estate Agency Law and Practice, Part 2, paras 3–35; checked 11 Oct 2026.

Must-know for the exam

EAA functions (s.5): regulate and control the practice of agents and salespersons; promote integrity and competence and the trade's status; if it thinks fit, liaise with training bodies.
Members: Chairman and Vice-chairman (neither may do estate agency work) and up to 18 ordinary members, at least one a public officer; all appointed by the Chief Executive.
An EAQE pass supports an estate agent's (individual) or salesperson's licence; an SQE pass, a salesperson's licence only. Either pass is usable for 12 months.
Individuals: aged 18 or over at application, Form 5 education or equivalent, exam passed within the 12 months before applying, and fit and proper.
Company licence: at least one director holds an estate agent's licence; every director engaged in the business is licensed; a licensed estate agent is in effective control.
SPOB (Cap. 511A, s.10): one for each place of business under each business name. Two names at one shop need two SPOBs.
Cap. 511A, s.14: display each SPOB conspicuously; every advertisement states the licence or SPOB number and the business name.
Licences run 12 or 24 months; apply to renew not more than 3 months and not less than 1 month before expiry (Cap. 511A, s.13).
Change of registered address: written notice to the EAA within 14 days (EAO s.14).
Suspension or revocation (s.27): written notice with reasons, 21 days for representations, Gazette notice of the decision; appeal within 21 days (s.31).

On this page · 9 sections

Traps that cost marks

Assuming a newly licensed salesperson can be put in charge of a shop as its manager.
Applying the SQE registration bar (holding any licence) to the EAQE.
Treating an exam pass as usable for 24 months, or forgetting that an EAQE pass also supports a salesperson's licence.
Treating long trade experience as a substitute for Form 5 education, or adding a residence rule.
Treating a discharged bankrupt as if still bankrupt, or applying the 5-year window to convictions.
Thinking a passive director escapes the fit-and-proper test because he need not be licensed.
Counting SPOBs by shop instead of by shop and business name.
Treating the 1-month limit as a grace period that runs after expiry.

Why this matters in the exam

The EAQE leads to the licence that lets you own an agency, sit on its board and manage a branch. So the exam tests licensing from the business side: which licence a sole proprietor, partner, director or branch manager needs, how many Statements of Particulars of Business (SPOBs) a set of shops requires, what makes a company or partner unfit, and what the Authority must do before it suspends a licence.

Most questions turn on a short set of numbers: 18, Form 5, 12 months, 24 months, 3 to 1 months, 14 days, 21 days and the fees. Learn them as a group, then read each scenario for the role the person plays.

The Authority: structure and powers

•Functions (s.5): regulate and control the practice of estate agents and salespersons; promote integrity and competence and maintain or raise the status of the trade; and, if it thinks fit, liaise with education and training bodies.
•Powers (s.6): include licensing, investigation, discipline and determining commission disputes referred under s.49.
•Membership (Schedule): Chairman and Vice-chairman, neither of whom may be an individual doing estate agency work, and not more than 18 ordinary members, all appointed by the Chief Executive. At least one ordinary member is a public officer; the others may include practitioners, people who know the trade, and other suitable people.
•Committees and delegation (ss.8–9): the Authority may set up committees, including disciplinary committees, and delegate work to them.
•Chief Executive Officer: may make a submission that a licensee has breached the EAO, which the Authority deals with itself or refers to a disciplinary committee (s.29(2)). Investigators are EAA employees and/or certified public accountants (s.28).

The examinations are administered for the EAA by PEAK, part of the Vocational Training Council (Handbook, Aug 2026).

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Estate Agents Qualifying Examination