Frequently asked questions

This section answers frequently asked questions relating to the Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme. They are organised in the following categories.

General questions

• What is the Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme?
• Why is licensing being introduced?
• How will licensing help property owners?
• Won't licensing make building work more expensive? 
• Aren’t local councils already checking work for compliance with the Building Code?
• What role do local authorities (building consent authorities) have in licensing?
• Isn’t this just another level of bureaucracy?
• What’s in it for building practitioners?
• Who will be responsible for the Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme?
• What is the register of licensed building practitioners and who can access it?
• Who is the Registrar and what is his/her role?
• Who has been involved in developing the Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme?
• Are there any similar licensing systems in New Zealand?
• How many people will be licensed?
• Do licensed building practitioners need to have professional indemnity insurance?  
• What is 'supervision'?
• Can I be fined if I don't have the appropriate licence and I do restricted work unsupervised?
• How do independent qualified persons (IQPs) fit in?
• Why is restricted building work not being introduced now?
• What is restricted work going to be?
• What work can be done without licensed building practitioners?
• What work can i do as a DIYer without a licence?

Licence classes

• What are the different licence classes for building practitioners?
• What is the role of the person holding a Design licence?
• What is the role of a person holding a Site licence?
• What work do the specialist licences cover?
• What do the trade licences cover?
• What work must be supervised or undertaken by Specialist or Trade licensed building practitioners?
• How many licences can a person hold?

Becoming licensed

• When does the licensing system for building practitioners come into force?
• Why are some of the licence classes being phased in?
• How do I get to be licensed?
• Do I have to have a qualification to be licensed?
• Will individuals or companies be licensed?
• What about registered architects and chartered professional engineers?
• How much will it cost?
• Won’t licensing put up construction costs?
• Will I have to update my licence?
• What happens if my application is denied?
• I'm a member of Master Builders/Certified Builders - must I still apply to be licensed?
• What if I qualified overseas?

Building Practitioners Board

• What is the Building Practitioners Board?
• Who is on the Building Practitioners Board?
• How are the members of the Building Practitioners Board selected?
• How does the complaints process work?

Licence class applications

General application questions

• If I apply for another licence class a year after I have been issued my first licence, do I apply again from scratch?
• Can I still apply to be licensed if the projects I want to use in my application are more than 3 years old?
• Your guidelines state referees cannot be family members, however I work for a family company. What can I do in this case?
• I have been asked to be a referee for someone. I was wondering if you have any guidance for me on my role.
• I have been working overseas for the past few years. Can I still apply for one of the licence classes using my overseas experience?
• One of my referees is based overseas. Is it possible to still use them when I apply for a licence?
• I am applying for two different licence classes. Can I use the same people as referees or do I have to find 6 different referees in total?

 Design application questions

• I only design parts of structure. Can I still apply for a Design licence even though I don’t design the entire structure?
• How do I progress from one licence class to another, eg from Design 1 to Design 2?
• I have recently been contracted to design an additional classroom for a school. What level of Design licence should I apply for if I am designing this work?
• I have recently been contacted about designing a school assembly hall. Which class of Design licence would this fit into?

Site / Carpentry application questions

• My current role involves controlling budgets and developing and managing building contracts on behalf of the building owner. Does this mean I should or can apply for a Site 3 licence?
• Does the scope of a Site 3 license include overseeing the construction of straightforward houses and smaller scale commercial building work; i.e. the sorts of work that a Site 1 and Site 2 licensed person would undertake?
• I currently do a lot of maintenance work on Category 1 and 2 historic places. This occasionally includes structural improvements. Which licence class would fit my type of work?
• I currently do a lot of remedial and repair work; both design and build, on houses and apartments. However, the scope of work is not very wide. Can I still apply for a licence class, even with this limitation?