Licensed Building Practitioners
What is the Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme?
The Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme is one of a series of changes introduced in the Building Act 2004 to encourage better design and construction in the New Zealand building industry.
Occupational licensing will help ensure that homes and buildings in New Zealand are designed and built right the first time.
The public will have greater confidence that the licensed building practitioners working on their homes and buildings are competent.
People in the building industry who are responsible for the work done will have their expertise formally recognised.
Occupational licensing will promote, recognise and support professional skills and behaviour in the building industry. Over time, there will be an increased emphasis on education and training, along with better career pathways.
The Department of Building and Housing has worked closely with the building industry to do develop the Licensed Building Practitioners Scheme.
Licensing began on 1 November 2007. The restricted work aspects of the Scheme, which involve some work being restricted to licensed building practitioners, are intended to apply from 30 November 2010.
There may be up to 13 licence classes in total. The Design 1, 2 and 3, Site 1, 2 and 3 and Carpentry licence classes became operational on 1 November 2007.
The additional licence classes may include External Plastering, Roofing, Bricklaying and Blocklaying, Concrete Structure, Steel Structure and Building Services.
It is anticipated that around 22,000 people will be licensed, once the Scheme is fully implemented.
All licensed building practitioners will be listed on an online register, along with details of their licence classes.
Licensed building practitioners will be accountable for their work via a complaints procedure, if their work is found to be substandard.
Homeowners will still be able to do do-it-yourself work as at present, including building a standard, low-risk house from scratch. The details of how this will be managed are still to be determined.
Contact us
For more information about the Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme contact us by:
Freephone
Call 0800 60 60 50 with any questions, or feedback.
From overseas: +64 4 238 6312
Your call will be answered 8.30 am - 5 pm Monday to Friday.
Email
Email info@dbh.govt.nz with any questions, feedback on this website, or to be put on a database to receive updates on the Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme.
If you wish to be put on the database for electronic updates, please include your name, organisation/company, email and postal address.
Post
Occupational Licensing Team
Department of Building and Housing
PO Box 10 729
Wellington
New Zealand
Send Building Practitioner applications to:
The Registrar
Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme
Department of Building and Housing
PO Box 50041
Porirua
New Zealand