Licensing Update: Issue 3
Welcome …
Welcome to the latest issue of the Department of Building and Housing’s Licensing Update, that keeps you up to date on developments in the Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme.
If you are a new subscriber, you can read the first two issues on our website at www.dbh.govt.nz/licensing-update-index
In this issue we cover:
- consultation on proposed draft Rules for licensing
- assessment agents announced
- ConsumerBuild site relaunched
- upcoming industry events.
We also answer the interesting questions you’ve been sending us over the last couple of months. Please keep them coming.
Consultation on the proposed Rules
An important document covering key aspects of the proposed Rules for the Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme is now available on our website (go to www.dbh.govt.nz and click on ‘Consulting on’ on the homepage).
Over the past 2 years, the Department of Building and Housing has been working with many building industry groups, organisations and individuals to develop the details of how the Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme will work in practice.
This consultation document is the result of these discussions and explains key aspects of the proposed Rules that relate to:
- minimum standards for the 3 licence classes to be introduced in November this year – Design, Site and Carpentry
- application and assessment processes
- requirements for continued licensing.
The information is quite detailed, but it is important that everyone who may be interested in applying for a licence knows how the scheme will work, and has the opportunity to comment on the proposals. Your feedback will allow the Department to firm up the draft Rules before sending them to the Building Practitioners Board and the Minister for Building and Construction for approval.
The closing date for feedback is Monday 26 March. We look forward to receiving your comments on the form provided (please include your name and contact details). If you require a hard copy of the document, please phone our Contact Centre on 0800 60 60 50.
Assessment Agent for the Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme appointed
A Lower Hutt-based company, Assessment Systems Limited (ASL), has been selected by the Department to be its assessment agent for the Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme.
ASL will be responsible for managing the assessment of applications, using assessors with industry experience to make recommendations to the Registrar for final decisions.
The assessment criteria will include applicants’ work history and project records, client testimonials where possible, feedback from technical referees, and applicants’ understanding of the responsibilities of the licences they are seeking.
Experience and a good track record will count. This scheme is not about sending people back to school - qualifications will not be compulsory.
Builders’ breakfasts
From March until early May, the Department is running a nationwide series of presentations for builders.
Breakfast presentations covering what builders need to know about the licensing scheme will take place in the following areas over the next 2 months. Please note we’ll be adding to this list over the next few weeks. See the Department’s website for more details - www.dbh.govt.nz or contact Katherine Boles de Boer on Katherine.Bolesdeboer@dbh.govt.nz
| March |
|
| 22 |
Te Awamutu |
| 27 |
Napier |
| 28 |
Taupo |
| April |
|
| 3 |
Wanganui |
| 4 |
New Plymouth |
| 17 |
Wellington |
| 18 |
Petone |
| May |
|
| 1 |
Christchurch |
| 2 |
Timaru |
| 3 |
Ashburton |
| 9 |
Invercargill |
| 15 |
Masterton |
Relaunch of ConsumerBuild website
Earlier this month, the enhanced ConsumerBuild website www.consumerbuild.org.nz) was launched by Building and Construction Minister Clayton Cosgrove and Consumers’ Institute Chief Executive David Russell. ConsumerBuild is run in partnership between the Department and the Consumers’ Institute.
The new site aims to improve consumer understanding of building, buying, renovating and maintaining homes. A lot of new information about weathertightness has been added to the site as part of the Department’s weathertightness consumer information programme. The information aims to help protect consumers, help owners of non-weathertight homes, and increase the rate at which affected homes are repaired.
A checklist for home buyers and a checklist for home maintenance have also been developed, and can be downloaded from the ConsumerBuild website.
Questions and answers
The questions that follow were received from readers of our last newsletter.
Q. As a project manager, I have overall control of the work on sites and see that I will be the Site Lead under the proposed licensing scheme. As such, I am personally liable for the standard of work, and will need to carry liability insurance.
Once I retire or cease building, will I need to continue carrying the liability insurance, as claims may come in after I have left the role, or will the insurance I carried at the time of completing the job be sufficient?
If I need to carry insurance cover after I have left the industry, how long for?
A. Your question raises two issues, accountability and legal liability.
The Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme is intended to increase practitioner's accountability in terms of unhappy clients or customers being able to complain over bad workmanship and suchlike to the Building Practitioners Board, which ultimately can rescind a practitioner's licence. In terms of accountability after retirement, the Building Practitioner Board can take an action whether or not a person is still a licensed building practitioner, though how any decision was enforced would depend on the circumstances.
However, the scheme is not intended to change a practitioner's legal liability, ie the capacity of a client or customer to sue for damages. Work is now underway to make that clear.
Your question does not say whether as a project manager you are self-employed or an employee. If self-employed, whether you choose to have liability insurance is a business decision for you, and any legal liability would continue after you retire, as it does now. The likelihood of an action for damages against an employee is extremely remote. Again, the Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme is not intended to change that.
Q. I have over 20 years building experience plus NZCB stage 3 qualifications. Could you please forward me the information needed to get a licence, including who to contact in the Auckland area.
A. The Department will begin accepting applications from November this year. Some of the detail is still being developed; however, general information about licensing for builders is on our website at www.dbh.govt.nz/occupational-licensing. You may also like to refer to the consultation document on the draft Rules (see the first article in this newsletter) which will also give you more information about the requirements and the application process.
We’ll be running roadshows around the country before applications open. At these events we’ll cover everything you need to do to become licensed, as well as answer any questions you may have. Details of where and when the events will take place will be published in this newsletter and on our website.
Q. I and my business partner own and operate a plumbing and drainage design business, and have completed design and documentation on many projects, from housing to correctional work through to major hospital work in New Zealand and the South Pacific.
As you are aware, there is no formal qualification for a Plumbing and Drainage designer, and it is not covered under the Plumbers, Gasfitter and Drainlayers Act.
Where do we sit in the overall licensing scheme?
Obviously we want to continue to design plumbing and drainage for buildings of all shapes and sizes. Can you please advise where we fit into the scheme?
A. If your design and documentation is part of the overall design for a project and delivered to the lead designers, you won’t need to be a licensed building practitioner. After 2009, “significant building projects” will require a Design Lead, who must be a licensed building practitioner. They will coordinate the input from any specialist design work required, such as what you do. Specialist designers will not have to be LBPs.
Also, some of the projects you work on might not be ‘significant building projects’ eg, drainage-only projects.
Q. There's lot of ‘scuttle-butt' in the marketplace regarding the cost of this scheme. Has anything been decided on the costs yet? Also, will an individual ‘public liability’ insurance be a requirement of the licence?
A. The cost for an individual to become a licensed building practitioner is currently being finalised. Detailed information will be made public well before the licensing scheme starts operating in November this year. Keep an eye on future issues of this newsletter for details.
See the answer to the second question in this issue regarding public liability insurance.
Q. I'm a freelance precut detailer working from home. How will the new rules about licensing affect me?
A. The new licensing scheme does not affect you directly.
The detailing work you describe is part of a product supply chain for building projects. It will be the responsibility of licensed building practitioners to advise the owner/contractor about the quality of the products they use. You may, however, be interested in the product certification scheme under the Building Act 2004. Information on this is available on the Department’s website – www.dbh.govt.nz
Q. I note in the literature that Chartered Engineers will automatically be deemed to hold a Design 3 licence.
My query is that in all but the larger consultancies the majority of engineers are working to become chartered. What is their status and what will they have to complete to become licensed?
There are a significant number also who although degree qualified have never been registered and work in a number of areas other than design even though they work for a design consultancy. If these people are expected as part of their employment to inspect and supervise on-site work for compliance with the design, what will be expected of them to gain a design licence?
A. Chartered professional engineers (CPEng) and Registered Architects will be ‘deemed to hold’ a Design 3 licence under the Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme by virtue of their own registration schemes.
Engineers won’t be deemed to have site licences automatically, but will need to apply for assessment like anyone else. However, their qualifications, CPEng status and work experience will all be good evidence. Engineers may also wish to apply for the Steel Structure, Concrete Structure or Building Services licences, if they are observing or supervising the installation of this work on-site.
More information will be published during this year, in the lead-up to the licensing scheme, about how to choose a relevant licence class and what supporting evidence in the way of a work history and project records will be required.
Q. Is it going to be mandatory for an architectural designer to belong to an organisation like ADNZ to be able to be licensed?
A. No, you don’t need to belong to any industry organisation to be licensed. Everyone who applies is treated the same – the key ‘evidence’ you will have to provide is to demonstrate the type of work you do (your work history), and detailed project records, backed by validation from technical referees – these could be your manager, a company you have done work for, or someone else who can comment on your professional experience and abilities.
‘Supporting evidence’ may include qualifications and/or membership of industry organisations, but these are certainly not mandatory. We will license people based on their own skills and experience.
Please keep up to date with licensing developments through this electronic newsletter, the Department’s website at http://www.dbh.govt.nz/occupational-licensing and your own industry organisations.