Licensing Update
Issue 8 - May 2008
Welcome to the eighth issue of the Department of Building and Housing’s Licensing Update, keeping you up-to-date on developments in the Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme.
In this issue we cover:
We also answer the interesting questions you’ve been asking us over the last couple of months. Please keep them coming.
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Restricted building work announcement
Over the Anzac weekend, the Minister for Building and Construction, Shane Jones attended the Registered Master Builders Conference in Wellington.
While there he outlined some in-principle decisions that the Government has made around ‘restricted building work’.
Restricted building work is work that is critical to the integrity of a building. It is building work that by its nature is important to the building, is complex to do, needs to be done right, and should therefore be done by a competent person.
Restricted building work is only a subset of all building work and will only apply to some work that requires a building consent.
Restricted building work will not apply to all types of buildings. For example, sheds, garages, farm buildings, free standing decks and conservatories, and a number of other things, are excluded.
The Government has made some in-principle decisions about the broad parameters of restricted building work. These parameters relate to the building elements that address critical areas of safety and health. They are:
- managing moisture - systems that keep rain or ground water getting into a building, and systems like a waterproof barrier in a shower that stops moisture in wet areas doing serious damage
- structure - things like structural framework and bracing
- fire-rating - elements that stop fire spreading or causing a building to collapse
Restricted building work must be undertaken or supervised by a Licensed Building Practitioner. The earliest this can happen under the Building Act is from November 2010.
The Government has directed the Department of Building and Housing to work with the building sector and the local government sector to test these parameters and develop in detail the specific items of building work, including design work that should be restricted.
The Department expects to undertake public consultation on restricted building work in August this year.
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Owner builder exemption announcement
At the same time that the Minister announced proposals for restricted building work, he talked about how work done by DIYers would be affected by the restricted building work regime.
The ‘owner builder exemption’ will be an exemption to the restricted building work regime for homeowners to undertake work on their residential properties.
The aim of the owner builder exemption is to allow homeowners to undertake restricted building work on their own houses while still protecting consumers (future owners of the home).
At present, the majority of work that DIYers undertake is not affected by the restricted building work requirements because a lot of work people do themselves does not need a building consent.
Also, much of the work that DIYers do that needs a building consent is not likely to be restricted building work.
Finally, most DIYers do not build their own homes from scratch without assistance from a professional builder. However, under the proposed exemption, they will be able to do this if they want to.
DIYers will be able to use the exemption to carry out restricted building work provided they take the same accountability as a professional builder; ie the implied warranties under the Building Act.
To seek the exemption it is proposed DIYers:
- must be an individual
- own the land
- carry out the work themselves
- complete a statutory declaration confirming this, which will be held on the property file
- have the restricted building work they do recorded on the Land Information Memorandum.
The Government has directed the Department of Building and Housing to work with the building sector and the local government sector to finalise the details for the owner builder exemption.
A consultation document on the owner builder exemption will be released in May.
We will keep you informed of the consultation on both the owner builder exemption and restricted building work through this e-newsletter.
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The Building Amendment Act 2008
Recently, the Building Amendment Act was passed by Parliament. This contains changes to the Building Act 2004. There are a number of issues that are relevant to the Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme.
Changes that will affect the scheme include adding a right of appeal to the District Court, adding a purpose statement for the scheme, and removing the need for licensed practitioners to certify certain restricted building work they carry out.
Purpose of the scheme
The Act has been amended to include a purpose statement about what the scheme is aiming to achieve. It now states that the scheme is about recognising competence, and ensuring there are enough licensed practitioners to undertake restricted building work when it is introduced.
Giving Registrar discretion
There was a lot of feedback from the sector about the amount of personal information required on the register. Therefore, the Registrar has now been given the discretion to withhold information from the register. This could cover things the public does not need to see when searching for a licensed practitioner (such as a practitioner’s date of birth).
Memorandum of work
The Building Act 2004 required licensed practitioners to sign a certificate stating what restricted building work they supervised or undertook, and confirming the work complied with the building consent. Feedback from many organisations noted that this could pass additional liability on to individual practitioners. This was never the intent of the Act, and therefore all mention of a ‘certificate’ has been replaced with the word ‘memorandum’, and licensed practitioners are no longer required to confirm the work complies with the building consent. This means that, after restricted building work is introduced, all licensed practitioners will only be required to keep a memorandum of the restricted building work they have undertaken or supervised. The aim of this is to keep a record of who did what restricted building work, and copies must be given to the owner and the territorial authority.
Extra appeals procedure
Previously, applicants who were turned down for one of the classes would have the right to appeal to the Building Practitioners Board. This provision remains, but an additional avenue of appeal has been added. If a practitioner wishes to appeal the decision of the Building Practitioners Board, they can now do so by appealing to the District Court.
Restricted building work
Finally, the amendment extends the restricted building work start-date by one year, to 30 November 2010 at the earliest.
The passing of the Building Amendment Act 2008 means that the scheme can continue to develop as we move towards the introduction of restricted building work from November 2010.
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More information on skills maintenance
Skills maintenance is about maintaining and building your skills and knowledge in a changing industry. Recently, the Department has been contacted by a number of organisations wanting to have their activities pre-approved so you know in advance what points you will earn from attending their courses.
We will attempt to let you know about these activities in advance.
We will aim to tell you:
- the name of the event and who’s running it
- the licensing class(es) it is pitched at
- the number of points you’ll earn toward your skills maintenance requirements
- the up-front cost to you for attending the event, and
- how you can find out more about this particular event.
If you attend these sorts of events, you can claim points on your Record of skills maintenance under the heading ‘Publications/activities approved by the Registrar.’
There are no maximum points associated with this category so you can claim as many points as you want under this heading, as long as the publication and/or activity has been approval.
Current activities on offer
Carters are currently running a road show around the country. The topics they will be covering are:
| Part 1 |
Part 2 |
- The Building Act 2004 and amendments
- NZ Building Code and compliance document structure
- Licensing Building Practitioners update and practical advice
- Personal liability
|
- Timber grading – verified grades
- Timber framing, updates and on-site practices
- Timber treatment – update
- Moisture meters – measuring the moisture content of framing timber
|
These breakfast and evening events are pitched at all licensing classes and will take about an hour and a half. You will earn two skills maintenance points and it will cost you nothing to attend.
To book your attendance at these events call 0800 CARTERS or contact your local Carters outlet.
We will be promoting more events such as this as and when they are approved – so watch this space.
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Questions and answers
The following are a selection of the questions that practitioners have been raising with the Department. If you have questions about the scheme that you would like answered, you can contact us on 0800 60 60 50 or info@dbh.govt.nz
Do you have a full list of what work will not be restricted building work?
Yes. The Government have agreed that certain work, and certain types of building will not be restricted building work. These are:
- Exempt work (Schedule 1 of the Building Act)
- Outbuildings or ancillary buildings, including farm buildings
- Tents and marquees
- Conservatories
- Electrical work
- Sanitary plumbing, gasfitting, or drainlaying
- Minor building alteration work;
- ordinary deck
- partial re-cladding or re-roofing using materials different from the original
- installing or replacing exterior window or door
- removing or constructing one structural wall
- installing or replacing a fire rated door (fire resisting closure)
- installing or replacing one area of fire rated plaster board (fire separation).
How can I comment on the proposals for restricted building work and the owner builder exemption?
The Department of Building and Housing will be releasing a public consultation document on the owner builder exemption in early May. We will email all Licensing Update subscribers a link to the document so you can have your say on the proposals.
A consultation document on the proposals for restricted building work will be released in August this year. Again, we will keep you informed via this e-newsletter.
I want to apply for both the Carpentry and Site 2 classes. Do I really have to provide three referees for both?
Yes. As the two classes are focused on different aspects of work, you will need three referees to talk about both of them.
However, it may be possible to use the same person to comment about both your carpentry and site supervision work. Therefore, you may be able to use less than six different referees if there is someone who can talk about both aspects of your work.
Please remember however that the referees still have to talk about the specific projects you have discussed.
I am a trade qualified carpenter. Are there any parts of the carpentry application form I do not have to fill out?
If you are a trade qualified carpenter, then you do not have to fill out Project records questionnaire on pages 7 – 9 of the form. However, you do have to fill in everything else, including discussing two projects you have worked on (pages 3 – 6).
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