Building and Construction Minister Clayton Cosgrove today announced the rules for the licensing of building practitioners – a new regime aimed at raising building quality standards and ensuring that people working in the sector are competent and accountable.

Mr Cosgrove was speaking at a ceremony in Wellington today to mark the completion of formal rules for the Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP) scheme that starts being rolled out, initially on a voluntary basis, from 1 November this year.

Mr Cosgrove said licensing in the building sector would benefit all New Zealanders.

“Licensing will promote and recognise professional skills and behaviour in the building industry. The writing is now on the wall for the cowboy operators,” he said.

“The public will have increased confidence in the building sector, knowing that the LBP’s either doing or supervising the work on homes and buildings will do a professional job. In time this will translate to an overall raising of quality standards, as we rebuild a world-class building and construction sector in this country.”

Mr Cosgrove said the rules of the LBP scheme cover:

• Who should apply and how to go about doing that
• How each application will be assessed
• The minimum standards for staying licensed
• How and when a licence can be suspended
• The information that will be held on the Register of Licensed Building Practitioners
• How the annual contract with the Registrar will function

Seven categories of licence take effect from this November on a voluntary basis – Carpentry; Site 1, 2, and 3; and Design 1, 2, and 3. The levels of licence are linked to the complexity of the building work or the role being undertaken. People who can apply for these licenses include designers, builders, site supervisors, construction managers and carpenters.

Six more categories of licence will be added next year. These licenses will apply to external plasterers, roofers, bricklayers and blocklayers, and specialists in concrete structure, steel structure and building services.

The rules have been determined for the seven licences taking effect from November. Schedules to the rules detail minimum standards or competencies for each licence class, and describe the skills, knowledge and experience people will have to demonstrate in order to become licensed. For example, in order to get a Carpentry licence, carpenters will need to show skills ranging from planning and scheduling their work, through to demonstrating that they can set out and construct floors, walls and roof frames and install, finish and make weathertight exterior joinery.

Assessors will determine if applicants meet the required standard of competency by examining their documentation and through face to face interviews and other interactive methods.

Mr Cosgrove said having a formal qualification was not mandatory for obtaining a license, and skilled people with a good track record should not have any trouble meeting the criteria. He said licensing means people in the building sector are going to have their expertise formally recognised, in many cases for the first time.

“Professions such as plumbers, electricians, architects and engineers, and those with trade certificates already had formal qualifications through their occupational groupings. But many others who are responsible for important aspects of building design and construction had not had the opportunity to have their skills formally recognised. Licensing means they can finally get the recognition they deserve.”

Mr Cosgrove said occupational licensing will help ensure people in the building industry who are responsible for the work done are competent and accountable, so that homes and buildings are designed and built right the first time.

“It is a credit to the building industry working groups and everyone else involved, that the rules have been completed and we now have a robust framework that can work for a variety of different trades and disciplines,” Mr Cosgrove said.

Mr Cosgrove said he especially wanted to thank the building sector for its involvement in developing the LBP scheme.

“The licensing scheme has come about with the strong support of the building industry because it is totally committed to ensuring its reputation is enhanced and the quality of New Zealand’s homes and buildings are improved.”

People without licenses will still be able to work in the building industry, but from November 2010 some specific restricted work will need to be supervised or done by a licensed person.

Mr Cosgrove said he wanted again to reassure home handy-men or -women that the Kiwi Do-It-Yourself (DIY) tradition would be protected under the licensing scheme, and they would still be able to do DIY work – including building a standard, straight-forward house from scratch or adding on a room. Options to ensure future house buyers know if a house was built by an LBP or a DIY’er are being looked at.

A copy of the 49-page Licensed Building Practitioners Rules 2007 document can be viewed on the Department of Building and Housing website – www.dbh.govt.nz. Application packs will be available from 1 October 2007 for the Carpentry, Design 1, 2 and 3, and for Site 1, 2, and 3 licenses. The processing of licences will begin on 1 November 2007.

Occupational licensing is part of the Labour-led government's suite of reforms to transform the building sector. Other reforms include the Building Code review, the accreditation of Building Consent Authorities, the revamp of the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service, product certification, new measures to make homes and workplaces more energy efficient, and investigation of a home warranty insurance scheme.