When and how licensing applies

Licensing applies to individuals. It does not apply to companies.

Licensing for the Design, Site and Carpentry licensing classes began on 1 November 2007.  Licensing for roofing, bricklaying and blocklaying and external plastering began on 1 November 2008.  A licence class for Foundations is expected to open April 2010.

Restricted building work

After 1 March 2012 it is intended that a licensed building practitioner will be required to carry out or supervise certain restricted building work on homes and small-medium sized apartment buildings.

Restricted building work is work that is critical to the integrity of a building. It is work that 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 will only apply to houses and small-medium sized apartment buildings. Specifically, it will apply to the design and construction of:

• the primary structure (eg, foundations and framing) to ensure it will meet vertical and horizontal loads.
• external moisture management systems (eg, roof and wall cladding) to ensure the building is weathertight.

It will also apply to the design of active fire safety systems in small-medium sized apartment buildings.

Restricted building work is a subset of all building work. It will apply only to some work that requires a building consent.

It will not apply to all types of buildings. For example, sheds, garages, outbuildings or ancillary buildings including farm buildings, free standing decks, tents and marquees, and conservatories, and some other types of building work will be excluded.

When restricted building work is introduced from 1 March 2012, it is intended that a licensed building practitioner will be required to supervise or carry out this work on homes and buildings.