Changes to the Building Act this week will mean big changes for those who like to partake in the great Kiwi tradition of DIY.
Residents and builders spoken to by the Bay of Plenty Times welcomed the change.
Former Christchurch resident Donna Reeves said: "It's a relief because it will give you a bit of assurance that the houses will stop falling down."
Malcolm MacDougall, of MacDougall Builders, said the changes should be celebrated but they would mean increasing costs for building businesses.
"I think it will be a good thing, it will get rid of all the cowboys and that's what they're trying to do, but on the flip side it means more expenses for us. We have to pay for the licensing and renewal of licensing, so it will cost us.
"But then again, if you get work done by a licensed building practitioner, you should be able to charge a bit more because you'll be sought after because you're the only one who can do the job. A bit like sparkies and plumbers, in that sense."
Mr MacDougall said his business, which operated in Tauranga and Rotorua, occasionally fixed botched building jobs and the law change would prevent untrained people taking on bigger jobs in their home. He did not believe it would have any effect on the DIY community and said people would continue to do smaller work on their home regardless of the law.
Mr MacDougall said smaller building businesses could be particularly vulnerable. However, he did not have sympathy for anyone who did not get a licence.
"It's not a huge expense and it will promote their business. So if they don't get it, then they won't get work. Simple as that."
Dave Shaw, from Shaw Builders, said he did not know how the change would affect his business and expected "a few teething problems" in the first couple of months.
"I really don't know, maybe it will be all right," he said.
"Overall, it might be better for us in the future, and safeguard this trade and it might sort out a few people, but we'll have to wait and see. There's going to be a few headaches, even though they've planned it all out it's never going to be simple and we've all got to work through it the best we can."
Bunnings Warehouse, Mount Maunganui, operations manager Tim McAulay said DIY was a popular past-time in the Western Bay and the law change could affect some people who were used to doing their own building alterations.
Mitre 10 NZ general manager marketing Dave Elliott said the recession had done little to dampen Kiwi DIY-ers.
"It is great to see that the New Zealand culture of DIY is still widespread and Kiwis are as eager as ever to give it a go at home. We encourage all Kiwis to keep going with DIY but remind them ahead of the introduction of the Licensed Building Practitioners Scheme to ensure that they are aware of their responsibilities to meet the legal requirements of the industry."
Meanwhile, Tauranga City Council building services manager Rob Wickman said the law change would create more paperwork and administrative work for local government.
Whether the additional administrative burden would translate into higher building permit fees would not be known until the scheme had been running a few months. It would be considered in the council's budgets for 2013-14.
The new requirement for licensed building practitioners only applied to residential work which affected the structure and weathertightness of a home.
Larger commercial and industrial buildings were exempt because it was assumed that they only attracted the big players of the construction industry.
Mr Wickman explained that extra work would be required when the council issued code compliance certificates for a building.
The inspection of documents would include ensuring that the people doing the job were licensed designers and builders. It covered carpenters, roofers, bricklayers and blocklayers, external plasterers and foundations. The pressure to get in before the new rules take effect on March 1 has resulted in three of Mr Wickman's team and four staff from the customer service centre being fully booked for the first three days of this week processing consents.
As for liability if an unlicensed person did the work, Mr Wickman said that if there was a dispute, he could guarantee that the council would be held liable.
He did not think the new rules would have much effect on Tauranga's Men's Shed because most of its jobs sat outside a building consent.
Jason McClintock of Certified Builders said cowboys would be identified quite easily through the disciplinary board.
As for the subtrades in a building project such as the installers of plasterboard, the carpentry licence holder must supervise and sign off the work.
"That is where the supervisory part will really kick in."