Licence main plank of seminar

As of March next year, New Zealand builders will need to carry a licence in order to complete their work.

Issued by the Department of Building and Housing (DBH), the licence is intended to ensure builders are both competent and accountable.

In the wake of the leaky homes debacle, the Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP) scheme is designed to boost consumer confidence.

The scheme starts in March next year. Whangarei District Council Building Compliance manager Bruce Rogers said many builders, designers and subcontractors were unaware of the new requirement.

In an effort to bring some understanding of the issues to the local building industry, the three Northland district councils and the Northland branch of the New Zealand Institute of Building organised a seminar to educate those in the building industry about the LBP scheme.

The meeting on Thursday was attended by over 70 Northland builders and tradespeople. Mr Rogers said he was impressed by the turnout. "It was a very successful meeting, there was lots of feedback," he said.

"There's concerns that were voiced and we need to get those to the surface and get them addressed so that people enter this with their eyes open."

Mr Rogers said making builders liable for their work was not the main focus of the scheme.

"It's on quality, we want people to raise their skill levels to good levels so we can start being a productive industry and start moving forward and get out of these liabilities."

Under the new legislation, only a Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP) will be able to sign off on certain parts of a building.