The LBP Scheme Explained
New Zealand’s Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP) scheme is the mechanism through which the Building Act ensures that the most critical building work — work that affects the structural integrity and weathertightness of buildings — is carried out by people with demonstrated competence. If you’re doing restricted building work on residential buildings, having the right LBP licence class is a legal requirement, not a choice.
MBIE administers the LBP scheme, and the register of licensed practitioners is publicly searchable — meaning your clients can verify your licence status, and building consent authorities will check it as part of the consent process.
Licence Classes
LBP licences are issued in specific classes corresponding to different types of work:
- Design — for those who design restricted building work
- Site — for those who supervise or carry out restricted building work on site
- Carpentry — for carpenters carrying out restricted building work
- External Plastering — for those applying external plaster cladding systems
- Bricklaying and Blocklaying — for masonry construction
- Roofing — for roof covering work that forms part of restricted building work
- Foundations — for concrete foundation work
Each class has its own competency requirements and covers specific types of restricted building work. It’s possible to hold multiple licence classes.
Maintaining Your Licence
LBP licences must be renewed every two years. Renewal requires evidence of continuing professional development (CPD) through the LBP skills maintenance programme. The skills maintenance system requires you to complete learning activities, record them in your skills maintenance journal, and demonstrate that you’re keeping up with changes to standards, codes, and practice in your licence class area.
The skills maintenance requirement is not onerous — most practitioners find they can meet it through the normal course of their work, by reading industry publications, attending training events, and reflecting on their practice. The important thing is to keep records of your learning activities throughout the two-year cycle rather than trying to catch up at renewal time.
What Happens If You Don’t Have One
Carrying out restricted building work without an appropriate LBP licence is an offence under the Building Act, with fines of up to $20,000. Building consent authorities can refuse to accept a Record of Work from an unlicensed practitioner, which creates significant compliance problems for the project as a whole. The reputational consequences of being found out can also be serious, particularly in the relationship-driven construction industry.