Restricted building work

What is Restricted Building Work (RBW)?

Restricted Building Work is building work affecting the primary structure or weather-tightness of a residential dwelling (home) is restricted building work under the Building Act 2004. This means a licensed building practitioner is required to design, carry out or supervise any work relating to the restricted building work.

The purpose of RBW is to ensure that critical design and building work is carried out or supervised by competent practitioners. It also makes sure there is accountability if the restricted building work does not meet the required standards. 

Read more about restricted building work on the building.govt.nz website.(external link)

Licensed Building Practitioners (LBPs) 

The purpose of the LBP schemes is to encourage competent building practitioners to build homes right the first time. LBPs are designers, carpenters, brick and block-layers, roofers, external plasterers, site and foundations specialists who have been assessed as competent to carry out the design or building work affecting the primary structure or weather-tightness of a residential building.

Chartered professional engineers (CPENG), registered architects, plumbers and gasfitters are treated as LBPs and can carry out some restricted building work.

Your building consent application must include details of all known LBPs involved in your project and be accompanied by with a Form 2 - Memorandum from Licensed Building Practitioner - Certificate of Design Work (pdf 298 KB) from all LBPs, CPENG or registered architects involved in the design work.  

Before any building work commences, you are required to notify Council of all LBPs that are intended to carry RBW. When all building work has been completed, the LBPs involved in the construction are required to provide a Form 6A - Memorandum from Licensed Building Practitioner - Record of Building Work (pdf 249 KB) with or prior to submitting the Application for Code Compliance Certificate.

To find a LBP visit the Licensed Building Practitioners website(external link).

Owner-Builder Exemptions

An owner-builder exemption may be an option if you are intending to carry out restricted building work on your own home.

You would be responsible for ensuring that restricted building work carried out under the owner-builder exemption complies with the building consent and the relevant plans and specifications.

You are an owner-builder if you:

• Live in or are going to live in the home (this can include a beach or holiday home).
• Carry out the restricted building work to your own home yourself, or with the help of your unpaid friends and family members.
• Have not, under the owner-builder exemption, carried out restricted building work to any other home within the previous three years.

Read more information regarding the Owner-Builder Exemption on the building.govt.nz website(external link).