RMBF recommends licensing caution

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The RMBF has recommended that members exercise caution with regard to becoming Licensed Building Practitioners.
RMBF members, especially those that attended the Conference in April, will be aware that the Government recently announced some decisions around “restricted building work” and DIYers that was good news for the RMBF.

RMBF chief executive Pieter Burghout says after a year-long advocacy programme by the RMBF, the Government has acknowledged that the licensing scheme needs to be comprehensive and needs to be clear on where and when it applies to building work.

“However, while the Government has announced these policy decisions, there are still some uncertainties going forward. Changes need to be made to the Building Act to cover the DIY exemptions, and regulations need to be finalised to complete the defining of restricted building work,” Mr Burghout says.
“On top of those uncertainties, the election is not that far away and we can’t categorically predict what a new government might do in this area.

Advice taken by RMBF

“The RMBF Board took some advice from a major policy advisory firm in Wellington and, arising from that advice, we still recommend licensing caution to members.
“We remain strongly in support of a licensing programme as being a critical part of ensuring quality in the construction industry, but until the Building Act and regulatory changes have been made — which won’t happen for some six months or so — there is too much uncertainty for us to actively encourage members to get licensed.”
Mr Burghout says some members may still want to do so, given the potential commercial benefits to their business, and that is still appropriate.

Members should still prepare for licensing though
“While recommending ‘caution’ to members, we would still recommend that members prepare for licensing by getting their (and their staff’s) CVs ready to go (using the RMBF on-line Builders CV).

“And we will still be working with the Government to get as much of the licensing regulatory framework as clear as we can as soon as we can, as well as continuing discussions around how to simplify things going forward.”

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