Offences and penalties

The LBP scheme was brought in as part of the Building Act 2004 (the Act). To ensure the scheme functions as intended, there are a series of enforceable offences set out under the Act in relation to restricted building work and LBPs.

Instant fines

If you carry out or supervise (RBW under the following circumstances, you are committing an offence under the Building Act 2004 and the local council can issue you with an instant fine.

  • When a non-licensed building practitioner carries out RBW, but is not supervised by a building practitioner of the appropriate licence class – $750 fine
  • When an LBP carries out or supervises RBW, but is not licensed in the appropriate class to carry out or supervise the work – $500 fine
  • When a person claims to be an LBP able to do a certain type of RBW, but is not licensed in the appropriate class – $500 fine

Councils have been able to issue these fines for RBW since 3 September 2012.

Full details are in the building Regulations.

Building (Infringement Offences, Fees, and Forms) Regulations 2007

View the Act on the New Zealand Legislation website

New Zealand Legislation website
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Offences committed under the Act

If an LBP or anyone involved in building and construction commits an offence under the Act, and the offence is serious, the local council or MBIE can prosecute them. There are four prosecutable offences directly related to the LBP scheme:

The council or MBIE can also prosecute a home or building owner who knowingly employs a person who is not an LBP (with the appropriate licence) to carry out RBW.

 

  1. Section 85 – Offences relating to carrying out or supervising restricted building work(external link)
    This section of the Act states that it is an offence to carry out or supervise (other than as an exempt owner-builder) restricted building work without holding the appropriate licence or being supervised by an appropriately licensed LBP. A person can be fined up to $20,000 if convicted of this offence.
  2. Section 86 – Offence to engage another person to carry out or supervise restricted building work if person is not licensed building practitioner(external link)
    This section of the Act allows the council or MBIE to prosecute a person who knowingly engages another person who is not an LBP (with the appropriate licence) to carry out or supervise RBW. This offence carries a fine of up to $20,000 if convicted.up to $20,000 if convicted of this offence.
  3. Section 87A – Notices to building consent authority when owner-builder carries out restricted building work(external link)
    This section of the Act states that a home owner must provide the local Building Consent Authority (usually the council) with a notice relating to an owner builder beginning to carry out or ceasing to carry out restricted building work. This offence carries a fine of up to $20,000 if convicted.
  4. Section 314 – Offences relating to licensing(external link)
    This section sets out that it is an offence to hold yourself out as being a licensed building practitioner while not being licensed in that particular manner. A person can be fined up to $20,000 if convicted of this offence.

    This section also states that if an LBP fails to produce evidence of licensing when asked to, they can be fined up to $5,000. Also, if an LBP’s details change and they fail to advise the Registrar of the new details, they can be fined up to $5,000.

You can read more about how to make or respond to a complaint (and where to go with other types of complaints) in the Complaints section.