Standard application

If you have experience in the licensing class you are applying for, or are applying for a Design licence, use the standard application pathway. You can also use a standard application if you do not hold a recognised New Zealand qualification or yours is not listed in our recognised qualifications.

The standard application is an experience-based application and requires you to provide information about your previous work history, jobs you have recently completed, and referees who can discuss what work you did on those jobs.

You must use a standard application to apply for a Design license.

If you hold a qualification from outside New Zealand, please use the standard application form. Under the Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP) Rules, only specific New Zealand qualifications are eligible for the qualified practitioner application form. All applicants with overseas qualifications must provide evidence of relevant New Zealand work experience as part of their application.

Check if your qualification is recognised

Rules of the Board

If you hold a New Zealand qualification that is recognised in the LBP Rules, it may be faster to submit a streamlined application as the application form takes less time than a standard application.

Streamlined application

If you hold an Australian State design or trade-related licence, please see the Australian licence holders page for additional information.

Australian licence holders

Understanding the process

Licensing assessments happen in three stages, involving:

Licensing and processing team
Assessors
Registrar

Licensing and processing team

Our Licensing team will firstly ensure that your application is ‘complete’. If there is information missing, they will contact you and advise you of what you need to provide, as well as the date by which you must provide this. If you do not provide the requested information by the provided due date, then your application will lapse and you will have to apply again.

Once the team have confirmed that you have supplied all the required documents, your application will progress to assessment and will be assigned to an assessor.

Avoid application delays

To avoid delays caused by incomplete applications, please refer to the application checklist before starting your application:

Experience Pathway Checklist [DOCX, 22 KB]

Design Pathway Checklist [DOCX, 22 KB]

Assessors

Our assessor team has been selected for their design and/or building backgrounds. Most of our assessors are LBPs themselves or hold the equivalent registration or experience. Your application will be assessed by someone with an extensive knowledge of your licensing class.

An assessor will carry out the following:

1. Evaluate your application form and supporting evidence

This includes qualifications, work history, project examples, referees, design portfolio and other relevant evidence you have provided in your application.

2. Virtual assessment and competency questioning

Following the application review, your assessor will be in touch to set up a virtual assessment. This will be completed using Microsoft Teams and will be recorded in line with our privacy policy.

During this interview, the assessor will ask you questions to explore your understanding and practical application of the competencies and performance indicators required for the licence class you have applied for.

3. Referee check

Following the assessment interview, the assessor will call your referees provided and verify the information provided by you in both their interview and your application form.

Once the assessor has completed your assessment, they will provide a written report and recommendation to the Registrar as to whether they believe you have met all the competencies for the licence class you have applied for.

Registrar

Once the Registrar has reviewed this report, the Registrar will make a decision regarding your licence. The Registrar may at times request some more information from you to assist in making this decision.

The Registrar will send you a written notification of their decision.

Referees

When considering your referees, you should take into consideration the following criteria:

You are required to provide at least two referees for each area of practice you are applying for (additional referees may be required for some licensing classes which contain multiple areas of practice).to assess your competency within each area of practice.
Your referees should have technical credibility, that is they are able to answer technical questions relevant to the work you carried out – our preference is for at least one referee to be a currently licensed LBP.
Your referees should have worked on the projects you have nominated in your application, and they should have observed the specific range of building work you carried out.
Your referees need to be available to talk with your assessor.
Your referees should not be family members.

Design application portfolios

As part of your design application, you must have your design portfolio ready to submit at the time you lodge your application.

You will not be required to upload the portfolio during the initial application stage. However, once your application has been received, you will be asked to email your portfolio to applications@lbp.govt.nz

Your application will then be assigned to an assessor.