Checking an LBP, step by step
Ask for their licence
Ask the roofer to show you their current LBP licence ID, either the digital licence or a printout of it. It carries a QR code you can scan to see their credentials.
Search the register yourself
The public register is on the LBP website (lbp.govt.nz). You can search by name, practitioner number, town or city, or postcode.
Filter by Roofing
Choose the Roofing licence class and, if you like, an area of practice. Make sure the class fits the job you're having done.
Read the history
The register shows their licence history and whether they've been disciplined in the last three years. A past finding isn't automatically a deal-breaker, but ask them about it.
Keep a record
Screenshot the entry. Before restricted work starts under a consent, you have to tell the council the name of every LBP doing or supervising it, and the council will want their licence details before it issues a code compliance certificate.
When does a roofing job need an LBP?
Restricted building work on a home is work on its structure or its weathertight shell, when that work falls into one of a handful of trades. Roofing is one of them, and the rules define it as building roofs or installing roofing material.
Here's the part that trips people up. Only work that needs a building consent can be restricted building work, with one exception for new consent-exempt granny flats. So a like-for-like re-roof that's exempt from consent isn't restricted work, while a re-roof that needs consent is.
In practice, roof painting, moss treatment, spouting (gutter) cleaning and small repairs don't need an LBP. Whether your re-roof does comes down to the consent question, which our guide to building consent for a re-roof works through. Plenty of roofers hold a licence anyway, so it's always worth asking.
Who else can legally do restricted roofing work?
Registered plumbers and gasfitters are treated by law as if they hold a Roofing licence, unless their registration is suspended or cancelled. A registered plumber can carry out or supervise restricted roofing work without a separate LBP card.
A Carpentry LBP can install lightweight profiled metal roofing without holding a Roofing licence.
There's also an owner-builder exemption for restricted work on your own home, if you live there or plan to, do the work yourself or with unpaid friends and family, and haven't used it on another home in the previous 3 years. For roofing, we wouldn't recommend it. WorkSafe lists working at height as a critical risk, even for businesses that do it every day.
Areas of practice under the Roofing licence
- Concrete or clay tile roof
- Profiled metal roof and wall cladding, which covers longrun and corrugated iron
- Metal tile roof, such as decramastic and other pressed metal tiles
- Roof membrane, the group butynol falls into
- Torch-on roof membrane
- Liquid membrane roof
- Shingle or slate roof
Does the area of practice matter?
The register shows each Roofing LBP's area of practice. Legally, an LBP can do any work covered by their licence class, not just that area, but they must only take on work they're competent to do.
So treat the area of practice as a conversation starter. If your roof is concrete tile and their area is membranes, ask what tile roofs they've done lately and whether you can see one.
Why checking protects you as well
It's an offence to knowingly hire someone who isn't a suitably licensed LBP to carry out or supervise restricted building work. The fine is up to $50,000 for an individual.
Councils can also issue on-the-spot infringement fees: $750 to someone who isn't an LBP doing restricted work without proper supervision, and $500 to an LBP working outside their licence.
When the work is finished, each LBP must give you and the council a Record of Work saying what restricted work they did or supervised. You'll include it when you apply for the code compliance certificate, so keep it with your house papers.
Things that don't add up
- They call themselves 'licensed' but won't give you a number. Claiming a licence you don't hold is an offence with a fine of up to $50,000.
- The name on the register doesn't match the person running your job
- The licence history shows it's been suspended or cancelled
- Their area of practice is nothing like your roof, and they can't show similar work
- They suggest leaving the LBP's name off the paperwork for the council
- Nobody can tell you who will supervise the restricted work day to day
If something goes wrong
You can complain about an LBP to the Building Practitioners Board, using its approved form. Complaints can't be anonymous, and the Board can't deal with payment or contract disputes.
Grounds include negligent or incompetent work, work that doesn't follow the building consent, and failing without good reason to give you and the council a Record of Work. Penalties range from ordering training and fines of up to $10,000 to suspension for up to 12 months or cancelling the licence. A Bill before Parliament would raise those maximums, but it isn't law yet.
If someone unlicensed did restricted work, complain to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and to your council. For money disputes, the Disputes Tribunal hears claims up to $60,000.
Your checks, and the roofer's obligations
You can
- Search the register and save a screenshot
- Tell the council the LBP names before restricted work starts
- Ask who's supervising if the LBP won't be on site every day
- File the Record of Work with your consent papers
Leave to a roofer
- Give you their LBP number and show their licence
- Do or supervise all the restricted work
- Hand you and the council a Record of Work when they finish
- Tell you and the council if work under the consent doesn't comply with it
Our habit before signing
We'd look the roofer up on the register while they're still on the phone, check Roofing is on their licence and their area of practice matches our roof, and save the result. Even when the job doesn't need consent, we'd still ask. Someone who's relaxed about being checked is usually relaxed about being held to a quote.
Want a roofer to take a look?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match it with a Find My Roofer certified roofer who specialises in that kind of work, and they call you to quote. Your number goes to them alone.