Overview of the residential builders self-certification scheme

On 14 April 2025, Cabinet agreed to amend the Building Act 2004 to allow for the introduction of a voluntary self-certification scheme for building companies that design and build entire residential dwellings.

The self-certification scheme aims to provide a quicker, lower cost consenting pathway by allowing trusted residential builders to sign off their own work.

Building companies who choose to join the scheme will need to meet the scheme’s eligibility criteria. Detailed eligibility criteria will be defined in regulations.

How the residential self-certification scheme will work

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE)

MBIE will manage:

• the entire voluntary residential building self-certification scheme
• the register of residential building companies in the scheme who can self-certify their work
• regular audits of companies registered for self-certification
• the development of robust eligibility criteria for entry into the scheme, which would assess a trusted residential building company’s:
  • good reputation for professional conduct
  • adequate means to cover their liability for self-certified work if something goes wrong
  • robust systems and quality assurance processes, to ensure these companies can consistently deliver Building Code compliant houses.

Residential building companies

• Residential building companies who want to join the self-certification scheme will need to meet MBIE’s eligibility criteria to become registered.
• Once registered, a residential building company will submit a simplified building consent application to their local BCA, confirming that they will be self-certifying the build.
• When the work is complete, the self-certifying building company submits a project completion certificate for the build to the BCA.
• Residential building companies registered for the scheme will be regularly audited by MBIE to maintain their registration.

Building consent authorities (BCAs)

BCAs will check that:

• the residential building company is on MBIE’s residential building self-certification scheme register, and
• building work in their plans and specifications complies with the scope of their registration.

BCAs will not be required to check for Building Code compliance or perform inspections on self-certified building work.

BCAs must accept a project completion certificate from the self-certifying building company as evidence that the building work complies with the building consent.

Licensed Building Practitioners (LBPs)

The requirement for LBPs to carry out restricted building work (where applicable) will continue to apply. Other work (for example, electrical and plumbing) must still be done by appropriately authorised/licensed persons where applicable.