People wishing to work as a building surveyor, whether for local government or privately, will need to apply for registration as a building surveying practitioner and/or contractor and be registered under the Building Services (Registration) Act 2011.

Previously accredited building surveyors

Under the Act existing accredited building surveyors are taken to be registered in one of the following three classes of building surveying practitioner:

• Building surveying practitioner level 1 – no limit to type of work that may be carried out.
• Building surveying practitioner level 2 – limited to certifying compliance of Class 1 or Class 10 buildings and Class 2 to Class 9 buildings with a maximum floor area of 2,000m² and not more than three storeys.
• Building surveying practitioner technician  – limited to certifying compliance of Class 1 or Class 10 buildings and Class 2 to Class 9 buildings with a maximum floor area of 500m² and not more than two storeys.

It is important to note that registration as a building surveying practitioner does not allow you to contract directly with clients to perform building surveying services.  Individual building surveyors who wish to provide private certification services to the public must be registered as a building surveying contractor level 1 or level 2.  Partnerships and companies may also be registered if at least one nominated supervisor is a registered building surveying practitioner.

Changed your contact details?

You must let us know within 14 days if you have. Go to our change of address page to find out more and download the correct form.

Board policies

Current Board policies regarding building surveyors qualifications can be found on the Building Services Board webpage under the 'Policies' tab.