Industries & Occupations
Accreditation Information
Information for Building Practitioner Accreditation in Tasmania
Who needs accreditation?
This is a guide to what is required for becoming an accredited Building Practitioner in Tasmania under the Building Act 2000 and is a summary of the legislative requirements only. Links to the legislation can be found below. The Scheme for the Accreditation of Building Practitioners is linked above.
The Director of Building Control accredits those building practitioners responsible for building work requiring a building permit and valued at more than $5,000.
Accreditation is for the following practitioners:
- designers (architects, building designers, engineers, civil designers and building services designers)
- building surveyors who are responsible for assessment and inspection of buildings
- builders who carry out, or manage the building work.
Accreditation under the Building Act 2000 is not occupational licensing and does not provide for the accreditation of:
- tradespeople
- subcontractors
- employees
- apprentices
- others working for building practitioners
While the responsible person may be the one who performs the work, most building work usually involves several people. It is the person contracting with the owner to accept responsibility for the work who needs to be accredited. Only individuals can be accredited.
Companies or partnerships cannot be accredited so a body corporate or a partnership in the business of building must have at least one of its directors, partners, or permanent employees accredited.
Accreditation of building practitioners under the Building Act 2000 does not include plumbers or electricians.
Plumbers and gasfitters are licensed under the Plumbers and Gasfitters Registration Act 1951 that covers plumbing work as defined in that Act.
Plumbers undertaking building work, such as bathroom construction valued at over $5,000 that requires a building permit, also need to be accredited by Building Practitioner Accreditation as a builder.
Insurance of accredited building practitioners
The Building Act 2000 requires mandatory insurance of accredited building practitioners. The Ministerial Insurance Order provides details of the type and amount of insurance that each category of building practitioner needs to hold while accredited.
Ministerial Insurance Order 2008 - Briefing information sheet
Many older qualifications have not been assessed under the national qualification standards, called the Australian Qualification Framework (AQF).
We may be able to determine that your older qualification is equivalent to that required for accreditation at a particular Accredited Building Practitioner (ABP) Level. Note that the minimum qualification for accreditation is a Certificate IV. A Trade Certificate, or apprenticeship is usually a Certificate III and holders of such a qualification will usually need to approach a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) with a view to upgrading their qualifications. In many situations much of an upgraded qualification may be gained through recognition of current competency and/or a skills assessment.
Regardless of your academic qualification, sufficient relevant experience is mandatory. We may request verification of your supervisory experience in the form of a Statutory Declaration from an accredited building surveyor, council general manager, CEO, or director of a major building company, or other suitably qualified person.
