Carrying licence cards on the job becomes legally mandatory

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The Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayer’s Act is being fully implemented this month, bringing in a legal requirement for people working in the industry to carry a licence card while on the job.
Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board chairperson Hazel Armstrong welcomes the Act’s full implementation, and is pleased that all people involved in plumbing, gasfitting or drainlaying work are, from 1 April, required to carry a licence card.

“We encourage people to ask tradespeople for their licence card. This will give customers an assurance that the work is being legally carried out by an authorised and competent tradesperson who is currently licensed by the Board,“ Ms Armstrong says.
“The mandatory requirement for tradespeople to carry their cards will give home owners more assurance about the competency of the practitioners involved in the industry, leading to greater protection of public health and safety,” she says.

If a person is required to be supervised, the name and registration number of their supervisor is printed on the reverse side of the card.
“It’s important that the public has confidence in the tradespeople they engage, and the industry itself has better monitoring and competency programmes.
“If a home owner or building inspector believes work has been done by someone who is not authorised, or has any other concerns about the competency of tradespeople, they can make a complaint to the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board.

“The Act creates more opportunities for competent licensed practitioners by making it harder for those who are unauthorised to continue to operate. The requirements for supervision and testing have also been clarified.”

Minister for Building and Construction Maurice Williamson said recently at the Master Plumber’s conference that “we need to provide ways for practitioners to remain competent and, in turn, this gives consumers more confidence in practitioner’s skills”.
“I am looking for individual practitioners, employers and the industry as a whole to step up, be accountable and take responsibility for itself,” Mr Williamson said.

A publically accessible register of tradespeople is available on the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board web site at www.pgdb.co.nz.
A public education campaign is planned for later this year to inform the public of what they should expect when they engage plumbers, gasfitters or drainlayers.

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