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NZIBI Membership applications are open to residential building inspectors around the country who have significant experience in the construction industry.

Registered Membership

A pre-requisite of continuing Registered Membership of the Institute is that the member shall be actively involved in the work of a Building Inspector.

All members must practice in New Zealand.

The Executive, at their absolute discretion, may grant and accept partial residence for both application for and continuing membership where special or short term conditions may apply. Such dispensations shall be subject to annual review.

The minimum entry requirements for Registered Membership are:

(a) As a minimum the Applicant should have a level of qualification attainment equivalent to a NZ Trade Certificate in a construction related field. Consideration will be given to Applicants who have advanced qualification levels in other disciplines and who have a construction related background that the Executive considers to be appropriate;

and

(b) A member of another professional group considered as being acceptable by the Executive of the Institute, or a sub-committee of that Executive;

or

Such other persons who have the ability to demonstrate their knowledge of the construction industry to the full satisfaction the Executive of the Institute, or a sub-committee of that Executive, given the responsibility of the assessment of all applicants;

and

(c) Have a minimum of ten (10) years appropriate experience in construction; and

(d) Can substantiate that they are of good standing in the community and can provide two referees or sponsors to act on their behalf.

The Executive at their absolute discretion may accept applications for membership where the qualification criteria outlined in (a) above is not met, but where the requirements of (b), (c), and (d) above are met, and where the applicant can demonstrate extensive experience in all aspects of building inspection work. This experience review will only be considered in very special circumstances.

Such persons’ who apply for membership of the Institute, must declare that they are free from any claims for negligence or any matters of financial restraint or associated financial problems that could prejudice their meeting the standards required of a Registered Building Inspector.

The Membership application form is attached as part of this Regulation.

Membership Application Process

The membership process is very much a practical assessment of the applicant’s ability to undertake pre-purchase inspections.

Initial Assessment Procedure

In the first instance applicants are asked to send through information about themselves plus copies of recent reports. This information is reviewed by the Institute’s management to determine the level of experience and qualifications applicants have in construction, building inspection, regulatory environment etc.

Once this review is completed we will have a good idea of the applicants suitability and recommend they are either accepted as a “Member Applicant” and/or declined with a recommendation that they seek further experience in the constructions and/or inspection area. Most applicants generally have a wealth of construction experience.

Generally we are looking for someone to have completed around 300 building inspections, or spent a year as a building inspector and completed 200 inspections, to progress to the next stage. If inspections and/or experience are less than this inspectors would be asked to remain a Member Applicant with guidance on areas where more experience may be needed.

We will be providing Member Applicants with mentors that they can liaise with while a Member Applicant. Many building inspectors work as owner operators so don’t have that backup to run issues by – this is where the mentor can help.

Material Required to Support an Application includes…

a.    A completed copy of the application form and payment of the one-off application fee. This covers the review of the applicant’s material plus the second stage onsite inspection.

b.    A copy of the applicants CV or similar showing your background experience with particular emphasis on their construction and building inspection experience.

c.    Three pre-purchase inspection reports that have been completed recently. These reports should cover a monolithic clad direct fixed house, a house with a subfloor and piles, and a standard brick and tile type house.

If you haven’t yet completed any of these reports the applicant could produce a mock-up report perhaps on their own house to show their approach to building inspections – just tell us if it is a mock report.

On-Site Inspection Assessment

If the applicant demonstrates they have sufficient experience and has demonstrated competence through the reports provided for the review process, the review panel will recommend moving on to the final stage of the membership process. This is an on-site inspection of a property accompanied by a Registered Building Inspector.  The applicant will be asked to undertake the inspection in the same way they would for any client.

The Registered Inspector will review the process the applicant follows onsite while carrying out the inspection, and ask questions as they go to determine why they are making particular decisions/observations. The applicant will then complete their report on the property in their usual way and return this to the CEO and the Registered Building Inspector that followed them onsite. This will then be reviewed to determine if the report reflects the inspection the applicant carried out and if it would provide the client with a clear concise and accurate “picture” of the condition of the property they have inspected.

If the applicant is found to have successfully provided the “client” with an clear concise and accurate report that reflected the inspection process they will be accepted as a full member of the Institute and entitled to use the term Registered Building Inspector.

The Membership application process need not be a long drawn out exercise. If an application is received that demonstrates the experience and competence needed the recommendation could be that the applicant attends the next onsite inspection.

Ongoing Membership

Such persons as the Executive deem fit to join the Institute shall be given the right to practice as a Registered Building Inspector and use the initials MNZIBI after their name for the period in which all of the conditions of the New Zealand Institute of Building Inspectors and any amendments to current conditions and criteria that the Executive of the body may introduce from time to time, are met; and

Such persons shall also pay the application fee, set by the Executive and such persons shall pay the annual subscription fee set from time to time by the Executive on each subsequent year shall pay the annual subscription fee, along with any levies or charges as set by the Executive of the Institute.

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