Information from the Department of Building and Housing, New Zealand.

From March 1 2012, Restricted Building Work comes into effect. This applies to most residential building or renovation work and only a Licensed Building Practitioner can undertake or supervise the work.

If you apply for a building consent after March 1st, you must make sure that the practitioners you use are correctly licensed to carry out the work.

Licensed Building Practitioners include:

Designers

Carpenters

Roofers

External Plasterers

Brick and Block layers

Foundation specialists.

Professional Engineers, Architects, Plumbers and Gasfitters are treated as Licensed Building Practitioners and can carry out some restricted Building work.

Why have these changes been implemented? I hear you ask. The answer: So it gets  Built Right!

At Structure Wise Ltd, our Designer, Foreman, and experienced senior crew of builders are LBP qualified. Throughout the year this means they are to continually be educating themselves with latest articles on building and building materials and staying updated, attending seminars, and training courses. These are logged in on a website and there are a certain number of points that must be attained each year, by each individual to be able to stay licensed.

As with all occupations, frequently renewing your knowledge, not only keeps you up to date, but it keeps the job itself fresh and exciting. It’s very easy to go day to day with no new input, and suddenly you realise that years have passed and just doing the same old, same old. So this is an excellent system of making sure you are not getting left behind.

Interestingly however, this does not apply to the Commercial or Industrial building sector – only Residential – however we here at Structure Wise Ltd believe these buildings are equally important, and as we fit predominantly into this sector, we have still made this a priority to make sure we are fully qualified.

You are in good Hands with Structure Wise Ltd

Happy New Year! We here at Structure Wise Ltd wish you all a good and fulfilling year ahead.

What will this year bring? In Canterbury, we are still looking forwards to the rebuild of Christchurch, and safer soils on which to live. I love this area that we live in. Possible the parts that make it so interesting are indeed also the areas of a faultline – discovered and undiscovered. From mountains to sea, it appears we have many.

The positive things that can come out of these earthquakes (or events as they are now called) is the research that is going on to find ways of safe construction. I haven’t as yet been in to the city centre, where the shipping containers have been utilised, but what a fantastic plan to use them. Temporary, or long-term, they are visually funky, it’s better than them floating around our seas (our eastern shores even now sadly), and makes for safe areas to be in. I love the way it has become a way to continue without a phenomenal use of $$ when there is  no plan as yet how to actually go ahead. My heart truly goes out to business owners that are trying to keep going in very trying conditions. The continual quakes must be disruptive at best, to say nothing of frayed nerves. We do think of you in there and you are not forgotton about at all.

I have thought alot about different ones having to move as they have been red zoned, and their heartache at having to leave a place they called home. Perhaps it can give us a greater understanding of people that have had to shift because of suddenly being in violent war zones, to have a safer life. But even knowing that, makes it no easier that is for sure. It’s abit like being made redundant. Suddenly the job you love is being taken away from you, and there is no real choice in this matter. There is grief, and perhaps a glimmer of something new on the horizon that you may not have thought of until now, but this has happened and it is now there. When my husband and I went through redundancy,( twice I might add!), the first time was scarey, disappointing, and alot of sorrow. The second time, we looked for new opportunities, and they have been exciting, challenging and eventually rewarding. So, can I very respectfully say, it’s not the end for you. I think there will be fabulous stories that emerge, and I hope yours will be one of them. I would love to hear them. We often get the ‘get rich quick’ stories, but they don’t give human nature a good boost. They don’t challenge or inspire. I read an article once with a quote that said “Is it nobler to to stretch forth your hand to strike and to wound, or to administer Healing?” I love this. It gave me reason to pause, because in all that we do we have this choice to make. Out of hardship, comes stories that administer healing because they give hope. The ‘other’ stories I mentioned, can actually wound the soul. So don’t give up you amazing Cantabrians, keep going. We like the imagery of the Canterbury Crusaders, nobly going into battle. Well it is now the catch cry for us all – to be Noble in what we do for the good of others and ourselves. It is a crusade to be sure.