Being a master /certified builder is a builder who pays a annual fee to these organisations to become a member.
Yes you have to prove your credentials to these organisations to be a member but what you MUST be to undertake Restricted Building Works is a Licensed Building Practitioner where you also have to prove your qualifications and experience in the industry .
To check if your builder is licensed go to Department Of Housing and Building (DBH) and go to their registrar where all licensed building practitioners will be listed including their license class for you to check yourself.
Licensed Builders
You are also required to earn what is called Skills Maintenance Points to keep your license valid and active which are run on a 2 yearly cycle.
Points can be obtained by attending seminars , literature and publications, onsite skills maintenance, and as of November 2nd 2015 new requirements come into play.
Being a member of Master/ Certified Builders allows you to obtain contracts, up to date information of changes in the industry, back up service, and a marketing strategy for being affiliated to their organisation.
Master/Certified Builders Guarantees
While it is true that a large proportion of master/certified builders are actually good quality tradesman it does not guarantee that is what you are going to get.
These organisations will offer 10 year guarantees for workmanship so people think they are getting creditability for this but what in many cases they do not realise is 10yrs standing behind your workmanship is law and has been since I have been building.
As a licensed building practitioner we are bound by this law whether we belong to the master/certified builder organisation or not.
Difference is not all of the public knows this so they feel they are getting something not provided by a builder not affiliated to these organisations.
This is not the case.
At Nicol Renovations Ltd we are a member of The Building Hub which also provides contracts, health & safety policies, site specific health & safety policies, ways to maintain skills maintenance points required , up to date changes in the industry etc.
Request References
The most important thing we believe a client should investigate when choosing a builder are references, inspections of previous works carried out by the builder, proven experience in the industry, qualifications , a current Licensed Building Practitioner , referrals, and feeling comfortable and confident that the builder of your choice has the goods to deliver on quality workmanship and service to you the client.
We believe you can have these attributes as a builder with out being affiliated to these organisations.
If you have good work principles, work ethic and take pride in what you produce the rest takes care of its self. We certainly will not settle for anything less.
Build once Build Right.