Licensing for specific, safety-critical engineering work provides assurance and gives the public confidence. This recommendation reflects the findings of the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission.
Any licensing regime needs access to the best technical expertise, to set standards and assess them. Along with our technical groups, Engineering New Zealand has developed Bodies of Knowledge and Skills for safety-critical areas like structural, fire and geotechnical engineering, in preparation for a shift to licensing.
We believe any new system should include the potential to extend beyond building and construction to cover other safety-critical areas of engineering; for example, heavy vehicles, amusement devices and water engineering.
More work also needs to be done to define the scope of licences, if this proposal moves forward.
