Discussion paper: National Registration Framework for Building Practitioners

The current NRF has omitted the major category of Maintenance which is required under the BCR. The BCR recommended registration of those involved in design, build and maintain. Owners need confidence that the suppliers are suitable and competent to maintain the complex systems on a new building.

The NRF has omitted a large number of disciplines that have critical responsibilities for the design, build and maintain functions. Also the NRF as proposed in complex and therefore difficult to implement. If the Registration Framework is to be successful it needs to be simplified.

The NRF by defining only a limited number of disciplines creates a risk that other critical disciplines are omitted.

The NRF is a sound concept and in particular the requirement for training in NCC requirements. This will improve the overall industry knowledge and delivery of services. However by excluding a large number of disciplines the outcome will be partial and not a holistic solution.

These comments are not related to a specific discipline as it would be two cumbersome and repetitive. The attached report provides an overview of our comments and recommendations covering all of the NRF and the 17 disciplines.

In summary
- The category of Maintainer is missing from the NRF

- The category of Project Co-ordination is unnecessary as this is a duplication of the Builder role. The risk is that the client may need to hold registration for a role that is not responsible for NCC compliance yet has an accountability that is unclear. The only roles applicable to compliance within the NCC are Designer, Constructor, Maintainer and Certifier.

- The limitation of only defining nominated disciplines reduces the effectiveness of ensuring owner confidence in the whole building. Eg Lift Engineers, Interior Designers, Safe Access Systems all have critical roles in fire and life safety of a new building.

See attached report

See attached report

In general qualification requirements should be left to the current standards set out by other educational authorities based on their particular role and competency.

Please refer to the attached report

Please refer to the attached report

The NRF would benefit from a simplified and consistent registration level across all disciplines. The 3 levels shown for Builder, 1 Open/Commercial, 2 Restricted/Commercial, 3 Residential offer a simple approach based on type, complexity and risk of works. This should be applied to all disciplines including Designers, Constructors, Maintainers and Certifiers.

Please refer to our report (attached)