The Building Practitioners Board is a statutory body established by the Building Act and is responsible for:

• Registering building practitioners;
• Establishing and maintaining a system of performance reporting to ensure that information on practitioners' past performance is available and can be taken into account when assessing their competence;
• Monitoring practitioners' compliance with registration requirements;
• Monitoring practitioners' competence and professional conduct ;
• Conducting inquiries into practitioners' work & conduct and, if necessary, disciplining them;
• Developing and publishing codes of practice for reference by building practitioners and for use by the Board and the Director in assessing practitioners' work and conduct.

Builders Registration

If you intend to carry out prescribed residential building work in the Northern Territory (as specified in Part 4A of the Building Act) you must be registered with the Building Practitioners Board as a Building Contractor Residential. For a definition of prescribed work in relation to builders registration, please see below.

There is no requirement to be registered as a building contractor in the NT if you are undertaking any other sort of work (eg commercial or industrial).

Prescribed works are:

• new single houses and new residential units in residential buildings to any height;

• verandas, garages and carports built as part of new single dwellings and residential units;

• extensions such as livings areas, bedrooms and enclosed attached garages to existing single houses and residential units; and

• retaining walls associated with the actual structure of a single house or residential unit;

where the cost is above $12,000.

Prescribed works are NOT:

• renovations or alterations to existing buildings, including renovations to bathrooms and kitchens where there is no increase in the floor area;

• free standing sheds or fences;

• retaining walls not associated with the actual single house or residential unit;

• verandas or open carports being added to existing single houses or residential units;

• commercial or industrial buildings; and

• mixed use commercial and residential buildings.

Scope of works for all registration categories

Visit the practitioners page of this site for details of the scope of work which can be undertaken by each category and to see a complete list of registered building practitioners.

(NOTE: the above exclusions do NOT alter the requirements for building permits)

Complaints about Building Practitioners

If you are not satisfied with the performance, work or conduct of a registered building practitioner, you should lodge a written complaint with the Director of Building Control. For further information on the complaints process, visit the Complaints page of Building Advisory Services' website or call the Audit & Investigations Manager on 8999 8974.