IQP stands for Independent Qualified Person. These people are authorised by a territorial authority to carry out any inspection, maintenance and reporting on the specified systems of a building as related to that building’s compliance schedule. Once their inspection and all that it entails are complete, they can certify that these procedures have been carried out correctly in accordance with said compliance schedule.
All independently qualified persons must be familiar with the Building Act 2004 and all other relevant obligations under the nation’s Building Warrant of Fitness (BWoF) rules and regulations. Additionally, they must have a trade background in the particular specified system that they are qualified to inspect, maintain, repair, and report on.
The most important part of the definition of an independent qualified person (for you, the building owner) is that they have no financial interest in the building they are inspecting, and as such will not be susceptible to corrupt motivations, such as the solicitation and receipt of secret bribes, the issuing of false certifications and other forms of devious malpractice. To confirm that these people are suitably qualified, they are registered on the appropriate regional register - an essential form of screening that ensures no disreputable person gains this qualification.
IQPs are officially certified to carry out the following procedures:
For more official information regarding the building compliance procedure, please visit our page or for even more detailed information, see the Auckland Council’s informative website - their website is comprehensive, containing a wealth of content simply laid out for anyone inquisitive enough to want to know more about the building compliance certification industry and all that it entails.
No two specified systems are exactly the same, due to unique considerations such as building layout and configuration, the circumstances surrounding installation, and how the system has been maintained, inspected and repaired if necessary since its initial installation.
Therefore, the IQP you engage to carry out certification procedures should ideally be rich in experience and open minded, thoroughly prepared for the inevitable unexpected. Yet, they must also be diligent upholders of the building legislation requirements.
For the above reasons, independent qualified persons are an invaluable asset to the country as a whole - in some cases, they are all that stand between the public and dangerous cases of gross negligence that could potentially result in death or serious injury, such as if a system failure causes a fire.
Most (but not all) classifications of specified systems are required to undergo annual inspection at least by an IQP but in certain cases they may possibly inspect more frequently, such as at half-yearly or quarterly intervals. In order to provide a BWoF, you must obtain a Form 12A which certifies the inspection, maintenance and reporting procedures of the compliance schedule have been carried out for the previous 12 months.
The work of these inspectors is serious. The safety of the occupants of your building/s, be they employees, clients, visitors, guests, friends or family, is paramount not just to the successful operation of your business, but your overall levels of contentment and peace of mind.
If the specified systems of your building should fail and cause any manner of death, destruction and/or injury to even one person, your business, reputation, and personal sense of integrity will be tarnished - from this there is no recovery.
That is why the work duties of any independent qualified person, be it inspection, maintenance, repair or reporting, are so crucial to not only maintaining but possibly even increasing the health and safety standards of this country, across all industries that employ the usage of specified systems.
Countrywide, independent qualified persons are some of our busiest workers. The more our construction industry continues to boom, the more building owners are required to enlist their help in maintaining building and specified system quality standards. Below are but a few of the most common and relevant questions that are asked regarding the nature of an IQPs work. For an incredibly comprehensive list of questions that contain a specificity and attention to detail far surpassing what is written here, visit the New Zealand Government’s building website, from which the following questions have been appropriated:
Contact us today for any questions related to IQPs that are not answered here, any other questions related to building compliance regulations, or to arrange a time to receive Compliance Consultancy from us! We can be reached during business hours at 0800 325 435 or by email at enquiries@compliance.co.nz - feel free to get in touch.