Gas transition loans and licensing rules for businesses

Government-backed loans to help businesses move off natural gas opened for applications on 31 July 2026, with five banks taking part.

The Gas Transition Loan Guarantee Scheme, announced in Budget 2026, makes up to $1.2 billion of bank lending available to businesses cutting gas use. The Crown guarantees 80% of the default risk on eligible loans in return for banks passing on lower interest rates. ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Kiwibank and Westpac are participating.

Eligibility begins at 1000 gigajoules of gas a year. “To access this finance, businesses must achieve genuine gas savings of at least 15% while maintaining or increasing production,” Energy Minister Simeon Brown said. Associate Energy Minister Shane Jones pointed to supply pressure. “The most recent figures show a 23% decline in New Zealand’s gas reserves in the past year,” he said.

The projects that follow involve gasfitting, electrical work and often working at height. Two of those three may only be carried out by licensed practitioners, and the business commissioning the work retains duties under health and safety law.

All gasfitting work is restricted under the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Act 2006. Disconnecting appliances, purging and capping lines and removing pipework can only be carried out by a licensed person, and removal carries the same obligation as installation. A Gas Safety Certificate is required once an installation is connected.

The Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board secured an $8,000 fine in April 2026 against a Central Otago tradesman who pleaded guilty to eight charges over unlicensed restricted plumbing and drainlaying work. The outcome “reflects the importance of maintaining standards and ensuring only authorised practitioners carry out restricted work,” the Board said.

Switchboard upgrades, new submains and three-phase supply are prescribed electrical work under the Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010. That work requires a registered electrical worker with a current practising licence and a Certificate of Compliance, with an Electrical Safety Certificate issued within 20 working days of connection. Energy Safety, the WorkSafe unit regulating electricity and gas, prosecutes offences under the Electricity Act.

Roof-mounted plant adds work at height. WorkSafe describes working at height as a leading cause of serious injury and death in New Zealand.

Engaging a contractor does not transfer the duty. A PCBU holds a primary duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, and where duties overlap the parties must consult, cooperate and coordinate.

The Health and Safety at Work Amendment Act, in force from 1 April 2027, introduces a defined “critical risk” and narrows the duties of businesses with fewer than 20 workers. Civil Contractors NZ chief executive Alan Pollard said the threshold “makes no sense,” noting a 21-person accounting firm must manage all risk while a 19-person abseiling and soil stabilisation company will not.

The PGDB and the Electrical Workers Registration Board hold public registers where licences can be checked before work starts.

Certificates issued on completion are the record that the work was done lawfully. Without them, an insurer has grounds to decline a claim, and the obligation to check sits with the business that engaged the contractor.