Trust you can check yourself
Every credential on a TCH profile is either confirmed by us or clearly marked as the business’s own word, and where a public register exists, we link straight to it so you can check.
How verification works
Identity & business checks
A business can connect its NZ Business Number when it joins. Listings compiled from business details already published online that nobody has taken over are marked Unclaimed, and nothing on them has been checked.
Licensing & registration
Where work is legally restricted, including electrical, plumbing, gasfitting and building, we ask for licence details and check them against the relevant public register.
Professional memberships
Voluntary trade and professional bodies, such as Master Builders, Master Plumbers and NZIA, are shown so you can see the standards a business holds itself to.
How reviews are checked
Anyone can write a review, but not every review carries the same weight. If you enquired with the business through TCH and review using that same email, we match it against the enquiry and mark your review ‘Enquired through TCH.’ The email itself is used once for that match, never stored, never shown. A review that doesn’t match still posts, just without the badge. We remove reviews found to be fake, incentivised, or posted by a business about itself.
What a badge means
The three badge states
TCH has confirmed the credential against the public register, or sighted current documentation, on the date shown. This is our check, not just the business's word.
We confirmed it once, and our check has since aged past twelve months. The badge says so until we re-check.
The business has stated they hold the credential, but we haven't confirmed it yet. For statutory licences you can check it yourself on the linked public register.
The method
Checked at the source, dated, and re-checked
A verification is a person at TCH checking the claim at its public source, or sighting the current certificate. We record what was checked, where, and on what date. The date always shows on the badge.
Checks age. We re-check every twelve months, and if ours lapses first the badge drops to “check expired” on its own. If we ever get a badge wrong, tell us and we correct it within one working day.
We keep one record per credential, not a history of them. Beside a badge you see the most recent check: what was checked, by which method, and on what date. It stays with the profile for as long as the business is listed with us, and it goes when the profile does. A re-check writes over it rather than filing beside it, so earlier checks are not kept, and where the method was a sighted certificate what we hold is our record of sighting it, not a copy of the document. If a credential is rejected, the record comes off with the badge.
What verification is not. It confirms a credential existed on the public record on the date we checked. It is not a guarantee of workmanship, price or conduct, and TCH is not a party to any contract you enter. The register tells you who is licensed. The reviews, the references and your own judgement tell you the rest. TCH is not an insurer either, and all three limits are stated together on What TCH is not.
Review policy
Our review rules
Negative reviews are never deleted
A review only comes down for defamation, a proven conflict of interest, or spam, and our reasons are recorded. A low score is not a removal reason.
Nobody connected to TCH writes reviews
No staff, founders, family or comped members review anything, disclosed or otherwise. Posting reviews without disclosing a connection is a Fair Trading Act breach, and platforms have been convicted for it.
Businesses can answer, and disputes stay visible
Every reviewed business can reply publicly beside the review. A disputed review stays up while we assess it, marked as disputed, so you see both sides.
Something on a profile or in a review that shouldn’t be there? Use the contact page. A person reads every message, and we reply within two working days.
Credentials we recognise
New Zealand’s licences and professional bodies
Statutory licensingLegally required for restricted work
- Licensed Building Practitioner: Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE)Register →
- Registered Electrical Worker: Electrical Workers Registration BoardRegister →
- Registered Plumber, Gasfitter or Drainlayer: Plumbers, Gasfitters & Drainlayers BoardRegister →
- Licensed Real Estate Agent: Real Estate Authority (REAA)Register →
- Chartered Professional Engineer: Engineering New ZealandRegister →
- Registered Financial Service Provider: Companies Office (MBIE)Register →
- Financial Advice Provider licence: Financial Markets Authority (FMA)Register →
- Practising certificate (lawyer): New Zealand Law Society Te Kāhui Ture o AotearoaRegister →
- Licensed Immigration Adviser: Immigration Advisers Authority (IAA)Register →
- Transport Service Licence: NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiRegister →
- Registered Veterinarian: Veterinary Council of New ZealandRegister →
- Registered Motor Vehicle Trader: Companies Office (MBIE)
- Asbestos Removal Licence: WorkSafe New ZealandRegister →
Professional membershipsVoluntary standards & guarantees
- Registered Master Builders: Registered Master Builders AssociationFind a member →
- New Zealand Certified Builders: New Zealand Certified Builders AssociationFind a member →
- Site Safe Member: Site Safe New ZealandFind a member →
- NZ Institute of Quantity Surveyors: New Zealand Institute of Quantity SurveyorsFind a member →
- Project Management Institute (NZ): PMI New Zealand ChapterFind a member →
- ACE New Zealand: Association of Consulting & Engineering New ZealandFind a member →
- NZ Institute of Architects: Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of ArchitectsFind a member →
- Civil Trades Certified: Civil Trades / Waihanga Ara RauFind a member →
- Master Painters New Zealand: Master Painters New Zealand AssociationFind a member →
- Roofing Association of NZ: Roofing Association of New ZealandFind a member →
- Master Plumbers: Master Plumbers, Gasfitters & Drainlayers NZFind a member →
- Registered Master Electricians: Master Electricians New ZealandFind a member →
- Chartered Accountant: Chartered Accountants Australia and New ZealandFind a member →
- Certified Practising Accountant: CPA AustraliaFind a member →
- Insurance Brokers Association of NZ: Insurance Brokers Association of New ZealandFind a member →
- Human Resources New Zealand: Human Resources New ZealandFind a member →
- IT Professionals New Zealand: IT Professionals New ZealandFind a member →
- GROWSAFE certified: NZ Agrichemical Education TrustFind a member →
- Motor Trade Association: Motor Trade AssociationFind a member →
- WasteMINZ: Waste Management Institute New ZealandFind a member →
- Property Institute of New Zealand: Property Institute of New ZealandFind a member →
- IRHACE member: Institute of Refrigeration, Heating & Air Conditioning Engineers NZFind a member →
- Master Joiners: New Zealand Master JoinersFind a member →
- NZ Institute of Building Surveyors: New Zealand Institute of Building SurveyorsFind a member →
- Building Officials Institute of NZ: Building Officials Institute of New ZealandFind a member →
Something feel off about a listing? Tell us and we’ll look into it.
Report a concern