Roofer apprenticeships in New Zealand
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Roofers install and repair building roofs with iron, steel, tiles, shingles and other roofing materials.
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How long did your apprenticeship take?
Put it on the record. Anonymous, about two minutes.
Add your timelineHow long is a roofer apprenticeship, and what does it pay?
A roofer apprenticeship in New Zealand takes 0–3 years. Once qualified, the job most commonly pays $25–$40 an hour, starting at $24 an hour and reaching $52 an hour with experience. No registration is required for this trade.
- How long it takes
- 0–3 years
- Pay when starting out
- $24 an hour
- Most common pay
- $25–$40 an hour
- Experienced
- $52 an hour
- School qualifications
- NCEA Level 2 is usually needed for the study or training.
- Registration
- Not required for this trade.
Those pay ranges are for the job, not for an apprentice. While you are training your legal floor is the training minimum wage of $19.16 an hour if you are 20 or over and your agreement requires at least 60 credits a year of industry training; otherwise it is the adult minimum of $23.95. Plenty of employers pay well above either. How apprentice pay works →
What is a roofer apprenticeship like?
Most roofing in New Zealand is long-run steel, with tiles, membranes and shingles on the rest, and a roofer's day is measuring, cutting, fixing sheets, flashings and spouting, often on new builds before the cladding goes on. It is outdoor work at height, so the job follows the weather and the build programme, and safe work at height is the first thing an apprentice learns.
Roofing sits close to plumbing: the Level 4 plumbing certificate is one of the routes in, and some roofing work on a house is restricted building work that needs a licensed person to supervise or sign it off. If you like the idea of plumbing but want to stay outside, it is worth knowing both trades before you choose.
What do you need to start a roofer apprenticeship?
An employer willing to take you on, first of all — everything else follows the job. NCEA Level 2 is usually needed for the study or training. Beyond that, what a roofer apprenticeship asks for is:
- An apprenticeship in roofing.
- The New Zealand Certificate in Roofing (Installation) (Level 4), or the New Zealand Certificate in Plumbing (Level 4).
- Experience in similar work, and a driver licence.
In every trade the order is the same: you find the employer first, then the training is arranged around the job. How to get an apprenticeship →
Which New Zealand employers take on roofer apprentices?
We have no verified employers listed in this trade yet. Tell us about one.
Pay, duration and entry requirements quoted from Tahatū Career Navigator — Roofer, read 2026-10-19. Wage floors from Employment New Zealand, checked 2026-09-18.