How to become a registrar

Becoming authorised

To become an authorised registrar, you must apply to the Domain Name Commission Ltd (DNCL). DNCL is responsible for approving entities to become .nz authorised registrars.

Further information on the application process is available on the DNCL website.

Connection agreement

When the DNCL has approved a Registrar Authorisation application, they will notify us, and we will send you a welcome email outlining the onboarding process and the documentation we require from you. 

The forms that we will provide to you include the following:

  • The .nz Registrar Connection Agreement
  • Billing and account details 
  • Onboarding information form, collecting the following:
    • registrar name, 
    • the website address, and 
    • contact details, including public, admin, technical and billing

Once we receive all the completed required documents, we will liaise with the nominated technical contact of the registrar for connection of the registrar to the InternetNZ Registry System (IRS) test/OTE portal the test/OTE EPP API platform.

Connection to IRS

The documentation is available on IRS Portal under the help icon or on the InternetNZ Product Documentation site.

During the EPP client development, you will have access to the IRS test/OTE environment, where you may test the operation of your software to verify the correct handling of EPP commands and responses. Any fee-based operations performed in the IRS test/OTE environment will not be charged and will not impact the production IRS. You will continue to have access to the IRS test/OTE environment after connecting to production IRS so you may continue to test your software systems.

Operational testing and evaluation

Before we grant access to the production systems of the registry, you must demonstrate to us

  • comprehension and understanding of the IRS,
  • your interface with our systems works correctly,
  • ability to execute all IRS transaction types.

The operational testing and evaluation process

  1. You are granted access to the IRS test/OTE Portal to allow testing of the IRS functionality.
  2. If you have chosen EPP API access in addition to portal access,  you will be granted access to the IRS test/OTE platform to allow you to develop your interface with the IRS.
  3. Test the IRS portal, and if relevant, you will also test your interface against the IRS test/OTE platform.
  4. You will advise us that testing has been successfully completed.
  5. We will assess your understanding of the IRS and confirm that you can execute all IRS transaction types.
  6. Once satisfied, we will issue you the information required to access the production IRS to the name ‘Public Contact’, and we will notify the DNCL.

Re-testing

Authorised registrars may be asked to demonstrate that they meet our requirements anytime. If registrars fail to meet these requirements, registrar access to IRS may be suspended or terminated at our sole discretion.

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