diff --git a/buildd b/buildd
index 74f4d57..6a0cb44 100755
--- a/buildd
+++ b/buildd
@@ -120,6 +120,20 @@ for m in re.finditer('"/ubuntu/\+source/%s/%s(/\+build/\d+)"[^\n]+\n\s*(\w+).*?<
 if op == 'status':
     sys.exit(0)
 
+# Leaving operations may only be done by Ubuntu developers (retry) or buildd
+# admins (rescore). Check if the proper permissions are in place.
+if op == "rescore": teamNeeded = "launchpad-buildd-admins"
+if op == "retry": teamNeeded = "ubuntu-dev"
+
+necessaryPrivs = common.isLPTeamMember(teamNeeded)
+
+if not necessaryPrivs:
+    print >> sys.stderr, "You cannot perform the %s operation as you are not " \
+        "a member of the '%s' team on Launchpad." % (op, teamNeeded)
+    print "If this is incorrect, please log in to Launchpad using Firefox, " \
+        "delete the ~/.lpcookie.txt file and rerun this script."
+    sys.exit(1)
+
 for build, (arch, status) in buildstats.iteritems():
     if oneArch and not options.architecture == arch:
         # Skip this architecture.
diff --git a/common.py b/common.py
index c04f2c5..86c8d27 100644
--- a/common.py
+++ b/common.py
@@ -202,3 +202,34 @@ def setupLaunchpadUrlOpener(cookie):
     urlopener.add_handler(urllib2.HTTPCookieProcessor(cj))
     
     return urlopener
+
+def isLPTeamMember(team):
+    """ Checks if the user is a member of a certain team on Launchpad.
+
+        We do this by opening the team page on Launchpad and checking if the
+        text "You are not a member of this team" is present using the
+        user's cookie file for authentication.
+
+        If the user is a member of the team: return True.
+        If the user is not a member of the team: return False.
+    """
+
+    # TODO: Check if launchpadlib may be a better way of doing this.
+
+    # Prepare cookie.
+    cookieFile = prepareLaunchpadCookie()
+    # Prepare URL opener.
+    urlopener = setupLaunchpadUrlOpener(cookieFile)
+
+    # Try to open the Launchpad team page:
+    try:
+        lpTeamPage = urlopener.open("https://launchpad.net/~%s" % team).read()
+    except urllib2.HTTPError, error:
+        print >> sys.stderr, "Unable to connect to Launchpad. Received a %s." % error.code
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    # Check if text is present in page.
+    if ("You are not a member of this team") in lpTeamPage:
+        return False
+
+    return True
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index fd1d841..aead7bc 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -4,8 +4,13 @@ ubuntu-dev-tools (0.43ubuntu1) intrepid; urgency=low
   * common.py:
     - If loading a cookie file raises an exception exit. 
     - Improve cookie file writing.
-  * requestsync: Return an error when the script is unable to connect to
-    packages.debian.org (LP: #261916).
+    - New function: isLPTeamMember() - checks if the user is a member of the
+      Launchpad team using cookies for authentication.
+  * requestsync:
+    - Return an error when the script is unable to connect to
+      packages.debian.org (LP: #261916).
+    - Adapt team checking with the function above.
+  * buildd: Adapt privilege checking code to the new function above.
 
   [ Ryan Kavanagh ]
   * dgetlp.1: New manpage
diff --git a/requestsync b/requestsync
index 304b25f..3dcaf77 100755
--- a/requestsync
+++ b/requestsync
@@ -62,20 +62,11 @@ def checkNeedsSponsorship(component):
     else:
         team = "ubuntu-dev"
         sponsor = "ubuntu-universe-sponsors"
-    
-    # Try and open up Launchpad.
-    try: teamLPPage = urlopener.open('https://launchpad.net/~%s' % team).read()
-    except urllib2.HTTPError:
-        print >> sys.stderr, "Unable to connect to Launchpad."
-        sys.exit(1)
-    
-    # Check if they are a member of the team.
-    if "You are an indirect member of this team:" in teamLPPage or \
-        "You are a member of this team." in teamLPPage:
-        return False # Sponsorship not required.
 
-    # Check if they are not.
-    if "You are not a member of this team" in teamLPPage:
+    # Check if they are a member of the team.
+    teamMember = common.isLPTeamMember(team)
+    
+    if not teamMember:
         print "You are not a member (direct or indirect) of the '%s' " \
             "team on Launchpad." % team
         print "Your sync request shall require an approval by a member of " \
@@ -87,6 +78,9 @@ def checkNeedsSponsorship(component):
         raw_input_exit_on_ctrlc() # Abort if necessary.
         return True # Sponsorship required.
 
+    # Is a team member, no sponsorship required.
+    return False
+
 def cur_version_component(sourcepkg, release):
     '''Determine current package version in ubuntu.'''
     madison = subprocess.Popen(['rmadison', '-u', 'ubuntu', '-a', 'source', \