LBP struck off and fined over ‘error-ridden’ work

A Licensed Building Practitioner from Wānaka has been disciplined for building work completed so badly that it required one property to be demolished

Ting Xie had his licence cancelled and was ordered to pay costs of $4,500 after the Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP) Board (the Board) found that he “carried out or supervised building work in a negligent manner and in a manner that was contrary to a building consent”.

“He has conducted himself in a manner that brings or is likely to bring the regime under this Act for licensed building practitioners into disrepute,” said the Board in its decision.

“Furthermore, he has, for the purpose of becoming licensed himself, made false or misleading representations.”

One property Xie worked on had to be demolished, while a second building needed the cladding stripped off and redone.

Significant issues

The issues arose during an inspection of one of Xie’s projects by a building consent officer at Queenstown District Council. The officer found issue with:

• A change in the size of the retaining walls without a minor variation to the building consent.
• Foundation slab levels about 75mm lower than the floor level so the framing could not sit fully on the slab.
• Incorrectly fixed cladding nailed through the weathergroove.
• Windows not as per the consented plans.

Xie did not make the requires changes and failed another pre-clad inspection. He then called a final inspection, which he failed, and tried to rebook it through different inspectors.

“His view (the inspectors’) was that the Respondent was ‘out of his depth’, did not understand what the Council was asking him to do and had a mindset that he did it that way in Auckland so what was the problem,” said the Board.

The cladding also had to be removed and re-done, at the cost of the owner.

Total disregard for structural details

At a second property, inspectors found:

• Bolts were glued to give the impression of connection when there was none.
• Double stacking of floor joists to achieve correct height.
• Cantilever beams without bolts.
• Bolts cut off instead of being drilled through the steel beam during the connection of bottom plates.

Additional issues raised included floor slab construction being too shallow and steel beams missing web stiffeners.

The inspector described the site as “one of the most error-ridden properties I have ever supervised in 27 years” and added there has been “total disregard for structural details”.

A Queenstown Council inspection placed doubts over whether the “building has sufficient structural integrity to resist imposed forces from strong winds and/or seismic activity”.

The building was subsequently sold, and as a condition of the sale placed on it by the council, was demolished.

Furthermore, Xie had falsified inspector reports to obtain progress payments from his client. He also tried to pass off another LBP licence as his own.

Licence cancelled

“The Respondent’s behaviour across the two projects showed a lack of integrity and repeated deliberate conduct. In particular, the Board notes the use and production of another licensed building practitioner’s licence, the production of falsified documents for the purposes of payment from the homeowner, the booking of further Council inspections when required remedial work had not been done, and the failure to address the issues in the Council’s Notice to Fix.

“His conduct has resulted in one homeowner having to reclad their house and the other selling the property with the Council requirement that the building be demolished.”

The Board cancelled Xie’s licence and ordered him to pay costs of $4,500. He has since left the country. The company he owned, Lakeside Construction Ltd, has gone into liquidation.