Unlicensed builder to pay $13,200

A judge has fined an unlicensed Christchurch builder $10,000 and ordered him to pay $3,200 in reparations for claiming to be a licensed building practitioner on repeated occasions

The builder claimed to be a licensed building practitioner (LBP) when he was hired by a construction company in July, 2016.

“The builder is not and has never been an LBP, yet claimed he held a licence when he was engaged by a construction company in July 2016. His false claim is a serious offence under the Building Act 2004,” said MBIE Investigations Team Leader Simon Thomas.

While working for the company, the builder set out and prepared foundations and placed and tied reinforcing steel for a new build on a Christchurch property – Restricted Building Work which, by law, must be done or supervised by an LBP.

He went to the extent of writing a false LBP number on his Record of Work and, when probed about his status by a colleague, insisted he was licensed.

Furthermore, he signed an employment agreement stating he was employed as a licensed builder, and told several people on site he was licensed.

“If you want to do restricted building work, you must be a licensed building practitioner, or be supervised by one,” said Thomas. “We encourage all employers of LBPs, as well as homeowners, to check a builder is licensed by checking the public register.”

As happened in this instance, MBIE also encourages LBPs to check if they are unsure whether a co-worker is actually an LBP.

“To maintain the integrity of the LBP scheme, we need to uphold its reputation,” said LBP registrar Paul Hobbs.

“The LBP scheme has been designed to raise standards across the building sector and consumer confidence. It is thus a risk to the scheme’s integrity to have someone pretending to be an LBP and is in all LBPs best interests to weed out those who would compromise the scheme’s reputation.”

MBIE received 38 complaints about non-LBPs in the 2016/17 financial year. As of October, Maloney’s penalty was the highest to date.