Upholding the LBP reputation

Builder convicted on two charges of falsely claiming to be a Licensed Building Practitioner

Albany-based builder Blair Cole has been fined $5000 and ordered to pay court costs and $1296 in reparation to an Orewa homeowner for falsely claiming to be a Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP).

The case against Mr Cole was brought to the North Shore District Court by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) Occupational Licensing Team.

According to investigations team leader Simon Thomas, Mr Cole, who trades as Akoranga Construction Limited, ran numerous advertisements in local papers falsely claiming to be an LBP. He also displayed the LBP logo on his business card, despite never holding such a licence, and pretended to be an LBP when engaged to carry out building work.

An Orewa homeowner responded to one of these print advertisements and engaged Mr Cole to replace a number of piles under the deck of her house. He undertook this work, continuing the guise of a licensed builder. The homeowner paid Mr Cole for the job, which remains unfinished.

Building Act offence

It is an offence under the Building Act 2004 for a person to claim to be licensed to carry out or supervise restricted building work, while not being licensed.

“The prosecution sends a clear message to the building industry that claiming to be a licensed building practitioner without actually holding such a licence is illegal,” said Mr Thomas.

Mr Cole pleaded guilty to both charges, was fined $5000, and ordered to pay court fees and $1296.02 in reparation to the homeowner for the unfinished work on her home.

The message is clear

“This prosecution should serve as an important reminder to tradespeople that they can only promote themselves as LBPs if they are a Licensed Building Practitioner,” says LBP registrar Paul Hobbs.

“Where MBIE has evidence of anyone operating outside of the law, they can expect to be caught and prosecuted accordingly.”

How to make a complaint

The non-LBP complaint process is a little different to the LBP process.

If restricted building work has been done by someone who is not an LBP, you need to complain to our Occupational Licensing Team (OLT). Your complaint should relate to one or more of the following:

• A person has undertaken restricted building work without being licensed or supervised by a licensed person.
• A person held themselves out to hold a licence when they were not licensed.
• A person engaged another person to carry out or supervise restricted building work and knew the other person was not licensed.

This does not apply to owner-builders who have applied for an owner-builder exemption for restricted building work.

The OLT may prosecute a building practitioner if they:

• Hold themselves out to be a licensed building practitioner when they are not.
• Undertake restricted building work while not appropriately licensed or supervised.
• Knowingly engage a non-licensed building practitioner to undertake restricted building work.

To complain, download and complete the RBW allegation form below and return it by email to investigations@mbie.govt.nz .

You could also talk to your council. In their capacity as a building consent authority they:

• Can issue an infringement notice for $750 to a person who carries out restricted building work while unlicensed, inappropriately licensed or unsupervised.
• Should refuse to issue a building consent for proposed restricted building work (RBW) if the consent application is not accompanied by a valid certificate of design work.
• Can issue the owner, the building consent holder or both with a ‘notice to fix’ to stop any further building work if an application does not identify the LBPs who are to carry out restricted building work.

Find your council’s contact details on the local council’s website.