$50,000 bill to fix problems left by builder

Tuesday, 30 April 2019

A Wellington woman is angry at what she says is a lack of oversight of builders that has left her at least $50,000 out of pocket.

Alice Robinson engaged Mark Hanson from InsideOut Building in June last year to complete an extension on her home.

But she discovered things had gone wrong when the council issued a stop-work notice in December.

Hanson had not obtained the required building consent inspections, including site layout, foundation pre-pour and pre-cladding.

* Christchurch and Auckland builders disciplined for poor workmanship

* A homeowner's complaint found unlicensed New Plymouth builder guilty**

Alice Robinson says there is not enough protection for members of the public.

Eaves had been constructed 600 millimetres wide instead of the 400mm required on the plans, which put the house too close to the neighbour's property.

Robinson said the relationship had deteriorated to the point that he was verbally abusive to her, so, in January, she asked him to leave.

Hanson rejects the allegations but said he did not want to comment.

When Robinson engaged new builders to finish the job, more problems were found.

Weatherboards had to be reinstalled, Hardieflex renailed, flashing was incorrectly installed and edges not sealed, the garage door lintel was too small to support the roof trusses, and three wooden doors had to be reinstalled because there were no sill flashings below and there were roof trusses on non-load-bearing walls, including her children's bedrooms, among other building code breaches.

So far, she has spent $50,000 on remediation.

Robinson then found out that another client had made a complaint about similar failings, on a smaller scale, to the licensed building practitioners' board about Hanson.

It was not public information at that point because it had not yet been dealt with.

He was cleared in that instance but the board noted that his standard of building work could have been better and more care should have been taken. He was also cautioned to ensure that he carried out full inquiries to ensure any required building consents were obtained.

Robinson has now made her own complaint.

'My key issue is with the LBP board. If they had put Mark under supervision when he was under investigation throughout October, November and December, we would not be having to face significant remediation costs. If they had indicated on their website that an LBP was being investigated, we could have had a closer look at the workmanship when the stop work notice was issued and halted all work. This was before all the cladding work was done incorrectly. Even now, despite serious defects on our house, Mark is free to do major structural work on another house in Wellington without any supervision. The LBP board's processes aren't protecting the public at all.'

Hanson is a licensed building practitioner (LBP) but she said in this case his experience did not seem adequate.

'Mark's main experience in construction seem to be doing decks and fences, which is vastly different to doing a house extension, but this appears to be enough for him to become an LBP and do restricted building work.'

She said investigations were so slow that the practitioner could carry on doing more defective work with no oversight or supervision while under investigation.

'The investigator told me when I kept reporting more defects, that 'out of fairness to the builder' they wouldn't consider any more – until I pointed out how grossly unfair this was for the homeowner – they then gave me a deadline and we happened to find the last defect that week so they accepted it. So if I find any more defects they will not take them into account.'

The Government is reviewing the Building Act, including new occupational regulation that would ensure registered and licensed practitioners had the right skills and qualifications and were held accountable for substandard work.

Its consultation document said the competence standards for entry into the LBP scheme were too low.

This wall was built with timber all the way to the ground.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) wants to broaden the definition of registered building work to include more complex non-residential building work and raise the competence standard for LBPs to enter and remain in the scheme including a tiered licensing system, for LBPs to establish a progression pathway, simplification of licence class categories and behavioural competence requirements.

'We won't be able to actually complete our build, just getting all the remediation done blows our budget,' Robinson said.

'We won't have carpet, flooring, skirting boards, driveway. We have $6000 in legal fees, simply having to defend against his aggression, and $3000-plus in specialist reports alone.'

She said some of the problems would be irreparable.

'We will just have to live with the defects, the eaves on one side of house are built at 400mm and on the other 600mm, and both eaves visible at the front door. Also the delays in building/remediation mean we can't paint the exterior cladding in the timeframes required by the suppliers to meet their warranties.'

A MBIE spokesperson said if the LBP board decided a disciplinary offence was not committed, the matter would end there.

Alice Robinson says the eaves were built not to plan so they are too close to the boundaries.

'Any disciplinary action the board takes will be recorded on the public register of LBPs for three years or until their licence is cancelled. That information will be available to anyone who searches the register.

'This information will be made public and added to the register once a decision has been reached, but not while an investigation is still underway. This is to maintain the integrity of the investigations and decision making process.'

MBIE said a code of ethics to set clear expectations for LBPs. was one of the changes being consulted on.

'It's important to note, though, that the building reform programme is looking at current gaps in the Building Act, and how these gaps can be addressed.

'The programme is not looking in depth at possible issues in the LBP scheme. This is something that could potentially be looked at in the future.'