Dodgy builders in Government’s sights in next round of building reforms

Monday, 24 November 2025

LBPs include builders, carpenters, roofers, designers, plasterers and bricklayers. (File photo)

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The Government will today move to ramp up penalties on dodgy builders and shoddy workmanship as part of a raft of new consumer protection measures expected as the next step in an industry overhaul.

In August, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk announced the Government would be doing away with “joint and several liability” and moving to “proportionate liability” for builders and trades. The current system means consumers have had little recourse for deficient builds and councils most often ended up holding the bag for poorly built structures.

Penk promised he would look at professional indemnity insurance and consumer warranties in due course.

The Post can reveal that among a raft of other changes, the Government will be doubling penalties on Licensed Builder Practitioners for shoddy work. Maximum fines for poor work will double from $10,000 to $20,000 and maximum suspensions from the trade will double from 12 months to 24 months.

“The current penalties have not been updated since the regime began in 2007, and inflation has steadily eroded their impact. It is clear they no longer deter serious misconduct or reflect the scale of harm it can cause,” Penk said.

Nearly 3000 buildings are set to be removed from New Zealand’s earthquake prone register under a major government overhaul. Building and Construction Minister Chris Pink says the changes will focus on high-risk structures and ease costs for owners.

A Licensed Building Practitioner is a professional assessed as competent to carry out work essential to the structure or weathertightness of residential buildings. LBPs include builders, carpenters, roofers, designers, plasterers and bricklayers.

The Government has also increased the amount of self-certification that can occur in the industry ‒ where tradies certify their own work as compliant ‒ but hadn’t settled on an indemnity regime to give recourse for consumers in case of poor work, builders going out of business or other problems.

In particular, large home builders will be able to self-certify.

The Government’s view ‒ and that of many in the industry ‒ is that the Building Act 2004, which was designed to prevent another leaky homes crisis, had morphed into a sluggish system that incentivised risk averse behaviours from consenting councils, while loading on delays and cost.

It is expected that details around the new regime liability regime to counter that will be announced today.

But the first step is the penalties for dodgy work, which Penk said affected confidence in the whole sector.

“We know most tradies take real pride in their work and consistently meet high standards. However, there are still cases of negligent or dishonest behaviour, including practitioners working outside their area of expertise or carrying out work without a building consent.

“These incidents undermine confidence in the system and can damage the reputation of the wider industry, especially when they are high profile and make headlines.”

It has been a busy few months for Penk. The Government announced in July it will be freezing any changes to the Building Code and putting changes on three-yearly rotations so that industry can keep abreast of, and plan for changes. In September he announced the Government’s new earthquake building standards, clearing away years of uncertainty and billions of dollars in cost.