Monday, July 14, 2014
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Bid to weed out shoddy builders BY SUE NEWMAN
SUE.N@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ
Tough, new regulations to clamp down on shoddy builders have been applauded across the Ashburton building industry. The changes, to be implemented on January 1, will require builders to have written contracts, provide information on their backgrounds and qualifications and to disclose their insurance and warranty cover for residential building work valued
at more than $30,000. Those contracts would have to include warranties, dispute resolution and remedies. And while that might not sound like a significant change, it was one more step in improving the building environment for all parties, Master Registered Builders Ashburton president Mark Wilson said. “Any change is good if it gets rid of shoddy builders, but there are constraints there now where
a cowboy can’t get away with things, around consents and sign off of work,” he said. The changes to the Building Act were made last year and from January 1 builders will face an instant $500 fine if they fail to comply. The tougher rules are also designed to speed up the consenting process by having fewer conditions on standard builds to speed up the process and keep costs down. “Anything that fast
tracks the process is good. A lot of our frustrations are in getting things off the ground, in getting through the red tape, but our council is pretty good and they’re proactive.” If consents were lodged with plenty of detail then the consenting process was pretty straight forward, Mr Wilson said. “If you get in early in the design process then the council will point you in the right direc-
tion. And at the end of the day, any cowboys can’t get away with much because of the regulations and controls.” There would always be some grey areas around construction standards; that was the nature of the business, he said. For anyone employing a builder, the best protection was to check that they were members of either the Registered Master Builders or Certified Builders associations.
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