5000 jobs on hold after building certifier deregistered

By ANNE GIBSON

A Government agency has axed one of Auckland's largest building certifiers, leaving 5000 construction jobs up in the air.

The Building Industry Authority yesterday deregistered Approved Building Certifiers after finding that ABC had been "negligent and incompetent in its operations as a building certifier".

The Building Act puts the authority in charge of all private building certifiers, which have about 10 per cent of the building consent market.

"ABC cannot accept new work, undertake inspections or issue building certificates or code compliance certificates," the authority said.

Complaints from the North Shore and Waitakere City Councils sparked the authority into taking the action and establishing a free-phone line for victims.

The firm, which has offices in Mt Wellington, Henderson, Albany and Whangarei, will be allowed to operate with limited scope until October 18 so the authority can monitor the transfer of client files to territorial authorities.

"Early indications are that ABC had around 5000 current files," the authority said.

"These will vary considerably in terms of where they are in the building process, with some relatively new jobs and some jobs that will have been completed for some time."

Certified Builders Association chief executive Garry Shuttleworth said the deregistration flew in the face of reassurances the authority had given that it wanted to work with certifiers.

"This is a slap in the face for the industry and it will be devastating for people," he said. "We're very concerned for the builders and clients involved because they won't be able to progress the buildings."

Approved Building Certifiers was registered as a company in 1994 and is headed by Neil Boler, who could not be contacted yesterday.

The authority found the company had breached provisions of the Building Act by issuing code compliance certificates and interim code compliance certificates for buildings without having the authority to conduct inspections. It found inadequacies and irregularities in the company's record-keeping relating to the signing-off of inspection documents. The authority also found faulty inspections "on which code compliance certificates were issued".

"We're discussing with the firm how they will hand over their current work to territorial authorities, who will continue the inspection process, although building owners can transfer their files to another building certifier who is registered." * Inquiries to the Building Industry Authority can be made on 0800 404-142.

Building Industry Authority