Whangarei house renovation ends in $2000 fine

A Whangarei man has been prosecuted for doing building work only a licensed tradesman should have undertaken.

Daniel Reynolds was sentenced in the Whangarei District Court and ordered to pay a fine of $2000 for work on a residential property he was unqualified for, despite him assuring the homeowner otherwise.

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) investigator Simon Thomas said Reynolds was not a licensed building practitioner qualified to carry out the extensive work on the structure and weather-tightness of the Whangarei home.

Thomas said the case was a lesson that all licensed and unlicensed tradespeople need to be aware of what work is within their limits.

''If not, this can be detrimental to the consumer and the tradesperson themselves, as we've seen in this case.''

The work involved building a new floor structure across an empty stairwell, removing an internal staircase and applying a waterproofing membrane system to a veranda.
It should have been done by a licensed building practitioner or supervised by one.

Reynolds accepted he was not licensed or supervised but thought the job was not classed as restricted building work, nor required building consent.

The homeowners had no knowledge in the area and had trusted his judgment, Thomas said.

"The bottom line is that tradespeople need to be aware of what they're qualified to carry out, and what consents are needed for the work.''

Breaches of the Building Act 2004 were taken seriously and MBIE would prosecute when required, Thomas said.