Kelly-Nash was suspended in May and had his building licence cancelled in September after the board identified a pattern of conduct where he would collect deposits for building work he did not commence.
According to the May ruling, Kelly-Nash accepted a $1900 deposit for a bathroom renovation, which his customer paid in August last year.
However, he gave the customer various reasons why he could not start the work and then stopped communicating.
When contacted by the board before the hearing, Kelly-Nash said he was “going through personal issues” and was unable to respond to the complaint.
Later, another complaint to the board stated Kelly-Nash accepted a $7500 deposit to re-clad parts of a house but, again, did not begin the work.
While Kelly-Nash made promises to repay the money, he has not done so.
The board suspended Kelly-Nash’s building licence after the hearing, which he did not engage with.
“Taking money and retaining it without providing the agreed services is serious. It undermines public faith in the licensing regime and it should result in a disciplinary outcome,” the board said in its May ruling.
‘Danger to the public’
Then, in September this year, the board convened again to hear a third complaint.
It was again claimed Kelly-Nash had taken money for a renovation he didn’t start.
This time, it was a major bathroom renovation for which the customer paid a 50% deposit of $16,000.
On the day he was due to begin the work, Kelly-Nash emailed the client and said he could no longer undertake the renovation but would repay the deposit.
The client successfully took him to the Disputes Tribunal but has yet to see the money.
After this complaint, the board cancelled Kelly-Nash’s licence.
“The board decided that the respondent’s licence would be cancelled because it had identified a pattern of taking funds and not completing the building work, and the board considered there was a need to protect other consumers from similar conduct,” it said in its latest ruling.
“This is the fourth time the board has disciplined the respondent, and the third time it has found he has acted disreputably in relation to taking funds. He has not learnt from previous findings and is a danger to the public.”
A fourth finding from the board this year led to Kelly-Nash being fined $1500 for failing to certify a piece of restricted building work.
According to the website for his company, Dotco Construction, Kelly-Nash has years of experience in the building trade and services Wellington, Kapiti and the Hutt Valley.
He did not respond to a request for comment.
Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū, covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.
