St John's Anglican Church in Johnsonville, Wellington had to pay an extra $34,000 to fix the shoddy workmanship. Photo / Facebook
St John's Anglican Church in Johnsonville, Wellington had to pay an extra $34,000 to fix the shoddy workmanship. Photo / Facebook
Exposed asbestos, uneven steps, a wonky door, and gaps between weatherboards have cost a builder his licence for “amateurish” work he did on a church.
Wellington builder Tony Magele threatened to remove fittings and materials if the church didn’t pay him for the work.
Magele said he had “too much happening” to turn up to a disciplinary hearing into his conduct earlier this year but, in a decision released by the Building Practitioners Board last week, it suspended him from the profession for nine months and fined him $3000.
Magele was employed by St John’s Anglican Church in Johnsonville in 2021 to conduct a number of repairs and renovations to the roof, weatherboards, floor, windows, doors, and internal finishings.
In evidence submitted to the board at the hearing in January, there were issues with much of the work completed either by Magele or by employees he was supervising.
The report writer, whose name was redacted, said that a sheet of asbestos on one exterior wall had not been removed and that one window had been siliconed directly to it.
Uneven steps and concrete blowouts were identified by the investigator. Photo / MBIE
Framing and trusses for the roof didn’t match the consent and lintels over doorways were undersized, essentially compromising their structural integrity.
One door had been installed out-of-square and an exterior pathway was “placed poorly” with uneven and small steps that had to be removed and replaced.
Exterior weatherboard cladding had large gaps on overlapping boards, and there was no expansion gap between the boards that were also too close to the ground to comply with the Building Code.
The church raised issues about the amount Magele invoiced it for the building work, though it still paid the invoices all except for the cost of the roof.
The board’s investigator said fixing the issues had cost the church $34,152.
However, further demands for payment were made by Magele who threatened to remove fittings and materials if he didn’t receive payment, which he did not.
St John’s Vicar, Ben Johnson-Frow, told the Herald pursuing the complaint wasn’t about recouping any of the almost $170,000 the church paid Magele for the work.
The Building Practitioners Board identified issues with the water-tightness of some of the church windows. Photo / MBIE
“The church received no payout from a successful complaint. It’s more about holding him to account and making sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
When contacted by the Herald Magele said he wasn’t aware of the decision but knew the hearing had taken place.
He said his company, Silverback Building, was going into liquidation at the time of the building work and he had chosen to concentrate on that instead.
Magele took responsibility for the work and said he had been stretched thin with supervising his employees in carrying out the work.
“It comes down to my responsibility as the owner, I accept that,” he said. “I just have to cop the consequences as the business owner, I have no excuses.”
The incorrectly installed lintels compromised structural integrity. Photo / MBIE
Magele pointed out however that the work was signed off by the council before it was closed in and said the complaint to the Building Practitioners Board was simply a way for the church to get out of paying the bill.
In its decision, the board said the work was “amateurish and showed a lack of care and attention to compliance and quality requirements”.
“In many instances, clauses E2 (weathertightness), B1 (durability) and B2 (structure) of the Building Code would not have been met. It was not completed to the standard expected of a Licensed Building Practitioner.
“Significant remedial work has had to be undertaken.”
The board said most of the work had been done by Magee’s employees and supervised by him.
“It was apparent from the lack of compliance and quality of that work, that the supervision was either non-existent or very poor.”
It said Magele lacked the knowledge and skills required of a supervisor and had supervised the building work in an incompetent manner.
The board found that while Magele had caused the church some financial hardship in making unreasonable demands for further payment it didn’t meet the threshold for a finding of disrepute.
Weatherboards and the floor level were also issues with the renovation. Photo / MBIE
However, he was found guilty of incompetence in regard to the lack of supervision for his employees which the board said was “significant”.
“The licensing regime exists to ensure the public can have confidence in those who carry out restricted building work. The respondent has put those objects at risk.
“He has failed to understand that as a Licensed Building Practitioner, he is responsible for his work as well as the work of those under his supervision.”
