Builders accuse Government of creating chaos

By ANNE GIBSON

The building industry has accused the Government of creating uncertainty and chaos in the housing market by excluding private building certifiers from the industry.

Building Industry Federation chief executive John Pfahlert said yesterday that the Government had not consulted the industry before deciding to refuse interim arrangements that would have allowed private certifiers to continue operating under changes to the Building Act.

The changes stipulate that private certifiers must be licensed practitioners, a process which could take three years to achieve, he said.

In the meantime, territorial authorities are understaffed and unable to keep up with demand for new construction inspections, but also unable to call for assistance from the private certification industry.

But Associate Commerce Minister John Tamihere said the new Building Act was designed to protect consumers from shonky building practices.

As minister responsible for the soon-to-be-formed Department of Building and Housing, Mr Tamihere said the new act followed rigorous investigation of the building certification process.

"The legislation is all about protecting Kiwis in the purchase and building of their family homes, which is probably the most important investment any of us will ever make," he said.

"We're backing the consumer because we must ensure that their home investment is protected.

"We have demonstrated with the decision to deregister Approved Building Certifiers that we will no longer tolerate substandard [work]."

This week, the Building Industry Association deregistered the Auckland firm Approved Building Certifiers for negligence and and incompetency, rasing questions about the future of 5000 new house projects.

Mr Tamihere said the Approved case showed private certification was not working.