Editorial: Builders and do-up disasters - how to avoid them

Nazgul Zamami hired a builder in January to do some work to her house in Hillsborough. Photo / Michael Craig

EDITORIAL

The horror house refit revealed this week should hammer home the need to always use safeguards around contracting work.

An Auckland family claims to have been fleeced of more than $200,000 by a builder who is no longer in the country and has been declared bankrupt. Another homeowner said they were also owed $50,000 after paying a deposit to the same builder for a house that had not even been started.

Nazgul Zamami and her husband had big dreams to renovate their Hillsborough home of 15 years, but they have been left with just four wardrobes, a kitchen and two bathrooms finished - all to poor standard. The front of the house and living room floor are on a slope, the roof leaks, and the garage and area under the house had been modified but deemed unsafe.

The builder says he wanted to finish but was deported by Immigration New Zealand for overstaying. He had also been made bankrupt so could not access his funds. It would appear the builder knew he was an overstayer and was liable to deportation order. Despite this, it seems he took people's money on his word that he could complete work for them.

The recent prosecution of British visitors over unsatisfactory roofing work shows we have the mechanisms for dealing with these problems, even when culprits aren't New Zealand citizens.

If you pay a business to provide a service and it's sub-standard, you can ask them to fix the problem under the Consumer Guarantees Act. If they have not completed the work, they might be in breach of contract and you have rights under both the Consumer Guarantees Act and the Contract and Commercial Law Act. But these laws are only useful if taken while all parties are in the country. It would appear the Hillsborough contractor is now beyond accountability.

The recent prosecution of British visitors over unsatisfactory roofing work shows we have the mechanisms for dealing with these problems, even when culprits aren't New Zealand citizens.

Master Builders chief executive David Kelly says due diligence is the most important thing a homeowner can do before employing a builder. Yes, homeowners should be wary.

This week's case should reinforce the messages to all homeowners: demand to see qualifications and references; get further quotes on all major work; check any potential contractor is a Registered Master Builder or a Licensed Building Practitioner and hire only members of reputable organisations.