Fake builder worked on 34 Otago properties before he was busted

Stead worked without the proper qualifications on properties throughout Dunedin and Mosgiel for 18 months. File photo / Michael Craig

A man who posed as a licensed builder carried out restricted work on 34 Dunedin and Mosgiel properties before he was caught, a court has heard.

Ian Fletcher Stead, 65, director of Steadfast Civil Ltd, was sentenced to 300 hours' community work before the Dunedin District Court this week for offending which spanned more than 18 months.

He previously pleaded guilty to representative charges of forging a document and two under the Building Act.

Stead applied for a discharge without conviction but that was denied by Judge Michael Turner.

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment occupational licensing manager Duncan Connor said the case was one of the most serious of its kind dealt with by the courts to date.

A Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment occupational licensing manager said the case was one of the most serious of its kind dealt with by the courts. File photo / supplied

Licensed building practitioners are professionals assessed as competent to carry out building work essential to the structure or weathertightness of residential buildings.

Restricted building work can be undertaken or supervised only by a licensed building practitioner.

It was a qualification Stead had never held

But his website claimed he was licensed to carry out restricted work on foundations, and from July 2017 he did so.

After completing jobs at properties all over Dunedin and Mosgiel, Stead would create a "record of work" using the names of two LBPs.

Court documents showed the defendant got hold of their details after they completed work at his home.

The council unwittingly used the forged records to issue certificates of code compliance.

"The LBP scheme regulates people who physically carry out or supervise restricted building work and is in place to ensure consumers can make informed decisions when it comes to hiring builders to undertake restricted building work," Connor said.

The judge found the aggravating feature of Stead's offending was that it was "premeditated".

"This type of offending compromises the integrity of the licensed building practitioner scheme and will not be tolerated."