Otago unlicenced builder Rodney Day pleads guilty to deception

Rodney Day pleaded guilty to 15 charges in the Christchurch District Court. Photo / File

An unlicensed builder has pleaded guilty to 15 charges after misleading property owners and a real estate agency.

Mosgiel man Rodney James Day was the first unlicensed builder to be charged since the Licensed Building Practitioners scheme was introduced in 2007.

He subsequently pleaded guilty in the Christchurch District Court to 11 offences under the Building Act for portraying himself as a licensed builder while unlicensed and undertaking "restricted building work".

He further pleaded guilty to four forgery charges under the Crimes Act.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment brought the charges against Day, saying he told two separate Christchurch property owners his building licence had expired but that he would get a licensed builder to supervise and sign off on his work.

Day instead never had his building work reviewed.

Rather he knew the identification number of a licenced builder and used that number to complete paperwork for the jobs without the builder's knowledge.

In one instance the paperwork was provided to a real estate company for use in the sale of the property.

"Mr Day deceived not only the people who hired him to undertake building work, he fraudulently used another person's details to his own benefit, not considering the impact this would have on them," MBIE's Duncan Connor said.

"This type of offending is undertaken to deliberately mislead people for the individual's own financial gain.

Connor said the LBP scheme was introduced to ensure consumers can make informed decisions about builders when hiring them for more technical building work.

Day's crimes helped to undermine the scheme and bring it into disrepute and would not be tolerated, he said.

"MBIE will not hesitate to prosecute people who commit offences under the Building Act and/or the Crimes Act."

Day will be sentenced in the Christchurch District Court on September 24.