By Kiren Narayanan - 3 May 2019
One of the benefits of being a
Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP) is the sole
right to undertake and supervise restricted building work in New
Zealand. However, with that right comes responsibility. If you fail
to maintain the standards required of you, anyone can make a
complaint against an LBP to the Building Practitioners Board.
There are 11 grounds for discipline under section 317 of the
Building Act 2004. These include:
- carrying out and/or supervising negligent building work
- failing to issue a Record of Work once the building work is
complete
- carrying out work that does not comply, or without a building
consent
- being convicted of a criminal offence with a penalty of more
than six months.
If it is found that the LBP has failed to maintain the required
standards, then the Board may issue a penalty. Those penalties may
include a fine, suspension, or cancellation of the LBP's
license.
However, if you are facing a complaint to the Board, all is not
lost. If there are issues regarding defective work, the Board will
more likely than not require its own expert report. The parties
then get a detailed, independent report, at no cost, which may end
up resolving a serious contractual dispute between the parties. It
may end up that after a response is filed by the LBP, no further
action is taken by the Board.
To discuss the issues raised in this blog, or any other general
construction issues, please contact any of our construction
law specialists.