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Builder not guilty of negligence or incompetence…
The Licensed Building Practitioners Board has found a builder to not be guilty of negligence or incompetence and to have not failed to provide a record of work.
The builder was engaged to do a re-roof. Problems occurred on the job and his contract was terminated before the re-roof was completed. A report was commissioned into the roof by the owners and various issues were noted by the experts which had not been completed.
The builder’s defence was that these were all matters which had been noted for completion, but that he had not been able to complete before his contract was terminated. The Board considered each item and found that there was no evidence of negligence or incompetence in the work done.
The Board did caution practitioners that they should correct issues that arise at the time and not leave them until the end of the job. If they are left to the end then the same problem can occur as occurred in this case, but the opportunity to correct any issues may be lost.
It was also alleged that the builder had failed to provide a record of work for the re-roof. However, the Board found that as this was a re-roof no building consent was required and therefore, no record of work needed to be provided.
In relation to some flashings which the builder had done these did require a consent and a record of work was required. The Board found that a record of work had been provided. The builder was in the habit of providing a blank record of work for the main contractor to complete and they had done so. This was held to comply. Once again the Board cautioned practitioners against leaving it to others to do the record of work, as the obligation to provide a record of work to the owner and the territorial authority is on the builder and they are liable to discipline if the record of work has not been done.
You should not rely on others, but should complete the record of work yourself and send it yourself to the owner and council.