Builder liable for ethical breach

The Licenced Building Practitioners Board has found a builder guilty of ethical breaches for failure to provide the required disclosure documents, check list and written building contract when undertaking building work. These ethical failures were a breach of the Building Act and Building (Residential Consumers Rights and Remedies) Regulations. Any building work over $30,000 requires a written building contract. As the work exceeded that threshold, a contract was required.

The builder was fined $1,500 for failing to supply the required documentation. The builder was found not guilty of carrying out work in a negligent or incompetent manner, carrying out work they were not licenced to undertake, not supplying the record of work and bringing the profession into disrepute.  These findings were made because the work carried out did not require a building consent and therefore fell outside the licence building practitioners process (except for supply of the disclosure, checklist and contract).

All licenced building practitioners are covered by the Code of Ethics. Under the Code a failure to comply with a legal requirement is a breach of ethics. Therefore the builder’s failure to supply the required documents was a breach of the Code of Ethics.

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