BuildLaw Issue 27 March 2017 | Page 4

BuildLaw: In Brief

Builder prosecuted for falsely claiming to be a licensed building practitioner









An unlicensed builder has been convicted of two charges of falsely claiming to be a licensed building practitioner.
Albany-based builder Blair Cole has been fined $5,000 and ordered to pay court costs and $1,296 in reparation to an Orewa homeowner.
The case against Cole was brought to the North Shore District Court by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) Occupational Licensing Team.
“Mr Cole, who trades as Akoranga Construction Limited, ran numerous advertisements in local papers falsely claiming to be a licensed practitioner and displayed the Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP) logo on his business card, despite never holding an LBP license,” says Investigations Team Leader Simon Thomas.
“Furthermore, an Orewa homeowner responded to one of these print advertisements, engaging Mr Cole to replace a number of piles under the deck of her house. Mr Cole undertook this work, continuing the guise of a licensed builder. The homeowner paid Mr Cole for the job, which remains unfinished.”
It is an offence under the Building Act 2004 for a person to claim to be licensed to carry out or supervise restricted building work, while not being licensed.
Mr Cole pleaded guilty to both charges, was fined $5,000, and ordered to pay court fees and $1,296 in reparation to the homeowner for the unfinished work on her Orewa home.
“This prosecution sends a clear message to the building industry that claiming to be a licensed building practitioner without actually holding such a license is illegal. Where MBIE has evidence of this occurring, offenders can expect to be prosecuted accordingly,” Mr Thomas says.
Builder's illegal gas cooker job earns $6,000 fine
February prosecution by the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board, backs the important messages to homeowners that are in their new public awareness campaign ‘Sort the pros from the cons – your family’s health and safety, your property and insurance are at risk.’
Auckland builder and Director of L&B Construction Limited, Byungsung Lim pleaded guilty to two charges: doing unauthorised gasfitting and doing unauthorised sanitary plumbing. He was fined $6,000 on the gasfitting charge, and fined $650 on the plumbing charged. He was also ordered to pay $113 solicitor’s costs.
The complainant in the case engaged Mr Lim to undertake kitchen and bathroom renovations.
Sanitary plumbing and gasfitting conducted by anyone who does not hold a current NZ Practising Licence from the Board is illegal activity.
Mr Lim has never been registered or licenced as a gasfitter or plumber. He illegally installed