Leaky building protections a must

The Government must introduce meaningful protections for consumers, or risk a messy second round of leaky building claims, says Labour’s Building and Construction spokesperson Raymond Huo.

The Christchurch and Wellington city councils are urging the Government to introduce a mandatory warranty scheme to help protect consumers and local authorities from substandard building work.

“Unbelievably, the Government is actually planning to reduce the level of protection for consumers and ratepayers,” says Raymond Huo.

“Under the current Bill, local councils will no longer be required to issue a Code Compliance Certificate. Instead, they will only have to issue a Consent Compliance Certificate and will not have any direct role in checking the quality of the building work.

“What’s worse, the Government is making no attempt to ensure the manufacturers of building materials and products are accountable.

"In the absence of adequate warranties, consumers and local councils will face an unnecessary level of risk.  And it is ratepayers that will be left to pick up much of the bill for any claims resulting from shoddy building work.

“Without looking at a mandatory scheme that covers all tradespeople, the National Government has lost sight of the most fundamental purpose of the Building Act review, and that is to provide New Zealanders with quality, safe and durable homes,” Raymond Huo says.