Builders' Warranty

All designers, consultants, builders and tradespeople involved in residential construction, whether it’s a new home or an addition to an existing home, need to be Licensed Building Practitioners (LBP).

The LBP undertakes restricted building work. That is, work related to weather tightness or structure of a residential building. Arecord of works also needs to be provided to the Council before a Code Compliance Certificate (CCC) is issued for any completed building work.
In addition, Council often requires producer statements from consulting engineers for items such as water proofing applicators for the design, installation or construction supervision undertaken. Please understand the Council’s requirements and prepare your own checklist from these so you are planning for full approval.

As part of the licensing system, all licensed tradespeople such as carpenters, roofers, block layers, external plasters must complete ongoing training to maintain their license. There are extensive fines for undertaking restricted building work without a license. So, make sure your tradespeople are licensed! You can do this by visiting https://lbp.ewr.govt.nz/publicregister/search.aspx

Having completed a new home, all parties including Council, provide an implied warranty. Should a major failure occur within 10 years of CCC being issued, civil action can be undertaken against relevant parties involved in the construction of the home. If any issues arise within 12 months of CCC being issued, the builder is required to undertake corrective actions without question - assuming that this does not involve damage caused by the home owner since the property hand over.
Building material manufacturers produce their products to meet the durability expectation of the Building Code, which is a minimum of 15 years for cladding or roofing and 50 years for structure. The LBP is also required to install these materials to the manufacturer’s requirements.
Some owners may wish to obtain additional insurance, either privately or via organisations such as Certified Builders Association of New Zealand (CBANZ) or Registered Master Builders (RMB). CBANZ make it compulsory for their members to supply this warranty to new home owners, and it is hoped that RMB will soon follow suit. These warranties ensure that CBANZ/RMB will complete the project if the builder fails to do so correctly.

It appears likely that new legislative changes will limit the Councils’ liability to 25% of any proven liability. Therefore, additional insurance is worth consideration, especially if your builder does not belong to an organisation that can provide a suitable insurance or if your builder does not have appropriate professional indemnity insurance.
New home owners can usually have confidence in the home building industry, thanks to strict Government licensing and building standards. In addition to this, reputable accreditations, audits, consent processing and inspection processes have resulted in a high standard being met in the building industry.