Boom increases shoddy building risk

There is a risk of constructing more leaky buildings as the sector faces massive demand for houses, Auckland Council's head of building control says.

Block works substandard

Following trades lack of respect for previous trades work. Shape objects and rubbish all over membrane

Half completed drainage left to float

Huge hole under head flashing for rain to enter building

Non-continuous foundations

Plumbing installed after cladding completed lacks flashing of any type

Sites inadequately managed causing serious health and safety issues

Structural failure of foundation structure neglected to be addressed

The instruction manual comes in the bag yet the products were not used

The level is plumb the wall is not

Inspectors are failing about one third third of buildings in the region and complaints to the Government about licenced builders are up 30 percent.

Council's general manager building control Ian McCormick told Nine to Noon that less experienced people are coming into the industry during the current boom and some supervisors are taking on more jobs than they can handle.

Mr McCormick said the leaky building crisis was a systemic failure, and they were not seeing that now, but were seeing the potential for more such buildings due to one-off failures.

He said in one recent case inspectors checking on a new single story foundation were forced to fail it five times, which put a lot of stress on everyone.

The Ministry of Building, Innovation and Employment's registrar of building practitioner licensing, Paul Hobbs, told the programme the crisis was a perfect storm of things converging.

He said legislation had since been changed, with the introduction of new consumer protections, a licensing regime and infringements.