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Industry roles
Protecting the inspectors
The number of builders o ering residential inspection services has grown dramatically. Before heading down this path, it’s critical to understand your obligations or you could end up in serious litigation.
BY TONY CONDER, BOINZ TECHNICAL AND EDUCATIONAL MANAGER, WELLINGTON
RESIDENTIAL INSPECTION work is seen by builders as an extension of what they do and a way to grow business in a lucrative growth area with a low cost of entry.
However, most o er this service without any formal training or understanding of the strict legal requirements that surround it.
Getting it wrong can be costly
NZS 4306:2005 Residential property inspec- tion de nes the standard of inspection and reporting required. In February 2013, a High Court case established that any person holding themselves out to be a residential property surveyor will have their perfor- mance judged against this standard.
The court decided there was a level of skill and care required if a person says they are
competent to carry out this work — especial- ly so where the inspector contends that they have carried out the inspection to NZS 4306:2005.
In Hepburn & Ors v Cunningham, Cunningham stated that the cladding was ‘good’. The cost of remediation clearly demonstrated that the cladding was not good and was leaking. It was determined that the tenor of the report had misled the purchasers, and a substantial award was made against the surveyor towards the cost of remediation.
Programme protects surveyor and client
The poor quality and variability of reports offered to the public and the increasing danger to uninformed builders was recog- nised by Building O cials of New Zealand (BOINZ). It has developed a training and accreditation programme addressing the problems and inconsistencies.
The BOINZ Accredited Building Surveyor programme regularises the residential prop- erty inspection sector, providing protection
and good outcomes for both the surveyor and homeowner.
Path to get accredited
The BOINZ Accredited Building Surveyor programme requires applicants to attend and pass the course. Once they have, candi- dates have to submit their reports for audit.
At this stage, the lessons learned during the course are applied to the outputs the surveyor provides to the public. The number of reports required to be submitted in order to gain accreditation can vary. When the technical panel is satis ed the applicant’s reports are compliant with the standard, the candidate can become an accredited member of BOINZ.
BOINZ accredited surveyors must carry insur- ance and provide a Police check. A report quality audit is carried out at membership renewal.
Once they’ve passed the examination and the audit, the surveyor may provide reports that comply with NZS 4306:2005, are of a con- sistently high quality, meet the client’s needs and protect the member from litigation.
For more See www.boinz.org.nz.
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