Complaint decisions — February 2025

Dylan Thompson

The Respondent’s company was hired to build a new 2 storey dwelling. The same company, using a different Licensed Building Practitioner, was hired to provide the design documentation for a building consent for the dwelling. That design work was also investigated at this consolidated hearing and is the subject of a separate decision. 

Negligent building work

The Board needed to consider whether the Respondent had negligently or incompetently carried out the building work. The Board also looked at whether the work had not followed the Building Consent. The Board requested a Special Advisor to consider the quality and compliance of the Respondent’s building work. 

The Board found that the matters reached the seriousness threshold and that the Respondent had committed disciplinary offences. 

Record of work

The Board decided that the Respondent’s restricted building work was complete, at the latest, in June 2021 when the contract had been terminated and the Respondent knew that another contractor had been engaged. 

As at the close of submissions following the hearing, he had not provided a record of work. The Respondent explained that he thought the work was incomplete — this was not a “good reason” for failing to provide a record of work. The Board found that the Respondent had committed the offence of failing to provide a record of work on completion of the restricted building work. 

Disreputable conduct

There was an allegation of disreputable conduct involving the Respondent’s behaviour towards Council officers. 

To prove that there has been disreputable conduct, the Board needs to determine, on the balance of probabilities, that the Respondent has brought the regime into disrepute and that the conduct was sufficiently serious enough for the Board to make a disciplinary finding. 

The Board found that the conduct did not reach the seriousness level of disreputable conduct and did not uphold this disciplinary offence. 

The Board decided that the Respondent would be fined $3,500 and ordered to pay costs of $2,500. 

Jayden Thompson

The Respondent’s company was hired to provide the design documentation for a building consent application for a new 2 storey dwelling. The same company using a different Licensed Building Practitioner was hired to construct the dwelling and that building work was also investigated at this consolidated hearing and is the subject of a separate decision (above). 

Negligent design work

The Board needed to consider whether the Respondent had negligently or incompetently carried out the design building work. The Board requested a Special Advisor to consider the quality and compliance of the Respondent’s building consent application. 

The Board found that the matters reached the seriousness threshold and that the Respondent had committed a disciplinary offence. This decision was based on the lack of information in the plans that were submitted for the building consent. The Board found that the Respondent had carried out design work in a negligent manner. 

Competency of licence class

The Board also considered whether the Respondent had acted outside the competency of his Design Area of Practice 1 Licence. They looked at the licensing class and the category of buildings under that class. 

The Respondent had initially designed a building with a risk matrix of 14, which was a category 2 building, and the Board found that this was outside the competency of his licence class. However, the Board, by a close margin, decided that it did not reach the seriousness threshold and that it would not uphold this disciplinary offence. 

Disreputable conduct

There was an allegation of disreputable conduct involving the Respondent’s behaviour towards Council officers.

The Board found that the conduct did not reach the seriousness level of disreputable conduct and did not uphold this disciplinary offence. 

The Respondent is fined $4,500 and ordered to pay costs of $2,500. A record of the disciplinary offending will be recorded on the Public Register for a period of 3 years.