What Is A Building Defect In New Zealand?

You might be in a building dispute or have a builder telling you something is not a defect or, even worse, telling you they will follow the contract and have no other obligations outside of that. Thankfully, in New Zealand, homeowners have protections, and you might be surprised that almost anything is considered a building defect in New Zealand.

The 12 Month Defect Period In New Zealand

Before we get into what a defect is, what is the 12 month defect period? This simply means any defect that arises within 12 months of your build must be rectified by the builder. However, you actually have longer protections, more on that soon.

Does the 12 month defect period mean any issues or defects that arise during your build must wait until then? No, it doesn’t. Builders in New Zealand have obligations during the build, and the builder must fix any defect found during the build.

Home Owner Protection with Implied Warranties.

In New Zealand, we have a thing called Implied Warranties cemented in the Building Act. These are also in most building contracts as statutory compliance. Don’t worry, though, it does not matter if you have a contract or what your contract says. Implied Warranties apply no matter what.

Here is an extract from Master Builders Contract. Remember the contract doesn’t have to have this for Implied warranties to be in effect, you are covered with way.

This below is from the Building Act. Builder must build to a competent manner.

What If Your Builder Refuses To Fix A Defect?

Talk to a lawyer because, under the Consumer Guarantees Act and Implied Warranties, if defects or workmanship issues are not fixed, you can get another contractor to fix the issues and then claim the cost from your builder, as well as damages.

What Is A Defect?

Pretty much anything is a defect, lets list them out.

• Anything that is not to the building code
• Anything that is not constructed to the documents on your consent
• Anything that deviates from its manufacture specifications. Builder must build to manufacture specifications.
• Failure to meet industry quality or performance standards
• Cosmetic defects can range from scratches in floors to scratches in paintwork

Basically if something is not constructed to the building code, manufacture specifications, consent documents, NZ standards, NZ tolerances and generally just poor workmanship then it’s considered a defect.