Registered Master Builders welcomes move

12 May 2006

Registered Master Builders welcomes moves to streamline Weathertight Homes Resolution Service

Government moves to resolve issues with the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service (WHRS) by streamlining the dispute resolution process are being supported by the Registered Master Builders Federation (RMBF).

Chief Executive Pieter Burghout said a number of industry concerns had been addressed in the Government’s changes.

“We are particularly supportive of the Government’s efforts to protect both builders and consumers," Mr Burghout said.

“An example of this is the payouts of claims will be registered on the LIM report. This will provide protection for owners but will also reduce risk for builders who might get called in again to fix issues that should have been fixed by the owner who received the cash payout,” he added.

As part of the changes, the Department of Building and Housing is improving the assessment process and limiting the timeframe on mediation before claims automatically move to adjudication.

“This is a commonsense approach to dealing with how the program needs to be run,” Mr Burghout said.

“While the WHRS increases the potential liability for industry, builders realise that this is required to address past ‘leaky building’ issues that surfaced in the early 2000’s,” he says.

“Finally, the WHRS are only one of a suite of measures being worked on to lift quality outcomes in the construction sector. RMBF continues to look forward to working with the Government to progress the full range of reforms.
Registered master builder member companies built approximately 65% or $7 billion of the $11 billion construction industry spend in New Zealand last year.

ENDS

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