A housing expert has called for independent insurance to be compulsory for home renovations.
This follows news of a High Court decision that awarded nearly $500,000 to an Auckland couple after a dispute with well-known builder Dion South, who makes frequent appearances on a television show on home renovation.
The couple told Newshub.co.nz that South walked away from a “fixed price guaranteed contract” to renovate their North Shore home. What’s more, South did not have insurance and refuses to pay damages.
"You can have insurance but unfortunately I am an old school builder," South told Newshub.co.nz.
Roger Levie, chief executive officer of the Home Owners and Buyers Association, said that the incident highlighted gaps in the building and construction sector. Levie told Newshub.co.nz that the government and building industry need to step up and make independent insurance compulsory.
"It needs to be proper insurance and it needs to cover all of the people involved in the construction of the house," said Levie. "What we have at the moment is a lot of people think they get an insurance policy and all they are getting is a warranty that only covers a builder."
The Building Act, which establishes the framework for all building control systems in New Zealand, is currently under review and the public has less than a month to make submissions.
