Do NOT go anywhere near Stonewood homes Tauranga

Same applies for Stonewood Homes Wellington – don’t keep their word, only see dollar signs and keep moving the goalposts to suit themselves. A few people have also mentioned potential cash flow issues. Avoid at all cost.

Hi Rathernotsay, We are in the midst of negotiating with Stonewood Tauranga on a land and build package and was wondering whether things have improved since your posting is in Sept 2019. It maybe better if you prefer to contact me offline at chingher.ong@gmail.com. Look forward to hear from you. Thanks.

Hi Any one has any reviews about Quality Homes, Upper Hutt, Wellington. We are looking for land & home package with them in Upper Hutt. Any information will be appreciated. Thanks so much !

Hi Alex, I cannot speak specifically about Stonewood Tauranga, and I realise it’s possible some Stonewood Franchisees are better than others, but I think there have been enough entries on this blog to give you a clue that you should be very cautious with Stonewood. Again, I don’t know whether they all use the same contract, or have the same attitude towards it. But the one we dealt with, and decided not to go with in the end, after spending a few months and thousands getting them to prepare concept plans and prices (that actually looked OK), had a contract which frankly at that time (speaking as someone who has prepared and supervised many large scale construction contracts) was biased too much in their favour, and in some respects did not make sense. Even their project manager type guy could not properly explain it. But don’t worry he said, we never use that clause. So I said in that case why not delete it? Oh no, the boss never agrees to any changes to the contract. That’s when we pulled out. That’s why I’ve advised many times on this blog that the first thing you should look at, before committing any money, is their contract document. ‘Caveat Emptor’ as the saying goes. With any builder it doesn’t matter how wonderful their plans and spec look, if the contract is loose, or biased in their favour, they have all sorts of ways to extend the construction time, take you for more money, or even build a house that’s different to the plans. I’m not saying they all do, but the opportunity is there if they want to take it. I get the impression from your enquiry to ‘Rathernotsay’ you would like to use Stonewood Tauranga, and you want RNS to tell you that in the last 3 months everything has been fine. I’ll be interested to see his/her reply, but somehow I suspect it won’t be what you want to hear. Anyway good luck.

No. I will never, ever, EVER, advice to build with these arrogant people.

Alex, I completely agree with Chris on this. Unless Stonewood Tauranga have changed management in the last three months and amended their contracts I would strongly suggest you walk away. Once the roller coaster starts there’s no stopping it and unless you have very deep pockets and the patience of a saint it will be the worst experience of your life. Almost two years we’ve been fighting our horror of a build and we still have no resolution to this nightmare and if you think the LBP Board will help you, they won’t in fact they protect the builder more than the they do you so choose very carefully.

Completely agree with MJ in regards to contracts AND the ineptitude of the Licensing Board. Our builder was already under investigation, without our knowledge. 12 months to investigate and hold an overtly biased hearing (complainants aren’t even called as witnesses). Builder found negligent (overwhelming evidence) but NO PUNISHMENT!! Despite being an actual scammer with multiple victims! LBP is free to go on and scam new unsuspecting clients.

To ANYONE who is currently going through the LBP to make a complaint or is deciding to make a complaint against a licensed builder, I have learned a few things so far that they do not mention on their website and which may help you in your process: Submitting your complaint: 1. Send it via courier, signature only. Then you can be assured they get it. Save your post receipt too because it may very easily get “lost in the mail” which could set your application back months if it’s not found quickly and at least this way you have some proof it was delivered and when. I know of several people who have withdrawn their cases because they couldn’t stand the stress of waiting for action. Do not be one of these people. Be pro-active and this actually helps with the stress as it makes you feel like you have some control over the situation which you totally do! 2. If you don’t hear back from them as to whether they received it or not email them a few days after you know it’s been delivered and ask them to confirm that they have received it. All your emails should be sent with a “sent & read confirmation” attachment too which gives you proof that someone at their end opened it and read it. SAVE EVERYTHING! 3. I would strongly advise you to correspond with them ONLY via email too and DO NOT TAKE PHONE CALLS as these can later be denied by them as ever having taken place. Disturbingly my phone conversations with one individual at the LBP involved bullying behavior and pressure to withdraw/amend my complaint which will be hard for me to prove now and was extremely upsetting and from what I’ve read on this website, it’s not uncommon for them to try this. If in doubt of the number that’s calling, let it go to voicemail so they are forced to leave a message, if they don’t leave a message then it can’t have been very important so no need to worry. If they catch you on the hop and you do answer, just cut them off and say you’re too busy to talk right now but as they have all your contact details on file (remember to add your email address on your application) it would be easier for them to send you an email and you can deal with it when you have a spare moment. End Of. Once your application is received: 1. You should receive a letter or email saying that your application has been received and if or when the builder has received his copy of your complaint and on this letter will be an investigator that has been assigned to your case, deal with this person ONLY. 2. The builder then officially has 20 working days to respond BUT the builder can ask for an extension (which is common) and the LBP will not tell you this unless you ask, so if your 20 working days are up and you haven’t heard anything, email the investigator and ask what his deadline is. If you don’t follow up on almost everything then they can drag the process out for months. 2. Once you have email confirmation that the builder has responded you are well within your rights to ask for a copy of his reply, THEY WILL NOT GIVE THIS TO YOU UNLESS YOU ASK! When you do receive it, do not show it to anyone who is not directly mentioned or involved with your complaint as this is sensitive information and sharing it or posting it may hinder your case. 3. The investigator assigned will then compile a report as to whether they think that there is enough grounds or evidence to hold a hearing. Just because your application was received by them does not mean they will automatically schedule a hearing, it all depends on this report. After you have received the builders reply, email your investigator and ask when you can expect to see their report. Again THEY WILL NOT TELL YOU THIS VOLUNTARILY, YOU MUST ASK FOR EVERYTHING! So this is where I’m currently at with my application and I will keep you all up to date if and when I learn anything new that might help but please keep in mind from the start that you should always do everything in such a way that it makes the LBP and the builder accountable and COVER YOUR ASS! NO ONE ELSE WILL DO IT FOR YOU! Love this website BTW. 🙂

Hi, you’ve clearly been through something major like I have, its not until your in the thick of it that you see and learn exactly how things roll. No surprises how difficult it is dealing with the LBP. Out of the 8 members on the board of the LBP its Not surprising that 5 have had affiliations with Certified and Masterbuilders. The website states Board members Chris Preston is ex CEO of Masterbuilders and Richard Merrifield is ex chairman of Certified builders, Bob Monteith is an ex board member of Certified builders, Faye Pearson-Green is a regional judge for Masterbuilders, and David Fabish is a life member of Masterbuilders. If you ever have to deal with either of these building organisations when dealing with problematic builders you learn very quickly how the old boys network works. Dealing with the LBP seems an extension of this very network. You are so right,,, everything must be in writing! No phone conversations and as sad as this sounds given the state of the industry, that should be the only form of communication once the contract is signed from that day forward to everyone involved in your build whether its the builder/engineer/council, these building orgs etc everything in writing and keep all of it in a properly organised filing system per organisation so you have ease of access when needed.

I found their investigator a little biased, eg they must have put the weatherboards on incorrectly because of issues matching imperial/metric – this was COMPLETELY untrue, but was an excuse repeatedly stated by all who inspected. I would strongly recommend getting your own full technical report, don’t rely just on the Board one. The hearing is a joke, there is no ‘prosecutor’ like any other professional board – YOU the complainant are expected to provide the opening and closing statements. You are told it is optional for you to attend. The board places much more weight on anything the builder and their own technical advisor says. They claim to not address contractual issues, but when builder suddenly claims they were not allowed to correct the defects (yes all the negligent work they refused to accept responsibility for), the board is suddenly all sympathy. No way is the process consistent with ‘natural justice’ or due process. Remember these guys gave them their license in the first place!

I am, but no luck nor has anyone got back to me

You are absolutely right about the board, Kelly. The Board is a self-licking ice cream! Something I asked them at the hearing was to consider, after seeing the defects, if they would employ this builder on their house or their mother’s house. Because by presenting them as ‘licensed’ they are personly endorsing them as being competent – when in our case they clearly were not!

I would strongly suggest anyone going through a LBP complaint that is having issues with the process contact Andrew Bayley of the National Party: Andrew.bayley@parliament.govt.nz He has been championing for years to make the LBP board independent and he is currently helping with mine (as much as he is able) as I was bullied into withdrawing my complaint and shortening it, which I would have done had the incompetent builder not made so many mistakes. We got our lawyer involved who told me in no way was I to drop any of the issues we had, big or small he insisted we list EVERYTHING otherwise when we made a claim for compensation the builder couldn’t argue that there was nothing wrong with said issue, and our claim would be stronger. He seems like a guy who gets stuff done, I emailed him and within a few hours he called me back personally and he didn’t seem the least bit surprised with what I had to say. He’s definitely on my Santa list this year I can tell you, and it gives you hope when you know that there is SOMEONE LISTENING TO YOU! Because for a short time there I was ready to let it all go, I’d had enough of being ignored but now I’m ready for it. BRING IT ON!!!

Thanks for the tip!