Does anyone else has had the same happen to them

Hi Jeannie, We have had issues with a builder who did have a current and valid Master Build membership at the time and we found Masterbuild absolutely useless in helping us to arrange remedial work for huge defects with our build that were not only built to the plans but we’re structurally dangerous too. The council failed his work on almost every inspection and it failed epically on the COC yet Masterbuild not only ignored our build and our very obvious concerns and actually backed the builder 100% when it came to litigation! Citing faulty products, transit damage and even that we had intentionally damaged our own build to discredit the builder! I hate to say it but these days if a builder is aligned with Masterbuild, most people would walk the other way. Masterbuild is a subscription service paid for by the builder. Masterbuild therefore works for the builder and not you. If you go through this blog you will find hundreds of posts with stories very similar to mine and my advice to you is save yourself the stress, don’t try and use Masterbuild for any help or advice at all and go straight to a building and construction lawyer while your defects are still new and obvious. It’ll be harder for the builder to argue anything the quicker all your issues are documented, and a good building and construction lawyer will have their own team of experts to assess what remedial work needs doing. Sorry to be so brutal but the sooner Masterbuild goes the way of the Dodo, the sooner innocents folks such as yourselves will stop being fed the lies that Masterbuild is there for your security and peace of mind. It may have been an upstanding institution once, but not anymore and I really can’t see it trading on it’s good name for too much longer either. The best builders we’ve used since most definitely do not subscribe to MB and that says a lot.

Hi Jeannie, As usual MJ makes a lot of sense, and his suggestions are probably the way to go. I’m not a lawyer, but I would have thought that whether your builder is currently a MB member is not relevant. What should matter is whether he was at the time the MB Guarantee was taken out, and whether the Guarantee was properly arranged and paid for. That’s why I’ve suggested in the past that all clients should check with MB at the start whether they actually have a guarantee in place. Having said that, of course I don’t know whether in that case MB would owe you any money if the builder defaults in some way, or more important whether they would pay it out. I would be interested to hear whether anyone reading this has ever received any money from MB, or even has a good word to say about them.

And I forgot to add that a building and construction lawyer can use all the expert reports and put together a sound case for the LBPB as well which you will need if you do intend to take his licence to task. Sadly the LBPB do have a reputation for being a little on the limp side with regards to reprimanding shoddy cowboy builders but it can be done (we have done it very successfully) and sometimes with the double threat of legal representation and a complaint to the LBPB it may be just enough for your builder to see sense. I hope you don’t need to use any of these avenues and he shows up first thing tomorrow morning with an apology and a full team at the ready to fix his mistakes. Good luck and let us know How you get on.

Hi Jeannie, You’re not in Nelson area are you. Our experience briefly: we hired builder (Atlas Building Services) and paid deposit on job early June on the basis of their being a Master Builder . They were kicked out of Master Builders June 21st. We told Builder services no longer required subsequently . Now we can’t get our money back off Builder due to his level of debt. Complained to Master Builders on the basis that Atlas were members of Master Builders at time of hiring and payment of deposit. They are no help.

Chris! We could solve the problems of the entire world I’m sure! Yes, I would Love to hear one good deed about Masterbuild from anyone on this blog! Anyone?……. Is it me Chris or is all I hear an echo?…… 🙂

Hi David, we are in the North Island. When we were not getting anywhere with Master Builders I sent an email to MB CEO David Kelly explaining we were not getting anywhere he referred our email to Ms Kirsty Forman who we dealt with for many months. Still not getting very far. Our complaint was then sent to Fairways for mediation. The builder pulled out of all negotiations. As a last resort and great expense we engaged a lawyer which helped us through this stressful time. To date the builder has not completed the defects required by MB legal team. We have now been told by MB the builders membership has ceased. Where to from here for us is anyone’s guess?

Hi David (and Jeannie again), my sympathy to both of you, and David you must take the record between paying a deposit and then being shafted by a builder. In fact so quickly that it could be worth investigating whether there might actually be some kind of fraud involved (eg taking further payments from clients, when you are well aware that you cannot carry out the work, or pay the money back). Previously I’ve mentioned about checking with MB whether someone has actually applied and paid for your guarantee, and it’s in place (it doesn’t come automatically, just because the builder is a MB member). One other reason for it not being in place (which happened to me) is that the builder has not paid his annual membership fee, which I suspect is the reason he was kicked out in this case. Although in fact after I chased him he did pay, and then I got my guarantee paperwork. Just a few thoughts that might help other people, even if they don’t help you: This case suggests to me that clients who plan to use a MB should ask MB to confirm his membership status before handing over any money. As I’ve said before, if the builder was a MB member, and a guarantee was in place, then I cannot see what excuse MB would have for not honouring it. For them to say they’re not involved because the builder’s membership has lapsed is just plain ridiculous. The whole point of the guarantee is to cover you against that type of situation. If you look on-line it says the MB Guarantee is for the following amounts: Loss of Deposit: Up to $50,000 or 10% of your contract price (whichever is less). Non-Completion: Up to $500,000 or 20% of your contract price (whichever is less). So if MB cannot get the builder to complete the work, or refund your money, then I can see no reason why they would not be liable for the amount you are out of pocket, up to those amounts. But of course we then come back to the question of whether MB ever pay out anything, under any circumstances. So far no response from anyone on that.

Thanks MJ and Chris C for your comments . We have already spent thousands of dollars to the Lawyer. Just hoping there is someone who has had similar experiences as us. When I asked MB if it was them or the builder who “ceased” the membership they said they could not comment! I presume it would be MB as the builder has other complaints made against him. We made the claim with MB nearly four years ago so it is not a recent disput .We need to put this place on the market asap but can’t until the defects are finished.

Hi Good comments Chris One other thing I can add to your comments is that as a member of the Master Builders, you are not permitted to start onsite without the paperwork in place with the Masterbuilders so agree with your comments. If the builder has lost his membership after the agreement was lodged and the fees have been paid and accepted by the Masterbuilders (which also has to be done at time of lodging), I would of thought they have an obligation