Builders’ licences cancelled over non-compliance, fraud and crime in 2024-25

This list does not include builders who have been suspended, but whose names cannot be published.

Wellington carpenter Colby Kelly-Nash had his licence cancelled after the board identified “a pattern of taking funds and not completing the building work“.

Kelly-Nash was contracted to carry out a bathroom renovation and accepted a deposit of $16,453 in November 2023 – 50% of the total quoted amount for the building work.

On the day the building work was supposed to commence in May 2024, Kelly-Nash emailed the client to say he could not complete the work and would repay the deposit. He did not.

The Disputes Tribunal ordered Kelly-Nash to repay the money and he was sent a copy of the complaint against him, both of which he ignored.

The written decision noted it was the fourth time the board had disciplined Kelly-Nash and the third time it had found he had acted disreputably in relation to taking funds, describing him as “a danger to the public”.

Nash’s licence was cancelled and he was ordered to pay costs of $700. He was unable to apply to be re-licensed for 18 months.

Christchurch builder John Adair, nicknamed the “ghost builder”, had his licence cancelled this year, with the decision noting his “cavalier attitude towards consenting processes”.

Adair carried out and supervised building work on new homes in Beckenham, but council inspections showed the work didn’t follow the approved building consent and had serious problems.

He delayed his board hearing twice and then did not appear at the third attempt at a hearing, stating he had forgotten.

“The levels of the respondent’s departures were significant and more than mere error or oversight. There was a pattern of non-compliant work and indifference to the building consent,” the decision said.

Adair’s licence was cancelled in April 2025, and he could not apply to be re-licensed for six months. He was ordered to pay costs of $4150.

Anil Kumar’s building licence was cancelled after he carried out and supervised building work in a “negligent and incompetent manner”, according to the board.

“The board also found there had been a pattern of non-compliance over multiple properties. ”

Kumar wrote to the Building Practitioners Board asking that his licence not be cancelled.

Kumar had previously appeared before the board on other disciplinary matters.

“With the nature and extent of the [Kumar’s] disciplinary offending in mind and taking into consideration the various purposes of disciplinary action, the board has decided that the cancellation of the respondent’s licence is the most appropriate form of penalty.”

Kumar’s licence was cancelled and he was barred from being relicensed for six months. He was ordered to pay costs of $2,950.

Utiku Turoa Tyson had his building licence cancelled after substandard work on a kitset dwelling in Whanganui that was described as “verging on incompetence”.

When the head contractor reviewed Tyson’s work in July 2023, they found it to be “substandard”, according to the decision. A complaint was made after Tyson stopped working on the project without addressing the quality and compliance issues that had been raised.

The board found the issues with the build were serious because they would have compromised the structural integrity of the dwelling and its weathertightness.

“There was a distinct lack of care and attention paid to how the building work was carried out in a pattern of non-compliance, which was disconcerting.

“The build was not complex and given the number and extent of the quality compliance issues, the board considered the conduct was at the upper level of negligence and was verging on incompetence,” the decision said.

Tyson also failed to provide a record of work and did not attend or engage in the hearing process.

Tyson’s licence was cancelled and he was barred from being re-licensed for three months. He was ordered to pay costs of $2950.

James Smith’s blocklaying work at an Auckland property was described as “manifestly non-compliant” by the Building Practitioners Board.

Work completed and/or supervised by Smith failed an inspection by the Building Consent Authority in seven aspects in December 2021.

“The board finds that there was a serious, deliberate departure. The work was manifestly non-compliant. The respondent should have known that and taken appropriate steps. He did not.”

Smith did not engage in the investigation and his licence was cancelled in a decision made in September 2024; he was ordered to pay costs of $875.

The incident wasn’t Smith’s first run-in with the board. In 2020, he was fined $2000 for negligence, building contrary to a consent and failure to provide a record of work findings.

Richard Alfred Johnson’s non-compliant work was discovered after he abandoned a building site, having completed only about 85% of the work.

Johnson was hired to do weathertightness remediation and the recladding of the walls and roof of a Wellington building.

Inspections of the work by the Building Consent Authority and other practitioners found “extensive non-compliant building work”, especially in how the wall and roof cladding had been carried out.

The board decision noted Johnson had little experience in the type of work being undertaken and he accepted he was out of his depth with the job.

His licence was cancelled and he was barred from applying to be re-licensed for three months. He was ordered to pay $2950.

Edward Rusbridge was convicted of unspecified “serious criminal offending”, putting him in breach of the Building Act 2004, and bringing into question his fitness to carry out or supervise restricted building work.

The board decision on July 29, 2024, also found he failed to provide a record of work, took funds for work without completing it, and retained consent documents without a right to do so.

The board obtained Rusbridge’s criminal and traffic history, which showed an “extensive history of criminal offending dating back to 1998″, including multiple serious offences that carried periods of imprisonment.

Rusbridge’s licence was cancelled for six months and he was ordered to pay costs of $875.

Toby William Sandbrook lost his building business after a descent into the criminal world of gangs, guns and sexual abuse images.

Sandbrook, a self-employed builder in Cambridge, had his home raided by police on April 16, 2021.

Police executed the search warrant at his home on suspicion of firearms offences, and illegally possessed firearms were found, alongside an encrypted laptop, which police would later discover held 115 objectionable images of young girls aged 2-14.

“The nature of the criminal charges and the penalties imposed meant that the respondent had breached section 317(1)(a) of the act, which relates to committing criminal charges that reflect adversely on a person’s fitness to carry out or supervise restricted building work,” the board decision said.

In a submission to the Building Practitioners Board, Sandbrook attempted to distance himself from the offending.

“I can hereby acknowledge that after hiring a visibly “rough” guy who turned out to be a gang member, I ended up in the position of drug taking and all the horrific spin-offs that unfortunately go with it ... In regard to the matter of the sexual images, these were present on the laptop belonging to a person who I would describe as a “scumbag”, who I helped by providing accommodation in the loft above my workshop.

“I am making very good progress in this regard and am hoping to continue my career as a builder later this year. My actions have had no impact whatsoever on my quality of workmanship, of which I am very proud,” Sandbrook said.

Sandbrook was not licensed at the time of the decision, but the board decided to bar him from being licensed for a period of two and a half years in its decision on June 20, 2024.

Nicholas Mavroyannis “showed a lack of skill and knowledge” when he prepared resource consent documents for two Auckland property projects.

Mavroyannis was engaged to prepare resource and building consent documentation for two multi-unit, two-storey dwellings.

Auckland Council rejected one of the applications Mavroyannis prepared in February 2022, and the other application was withdrawn from council consideration because it contained the same issues.

“The board was assisted by the report of a special adviser who concluded that the design documentation was not of an acceptable standard and had, in significant respects, failed to address matters necessary for the council to determine the application.”

Mavroyannis’ licence was cancelled for three months and he was ordered to pay costs of $1000 in the board’s decision on April 24, 2024.

Justin Rankin was a builder, but he was also responsible for the biggest haul of gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) found in New Zealand.

Wellington police began Operation Skipjack in August 2020, partway through Rankin’s series of drug imports.

Rankin was arrested in November 2020 and charged with the possession of 400 litres of GBL and the supply of a further 1800 litres of GBL during a three-year period.

The first tranche of serious drug charges didn’t dissuade him and police ultimately found Rankin had imported at least 33 drug packages into the country between April and August 2021, including a total of 198 litres of GBL with a street value of about $300,000.

It was accepted by the Crown and Rankin’s defence that much of his offending had been fuelled by his addiction.

Rankin’s building licence was cancelled by the board on April 20, 2024, and he was barred from applying to be re-licensed for two years.