Isn’t it amazing how many people get sucked into get-rich-quick
scams? Often you hear on the news or read in the papers about
individuals (some with very high educations who should know better),
or even companies, that invest in some hair-brain overseas high
risk, high reward scheme. And boy, it’s hard to have any
sympathy. The problem is the money invested is often not their
own, it belongs to family, or estate, or shareholders. I remember
listening to a radio talkback programme one Saturday morning
where the radio host was interviewing some money manager from
Auckland. This guy said that in Australia the problem is so bad,
that the central government has set up a department that does
nothing else but develop scams just to catch people out. They
then try to show these people just how easily they were conned,
and hope they learn from their bad judgment (or greed), many
don’t. He said that in some cases this department catches
the same people time and time again. But the scheme that made
me laugh the most was one that aired on Fair Go. People complained
about an advert in a newspaper that read, “Send me $10
and I’ll spend it for you”, gave an address and the
cheques flowed in. Believe it or not, the person that placed
the advert received thousands and thousands from idiots sending
money. Fair Go caught up with the advert writer and then confessed
they’d done nothing illegal, and it wasn’t a scam.
So (with tongue and cheek) if you ever have the urge to give
money away, send it to us at “Save the Moss Brothers Housing
Fund”. Or better still you could invest in a fantastic
new replica home. They say there isn’t a more secure investment
than land, bricks and mortar.
Often I hear about people carrying out construction projects
at home like decks, balconies, internal partition changes, pergolas,
gazebos and even room extensions without bothering to get a building
permit. The main reasons why is that they can’t be bothered,
they think it will cost too much and don’t believe they
get value for money from the council, or they believe the plans
and specifications are an additional expense they don’t
need or don’t want to pay for. When you build without a
permit you take huge financial risks or you may not be able to
sell your house when you want to, but you won’t go to jail,
I don’t think.
Yes, as you know, there are costs involved in getting a building
permit. For a start you really do need a good set of plans and
specifications from a designer that shows how the proposed project
is to be built, and that it complies with New Zealand building
codes. But let me say this, a good set of plans will save you
money. A good set of plans has a speedy ride through council,
is easy for the carpenter or subcontractors to price therefore
more cost-effective to build, and because they are easy to price
they are easy to build from. When the plans go to council they
check to see it’s been designed properly and that it meets
with local by-law regulations and town planning. If the designer
has done the job properly, the plans should be rubber stamped.
So what is likely to happen if you don’t have a permit?
First of all, the council could make you take it down or reinstate
your property to what it was before you began your project. Or,
they may decide to accept the modifications but insist that you
submit a full set of plans, but as the building or plumbing inspectors
have not inspected stage completions, they now require a registered
engineer to inspect, approve and write a report that confirms
the work is structurally sound. If it’s not sound, the
headaches really begin.
However, even worse, let’s assume the work has been complete,
no permit was asked for or issued. And let’s assume you
built a balcony 2m off the ground, and two years after completion
someone falls off the edge of an illegal structure and is badly
injured. The injured person ends up paralysed, and OSH is involved.
Because the structure was illegally built, OSH wants someone
to be held responsible and, together with the injured person,
decides to sue.
Also, there is the question of insurance, you may not be covered.
Once again let’s assume that the illegal structure is storm-damaged
and parts fly off and damage the neighbour’s car or house.
The insurance company will pay the neighbour and then sue you.
Also you can’t get insurance on the new illegal work. Remember,
when you buy insurance you must provide true and accurate information
on the policy and, of course, if the structure is illegal or
illegally built then you are in breach of your policy conditions – no
cover. Here is another frightening scenario; imagine your new
illegal structure caught fire while having a BBQ and burnt your
house down. It goes without saying that there would be no compensation
and payout for the illegal structure, but what about the house?
The insurance company may be within its legal right to decline
your claim for all fire damage to that. Bugger.
My advice is, see a building permit as insurance. If you don’t
get one it’s like playing Russian roulette. If you want
a hand to prepare plans for a building permit, regardless of
what it’s for, you could phone Mark at our office, or come
and see him for a brief chat. Remember, by speaking with Mark
it will cost you nothing for the first 2 hours of his time – that’s
free.
The main reason that prompted me to write about permits was
because a friend of mine (Bob) just about missed out on the sale
of his house because he didn’t have a building permit for
a conservatory he had built a few years ago. The purchaser’s
lawyer did a title search and asked for a Project Information
Memorandum (PIM – this is information held at the council
and is a record of legal structures currently located on a said
property) and a Land Information Memorandum (LIM - this is information
held at the council and is a record of all known land details,
such as land fills, cultural values, protected wood lots or trees,
underground services and covenants etc). He found that the conservatory
was built without a building permit. The house sale then became
conditional upon Bob getting a building permit for the conservatory.
The council gave Bob a building permit application and said he
would have to pay a registered engineer to carry out a report
to show the conservatory was sound and that it complied with
council town planning requirements. Getting an engineer was far
more expensive than what it would have cost had he got a permit
originally. Bob was lucky, he got his report and the council
accepted and approved the permit the day before the sale of his
property lapsed.
