December 6, 2025 • 9 mins
Master Builders are calling for a National Building Register to better protect homeowners.
This is in response to the Government preparing to shift to a proportionate liability system for the construction sector.
These changes are expected to come into effect in 2026.
Master Builders CEO Ankit Sharma told Francesca Rudkin why they're pushing for this register.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News talks'b Master.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Builders are calling for a national building Register to better
protect homeowners. This is in response to the government preparing
to shift to a proportionate liability system for the construction sector.
So these changes are expected to come into effect in
twenty twenty six. To talk me through the shift and
why we should implement a national builder building Register, Master
(00:34):
Builders CEO and Kitshama joins me. Now, thanks so much
for your time.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Hey, firstly, can you just explain to me what does
the shift to a proportionate liability system mean for homeowners
or people looking to build or renovate.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Of course, so I think the way it works currently
is if we're building a home and you're hoping that
everything will go everything goes to plan, but if something
goes wrong, then in the current system, homeowners can go
after the people who've been involved in building the house
to get that issue fixed, and in most cases the
(01:12):
builders and other people involved will go and fix it.
But for some reason, if it becomes a bigger issue,
it's a niaky home or it's quite a significant issue.
Then the current joint in several system means that if
the parties can't fix the issue, so the builder goes under,
or the people who want you know, architect or designer
can't fix the issue, then you can go after the homeowners,
(01:34):
can go after any other party who has the means
to fix the issue, which is the council. So you
can go after the council, and council will then have
to come in and fix the issue, even though their
contribution to creating the issue could be you know, not
the entire cost of fixing it. And government is moving
to a proportionate system. What that means is if you
build a house, something goes wrong, then the parties who
(01:58):
are involved in building your house, the cost for them
to fix the issue is the rest they bring to
the table. So what that will mean is moving forward,
you can't go to the council get them to fix
everything if the builder, architectural designer have gone under. So
in the new system it's a much more fair system.
You don't want counsel to you know, be a responsibility
(02:18):
or work done by others and pay costs for things
which council is not responsible for. But it also means
that from homeowners, you need to make better decisions on
the people you choose, you know, to build your home.
Now to protect consumers, the government is saying as they
move this change, they will introduce mandatory warranties and insurances.
So there's a layer of protection available for homeowners moving
(02:40):
forward which is not available today. So it's adding things
around consumer protection. But what this means is as a homeowner,
when you're picking a builder, when you're picking a twity
to come and do some work in your home, you
not have to be more careful to make sure you
understand their history, understand their performance, and you make a
good decision.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
And who provides that warranty?
Speaker 3 (03:04):
So today some optional warranty available for homeoness So if
you use a master builder, master builders offer a master
build warranty which hormonists can choose to take, but it's
not mandatory. And what government is saying is moving forward,
if you will take a build up over one hundred K,
warranty will be mandata. So it provides a layer of
(03:25):
protection to everyone.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
And that warranty that's not necessarily provided by your builder
or your plumber. It's a third party that can provide
you with that warranty.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Yeah, it has to be a third party providing the warranty.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Okay, So look, talk to me about because as you said,
this all sounds like a pretty fair system and a
good way to move forward. But there is a little
bit of an issue with phoenix companies.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Absolutely. So Phoenix company is basically a business with sets
a reset button when something goes wrong without fixing the problem.
So they shut their company down, they leave a huge
mess behind and they start again with a different name.
So it's the same business, same behavior, but they just
changed the name and keep operating, and then they leave
consumers and other small businesses with huge amount of mess
(04:12):
to fix. So Phoenix company is requite a significant issue
for New Zealand for building in construction. So what we
need to do is as we move to our much
more fair system, we need to also bring more accountability
so we reduce this instances where people, you know, as
soon as something hard happens, businesses shut their business down,
leave a big mess behind, and then in two weeks
(04:33):
later they can keep trading with a different business name.
And by doing that, what it does is it creates
a system where it reduces you know, I call it
quality in the system. It reduces trust, it leaves homeowners
with huge amount of mess. So what we are saying is,
as we move to this transparent, more transparent and fair system,
(04:55):
we also need to add more accountability and address this
phoenix company issue.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Because of course there is no prohibition on director's starting
out again, is I mean the law says that they
simply have to ensure that supplies are not mislead or
confused which entity they're dealing with, and that they're aware
of any insolvency and also any related sale of assets
to a new company. So as long as so, is
they the kind of things that this registry would help with.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Yeah, So what we are saying is, as a consumer,
when you're making a decision to pick a builder, and
you can get access to all their history, you know,
if they had any insolvency, directors, been involved in any
insolvency in past, you can see all of that in
a quite an easy way. If there any court records,
any penalty, you can see all that in one place
before you make a decision. A lot of homeowners will
(05:46):
automatically pick a builder who has a good history, a
good track record, and don't have history of insolvency, so
it actually lifts performance. It also provides I call it
power back to consumers. So when we're making some of
these decisions, we have right information in a hand when
we make that decision. Now there's some of this information
already exists, so you can actually go to company's office
and if you're picking a builder, and you can put
(06:07):
their name in the company's office. But it's so hard
to find out whether the business or the directors of
that business have been involved in previous insolvency or issues
that unless you are a corporate forensic expert, you can't
figure it out. So for normal homeowners is I would
say they are two issues. In a lot of cases,
(06:28):
we just don't even look for this. So I think
New Zealand is a very trusting society. So if one
of our friends or family says, look, I use a builder,
he was very good. We'll actually pick that builder. We
actually don't look at this stuff. So I think one
is we need to create some education that we need
to look at some of these things. Building a home
is probably one of the biggest investments we will undertake.
(06:48):
It's actually more important that we need to look at
some of this stuff. And second is we need to
provide this information in quite an easy way, so when
you're making these choices, those information are available so we
can make good decisions.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Would this be easy to implement?
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I think so. So our view is right now, so
you know, for people to make good decisions, you can
provide businesses performance and history. So that information today exists
in companies offers and insolvency service, in court records. So
if you know, if government, you know, MB could create
a single clean public record which shows building companies and
the history of their directors. So every time a new
(07:25):
company starts, fails, ends up in court, you update that record.
You know, automatically, you could have a consumer facing website
like you know, check your builder, check my builder. Before
you pick a builder, you put the name of the builder,
it'll show you company history, director history and something like that.
In our view, is a very simple tool which starts
providing much more accountability, and it's start incentivizing good behavior
(07:50):
and I think will protect consumers.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
It's interesting you mentioned the good behavior because I get
the feeling that it's probably a small amount of cowboys
out there who are running the reputation of other good
hard workers.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Absolutely, So I think phoenix companies is not common, but
the impact is significant. So there have been two cases
hence I have been talking about this. There was a
case in christ Hit there's a builder, you know, very
successful build over you know, period of time one some
awards went under, left a trail of destruction behind and
it's a complete mass. And some of those homeowners had
(08:22):
a masterable guarantee, so we were able to step in
and help out. Many didn't, and the directors started training,
they had another business, started trading with another business within
within three weeks, as if there was literally no consequence
of leaving that mess behind. And that's where I think
for me, we need to create a system where there's
a lot of accountability, so you can't just walk away
(08:44):
something things go wrong, and we want people to take
accountability and we want people to take responsibility to fix it.
We don't want a system where it's easy to walk
away if something goes wrong, with unfinished work on pet
bills and poor craftsmanship. And when you do that, you
start rewarding bad behavior. And even though it's in small pockets,
the consequence of getting this wrong is quite significan and
(09:07):
if you provide this level of transparency and powers to consumers.
I think it will drive good behavior and people will
start doing the right thing.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Thank you, Chalmer, Thank you so much for your time
this morning. Really appreciate it. That was Master Builders CEO.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it B from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News talks'b Master.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Builders are calling for a national building Register to better
protect homeowners. This is in response to the government preparing
to shift to a proportionate liability system for the construction sector.
So these changes are expected to come into effect in
twenty twenty six. To talk me through the shift and
why we should implement a national builder building Register, Master
(00:34):
Builders CEO and Kitshama joins me. Now, thanks so much
for your time.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Hey, firstly, can you just explain to me what does
the shift to a proportionate liability system mean for homeowners
or people looking to build or renovate.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Of course, so I think the way it works currently
is if we're building a home and you're hoping that
everything will go everything goes to plan, but if something
goes wrong, then in the current system, homeowners can go
after the people who've been involved in building the house
to get that issue fixed, and in most cases the
(01:12):
builders and other people involved will go and fix it.
But for some reason, if it becomes a bigger issue,
it's a niaky home or it's quite a significant issue.
Then the current joint in several system means that if
the parties can't fix the issue, so the builder goes under,
or the people who want you know, architect or designer
can't fix the issue, then you can go after the homeowners,
(01:34):
can go after any other party who has the means
to fix the issue, which is the council. So you
can go after the council, and council will then have
to come in and fix the issue, even though their
contribution to creating the issue could be you know, not
the entire cost of fixing it. And government is moving
to a proportionate system. What that means is if you
build a house, something goes wrong, then the parties who
(01:58):
are involved in building your house, the cost for them
to fix the issue is the rest they bring to
the table. So what that will mean is moving forward,
you can't go to the council get them to fix
everything if the builder, architectural designer have gone under. So
in the new system it's a much more fair system.
You don't want counsel to you know, be a responsibility
(02:18):
or work done by others and pay costs for things
which council is not responsible for. But it also means
that from homeowners, you need to make better decisions on
the people you choose, you know, to build your home.
Now to protect consumers, the government is saying as they
move this change, they will introduce mandatory warranties and insurances.
So there's a layer of protection available for homeowners moving
(02:40):
forward which is not available today. So it's adding things
around consumer protection. But what this means is as a homeowner,
when you're picking a builder, when you're picking a twity
to come and do some work in your home, you
not have to be more careful to make sure you
understand their history, understand their performance, and you make a
good decision.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
And who provides that warranty?
Speaker 3 (03:04):
So today some optional warranty available for homeoness So if
you use a master builder, master builders offer a master
build warranty which hormonists can choose to take, but it's
not mandatory. And what government is saying is moving forward,
if you will take a build up over one hundred K,
warranty will be mandata. So it provides a layer of
(03:25):
protection to everyone.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
And that warranty that's not necessarily provided by your builder
or your plumber. It's a third party that can provide
you with that warranty.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Yeah, it has to be a third party providing the warranty.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Okay, So look, talk to me about because as you said,
this all sounds like a pretty fair system and a
good way to move forward. But there is a little
bit of an issue with phoenix companies.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Absolutely. So Phoenix company is basically a business with sets
a reset button when something goes wrong without fixing the problem.
So they shut their company down, they leave a huge
mess behind and they start again with a different name.
So it's the same business, same behavior, but they just
changed the name and keep operating, and then they leave
consumers and other small businesses with huge amount of mess
(04:12):
to fix. So Phoenix company is requite a significant issue
for New Zealand for building in construction. So what we
need to do is as we move to our much
more fair system, we need to also bring more accountability
so we reduce this instances where people, you know, as
soon as something hard happens, businesses shut their business down,
leave a big mess behind, and then in two weeks
(04:33):
later they can keep trading with a different business name.
And by doing that, what it does is it creates
a system where it reduces you know, I call it
quality in the system. It reduces trust, it leaves homeowners
with huge amount of mess. So what we are saying is,
as we move to this transparent, more transparent and fair system,
(04:55):
we also need to add more accountability and address this
phoenix company issue.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Because of course there is no prohibition on director's starting
out again, is I mean the law says that they
simply have to ensure that supplies are not mislead or
confused which entity they're dealing with, and that they're aware
of any insolvency and also any related sale of assets
to a new company. So as long as so, is
they the kind of things that this registry would help with.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Yeah, So what we are saying is, as a consumer,
when you're making a decision to pick a builder, and
you can get access to all their history, you know,
if they had any insolvency, directors, been involved in any
insolvency in past, you can see all of that in
a quite an easy way. If there any court records,
any penalty, you can see all that in one place
before you make a decision. A lot of homeowners will
(05:46):
automatically pick a builder who has a good history, a
good track record, and don't have history of insolvency, so
it actually lifts performance. It also provides I call it
power back to consumers. So when we're making some of
these decisions, we have right information in a hand when
we make that decision. Now there's some of this information
already exists, so you can actually go to company's office
and if you're picking a builder, and you can put
(06:07):
their name in the company's office. But it's so hard
to find out whether the business or the directors of
that business have been involved in previous insolvency or issues
that unless you are a corporate forensic expert, you can't
figure it out. So for normal homeowners is I would
say they are two issues. In a lot of cases,
(06:28):
we just don't even look for this. So I think
New Zealand is a very trusting society. So if one
of our friends or family says, look, I use a builder,
he was very good. We'll actually pick that builder. We
actually don't look at this stuff. So I think one
is we need to create some education that we need
to look at some of these things. Building a home
is probably one of the biggest investments we will undertake.
(06:48):
It's actually more important that we need to look at
some of this stuff. And second is we need to
provide this information in quite an easy way, so when
you're making these choices, those information are available so we
can make good decisions.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Would this be easy to implement?
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I think so. So our view is right now, so
you know, for people to make good decisions, you can
provide businesses performance and history. So that information today exists
in companies offers and insolvency service, in court records. So
if you know, if government, you know, MB could create
a single clean public record which shows building companies and
the history of their directors. So every time a new
(07:25):
company starts, fails, ends up in court, you update that record.
You know, automatically, you could have a consumer facing website
like you know, check your builder, check my builder. Before
you pick a builder, you put the name of the builder,
it'll show you company history, director history and something like that.
In our view, is a very simple tool which starts
providing much more accountability, and it's start incentivizing good behavior
(07:50):
and I think will protect consumers.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
It's interesting you mentioned the good behavior because I get
the feeling that it's probably a small amount of cowboys
out there who are running the reputation of other good
hard workers.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Absolutely, So I think phoenix companies is not common, but
the impact is significant. So there have been two cases
hence I have been talking about this. There was a
case in christ Hit there's a builder, you know, very
successful build over you know, period of time one some
awards went under, left a trail of destruction behind and
it's a complete mass. And some of those homeowners had
(08:22):
a masterable guarantee, so we were able to step in
and help out. Many didn't, and the directors started training,
they had another business, started trading with another business within
within three weeks, as if there was literally no consequence
of leaving that mess behind. And that's where I think
for me, we need to create a system where there's
a lot of accountability, so you can't just walk away
(08:44):
something things go wrong, and we want people to take
accountability and we want people to take responsibility to fix it.
We don't want a system where it's easy to walk
away if something goes wrong, with unfinished work on pet
bills and poor craftsmanship. And when you do that, you
start rewarding bad behavior. And even though it's in small pockets,
the consequence of getting this wrong is quite significan and
(09:07):
if you provide this level of transparency and powers to consumers.
I think it will drive good behavior and people will
start doing the right thing.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Thank you, Chalmer, Thank you so much for your time
this morning. Really appreciate it. That was Master Builders CEO.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it B from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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