Latest news with #buildinginspections
RNZ News
17-07-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
'Mark your own homework': Healthy Homes checks under fire for DIY loophole
Photo: 123rf Like drivers issuing their own warrants of fitness - that's how building experts and renter advocates describe the new Healthy Homes Standards. Since 1 July, all rental properties across the motu have been required to comply with the new standards, which set minimum requirements for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture ingress and drainage. But who gets to say whether a property is up to scratch? Well, with no certification required in order to complete an assessment, the role could technically be filled by anyone. This has prompted calls for an independent certification system. Ideally, under the new standards, damp and draughty rentals should now be a thing of the past. But the New Zealand Institute of Building Inspectors isn't convinced. Chief executive Graeme Blissett, said the standards contain several loopholes. Not least, that anyone can label themselves a healthy homes assessor. "It's a huge problem, because there's no one looking at what they're actually inspecting and writing reports on is actually correct. "There are no guarantees because no one's double-checking what they're doing, and I believe that if you're charging $150, $200 to do a healthy homes inspection on a house, you're not doing it correctly." It doesn't take long to find companies offering Healthy Homes assessments - Checkpoint found a business online, offering to carry out a certification for around $200. But Blissett fears that without certification, many of these businesses will prioritise "quantity over quality". He said he's seen several certificates that ticked off each of the standards, despite the properties falling short. "The tenants [are] usually up to speed with these sorts of regulations and rules, so if the landlords do it on their own property and they get it incorrect, and the tenant finds out about it or talks to someone, and they've got a little bit of knowledge on it. There is a chance for them to be taken [to] the Tenancy Tribunal. "I believe there's fines of like $5000 or something like that for non-compliance." Renters United President, Zac Thomas, said the Healthy Homes Standards are a positive step towards a warmer and drier housing stock. But he's also concerned about the assessment process. "There is a mark your own homework situation where landlords don't even need to use an independent assessor in the first place. They can say that they are healthy homes compliant, that's the first thing. "But then the second thing is they can get this assessment from an agency that in many cases won't actually be complying or assessing to the standards as they should be." Thomas said that if the checks were completed by qualified assessors, it would give peace of mind to both landlords and tenants. "A renter might go, 'hey, please show me your healthy homes compliance.' They might be worried that the house is not compliant, and the landlord will probably show this, and then they might go, 'Oh well, I guess I have nothing to complain about'. "In reality, if there was a consistent standard, tenants would have the confidence to say, 'Okay, like this does meet standard, therefore I don't need to worry about going to the Tenancy Tribunal." University of Otago Professor, Lucy Telfer Barnard, said that as winter rolls around, if houses aren't up to standard, it's the tenants who face the consequences. "The tenants may not necessarily initially know that's why they're feeling unwell, but then if they do start to wonder, there's whole process that they can then have to go through to get those standards met. "To have that after the fact when they've moved in, in good faith, thinking that the property meets the standards, really isn't fair and puts a whole burden onto people." Landlords who fail to meet the Healthy Homes standards can face fines of up to $7200. Owners of six or more rentals that do not comply could be hit with $50,000 fines. A statement from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development said they don't assess how landlords achieve compliance, and there is no licensing requirement to undertake Healthy Homes Standards assessments. Moving to this sort of "WOF" scheme would be a big undertaking with significant costs and impacts. It said landlords need to satisfy themselves that the person they hire is suitably experienced and can undertake the required inspection or work to an acceptable standard. If a tenant thinks the property they are renting is not up to standard, they can make a complaint on the Tenancy Services website or apply for a work order from the Tenancy Tribunal. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Florida man faces $3.6M in fines for allegedly posing as his dead father to perform 724 building inspections
Building inspections must be conducted by licensed professionals. Unfortunately, in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, hundreds of inspections may have been performed by someone without proper credentials. Enrique Fernandez Jr., a South Florida man, has been accused of using his late father's credentials to submit as many as 724 inspection reports, project affidavits and other building reports. I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 6 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan 'works every single time' to kill debt, get rich in America — and that 'anyone' can do it Fernandez denies the allegations that were investigated by WPLG Local10, an area TV station. He's now facing $3.6 million in civil fines, but no criminal charges have yet been laid. Local10 News first conducted the investigation into Fernandez Jr. in 2024, after it was discovered that several large building projects had undergone plumbing, electrical and mechanical inspections signed with the name 'Enrique Fernandez' and listing license number 21218. The actual holder of that license was Fernandez Jr.'s deceased father, who passed away in 2018. News10 provided evidence that Fernandez Jr. renewed his dead dad's license and changed all of the details in the system so the credentials were delivered to him. He then found work with private engineering firms conducting building inspections for the government, signing off on numerous reports, including for a nine-story building. Firms he worked for included JEM Inspections and Engineering, NV5, Winmar Construction, and E&K Engineering, although NV5 told News10 that his employment was brief. The Florida Board of Professional Engineers took notice of the fraud, and has now filed a 724-count administrative complaint, one for each fake report he allegedly filed. With the board seeking fines of $5,000 per violation, that could add up to a whopping $3.6 million penalty. Law enforcement officials are also investigating; however, the state investigator said a detective told her, 'He forged a dead man's signature and used a dead person's seal. So it makes it more complicated criminally, because there's no victim.' Read more: Americans are 'revenge saving' to survive — but millions only get a measly 1% on their savings. "He's done a job he wasn't qualified for," a board inspector told News10 during the initial investigation. Fernandez continues to say he's not to blame, stating, 'They have the wrong Enrique Fernandez.' Those who are hiring these investigators will need to do their due diligence, including researching the license of the person they hire and making sure all the details match, including full names and the date the license became active. Those who suspect something is off should report any concerns to the Board of Professional Engineers to investigate. This tiny hot Costco item has skyrocketed 74% in price in under 2 years — but now the retail giant is restricting purchases. Here's how to buy the coveted asset in bulk Here are the 6 levels of wealth for retirement-age Americans — are you near the top or bottom of the pyramid? Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead Here are 5 'must have' items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you? Money doesn't have to be complicated — sign up for the free Moneywise newsletter for actionable finance tips and news you can use. This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
South China Morning Post
09-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Building inspection tech company RaSpect evolves from Hong Kong start-up to global player
For almost 60 years, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) has helped nurture innovative companies. Scores of local start-ups have grown and expanded into other countries thanks to the guidance provided by the trade promotion body through its support programmes, global network and international fairs and conferences. Advertisement Over the past few years, Hong Kong's RaSpect Intelligence Inspection – an enterprise that puts innovation at the heart of its business – has grown at pace thanks to help from the HKTDC. The company was one of 10 winners in the 2019 edition of Start-up Express, the HKTDC's annual development programme that provides a showcase for innovative, tech-focused start-ups to gain exposure among investors, potential business partners and the media. RaSpect is an artificial intelligence (AI) technology company specialising in building safety and sustainability inspections. Its autonomous inspection process carries out all-weather structural analysis of buildings, using drones and Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to capture visual and thermal images that are then examined by AI to identify defects ranging from water damage to structural faults. RaSpect has developed an AI-powered, autonomous building inspection process that uses drones and sensors. Harris Sun, the CEO and founder of RaSpect, says the AI-powered system developed by his company is not only more efficient and effective than the traditional manual methods of 'naked-eye' inspections and reporting, it is also safer. He recalls: 'When we started the company in 2017, we faced many different challenges, especially with the lack of AI awareness.' However, RaSpect pushed ahead with research into the AI market and AI-powered tech to come up with the solutions it offers today. 'We wanted to do something for society, to help it be safer, greener and smarter,' Sun says. 'We found there are many different challenges in inspections due to quality and safety issues. We try to be an innovator, to renovate the whole process.' RaSpect's inspection system captures thermal images of buildings, which are then analysed by AI to identify structural defects. He notes that Hong Kong proved to be a 'very good' place to craft this type of revolutionary inspection platform due to its many skyscrapers, adding that RaSpect also benefited from the HKTDC's support.
