Unlicensed Builder Convicted For Forgery, Gets 6-month Community Detention

• Jimmy Carson sentenced to six-month community detention.
• Carson convicted of forging signatures of Licensed Building Practitioners.
• Convicted of charges under the Crimes Act 1961 and Building Act 2004.

Jimmy Carson, sole director of Carson Design and Co Ltd has been convicted for forging signatures of Licensed Building Practitioners on Certificate of Design Work for three buildings between September 2021 and July 2022.

Tauranga District Court Judge Greg Hollister-Jones, who considered the offending to be ‘moderate to serious,’ sentenced Mr Carson to six-month community detention and ordered him to pay $2,000 in fines for providing false and misleading information.

Mr Carson was fully aware of the consequences of his actions and the impact it could have had on lives of his clients and on those whose signatures he knowingly forged, says Duncan Connor, Registrar of Licensed Practitioners. “Carrying out restricted building work without holding an appropriate license or being supervised by a Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP), is a serious offence,” Mr Connor noted.

“The LBP scheme ensures consumers can be confident that they are hiring properly trained professionals to carry out or supervise restricted building work (RWB) and I urge anyone engaging a builder to first look them up on the LBP Public Register.”

“By being licensed, LBPs are able to promote their professional skills and behaviour in the building industry and show the public and potential clients that they meet a minimum standard of competency in their licensed area.”

“MBIE will not hesitate to prosecute individuals that breach the Act, and practitioners seeking to carry out restricted building work should do their due diligence and make sure they are properly licensed before commencing the work.”

Holding a licence allows LBPs to carry out or supervise Restricted Building Work (RWB), which includes important and critical residential building work. LBPs must keep their licence up to date while carrying out RBW. Carrying out this type of work without a licence can incur a fine of up to $20,000. Details of RBW are available on the LBP website.

“There was a high degree of premeditation in the offending by Mr Carson and he caused a significant breach of trust,” Mr Connor added.

The offending was discovered in September 2022 when the Tauranga City Council telephoned the Licensed Building Practitioner, whose name and signature Mr Carson had forged to file a Certificate of Design Work.

Details of the case:

• Between September 2021 and July 2022, Mr Carson filed Certificate of Design Work for three properties in Mt. Maunganui, East Taieri and Tauranga forging names and signature of two Licensed Building Practitioners using their licence numbers, address, and phone numbers.
• Mr Carson had obtained the details about the Licensed Building Practitioners while corresponding with them regarding the designs of these properties.
• Judge Hollister-Jones found Mr Carson guilty on two charges of forgery under Section 256 of the Crimes Act 1961 and sentenced him to six-month community detention that started from 30 May 2024.
• Judge Hollister-Jones found Mr Carson guilty on two charges of providing false and misleading information under Section 369 (1) of the Building Act 2004 and ordered him to pay a fine of $1000 for each of the charges (therefore a total of $2,000).

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