Darryl August was recently interviewed by Mike Hosking on Mike Hosking Breakfast, NewstalkZB.

“A call for regulation of pre-purchase building reports to address major discrepancies affecting buyer decisions. The industry’s finding the quality of reports vary due to a lack of regulation. Darryl sighted comparisons with a regulated industry in the UK where home owners cannot obtain a mortgage without a pre-purchase survey by a Chartered Building Surveyor.
One real estate agent has told OneRoof he’s seen 11 inspection reports for a single property — each with a different opinion.
New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors’ President Darryl August told Mike Hosking the New Zealand standard for pre-purchase inspections should be looked at too.
“That’s almost 20 years old, and in my opinion, probably needs an update. It excludes things like rental property tenancy inspections.”

Link to the story: Darryl August: Institute of Building Surveyors’ President says stricter regulation of building reports is needed – The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Inspections in crisis: Buyers spending up to $10,000 on ‘worthless’ building reports Agents and experts call for more regulation.

Darryl was also interviewed for a OneRoof story by Catherine Masters, 11 August 2024 published in the New Zealand Herald

Darryl August, president of the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors, agreed the industry should be regulated. “It does need to improve – it definitely needs to improve.”

He said buyers needed to realise the difference between a builder doing a report and a registered building surveyor doing it, because not all builders were qualified to speak to the types of issues found in buildings.
Qualified building surveyors looked at buildings “from a building pathology point of view” and were qualified to dissect where issues originated from, give advice to clients and could comment in court cases.

August said buyers should always check and ask for proof the person they hired had indemnity insurance, and they should budget to pay for a skilled person to perform the inspection. While indemnity insurance was a “huge” cost for the inspector, for buyers making sure the inspector had the insurance should bring some peace of mind. August said he paid $950 for a pre-purchase report by one of his members when he bought a house 10 years ago. “I did my due diligence because I knew if I paid $950 I had his insurance cover, so if I purchased the property and something went majorly wrong and he didn’t pick it up I knew I could call on his insurance and that would make my life easier.”
A home is a big investment and the harm of getting a defective report was not worth it, he said.
people – it destroys people.”

Link to the story: Inspections in crisis: Buyers spending up to $10,000 on ‘worthless’ building reports