A builder and designer has been stripped from the Licensed Building Practitioner register, after previously being convicted of forgery and working while unlicenced.

He also won't be able to reapply for a period of two years.

On February 21, 2022, Matthew Biddle pleaded guilty to two charges of using a forged document.

On February 25, 2022, he was convicted of two charges of holding himself out as an LBP without a licence, and one charge of carrying out restricted building work when he was not licenced to carry out that work.

The Building Practitioners Board found the criminal offending was serious, and was directly related to the work for which Biddle regained Design Class 1 licence for.

The board then decided there was an "unacceptable risk" of future offending or conduct that would be outside of the Licenced Building Practitioners Code of Ethics which reflected "adversely on his fitness" to carry out or supervise building work.

"As a result of the finding, the board decided it would cancel Biddle's licence, and order he may not reapply for a period of two years," says a Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment spokesperson.

"The decision means [Biddle] is no longer authorised to carry out restricted building work.

"A public register with names of all [licenced building pracitioners] is available, and the practitioners should be able to show their licence card when asked.

"Anyone who is engaging a builder to carry out restricted building work is encouraged to check if they hold a licence by looking them up on the LBP public register."