The Building Amendment Bill will make home warranties compulsory for most residential building work over $100,000. It’s still at select committee, so nothing changes yet. But if you build or renovate homes, it’s worth getting your head around it now.

What’s Proposed

The Bill was introduced at the end of June 2026 and passed its first reading on 2 July. It’s now with the Transport and Infrastructure Committee. For warranties, the key points are:

• Which work: residential building work worth $100,000 or more (including GST) that includes restricted building work and needs a building consent. That covers new detached homes, buildings up to 10 metres high with two or more units and renovations over $100,000. Taller apartment blocks and mixed-use developments are generally out.
• Minimum cover: one year for defective building work and 10 years for structural defects. The Bill has yet to define when these periods start and what’s considered to be “defective” vs “structural”
• Checked at consent: Councils would check a valid warranty is in place when the consent is lodged. No warranty, no start on site.
• Registered providers: warranty providers would need to register with MBIE, with penalties for non-compliance.
• A safety valve: the Government can temporarily switch the requirement off if warranties become unavailable or unaffordable, for example if an insurer pulls out of the market.

The same Bill brings in proportionate liability and compulsory professional indemnity insurance for designers, engineers and other professionals.

The Bill does not include a mandatory requirement to cover the pre-completion stage. For example, compensating homeowners for a loss of deposit or the extra costs to complete a build if the builder goes bust.

When Will It Actually Affect You?

Not soon, in our view. A few things stand in the way:

• The election. The general election is next month. Parliament has dissolved and the Bill needs to be reinstated in the new Parliament to pick up where it left off. National and Labour both supported it at first reading, so it’s unlikely to disappear. Expect some delay though.
• Select committee. Submissions were due to close on 15 November 2026, although we understand this is being pushed into the new Parliament. The committee then has to report back before the remaining readings.
• Regulations. Most of the warranty detail has yet to be drafted: the definition of a structural defect, the minimum policy terms and the rules for registering providers.
• Commencement. Proportionate liability starts one year after the Bill passes. The Bill allows different provisions to start at different times. Warranties can’t realistically start until the regulations are in place and enough registered providers are on board.

Our guess is that the Bill passes sometime in 2027 and mandatory warranties apply from 2028 at the earliest.

Who Offers Warranties Now?

Only about 46% of new builds currently carry a warranty or guarantee. The market is small and thin. The current options are:

• Master Build 10-Year Guarantee: for members only. Covers deposit loss, non-completion, two years for materials and workmanship, and 10 years for structural defects, up to $1 million or the contract value. It’s self-funded by the association rather than insurance-backed. Builders can choose the full guarantee or just take the defects part.
• Halo 10-Year Guarantee (NZ Certified Builders): for NZCB members’ residential projects. Also run as an association scheme rather than a standard insurance product. Also has an option to cover non-completion and loss of deposit, in addition to defects.
• Stamford Insurance: a specialist building warranty insurer backed by a Lloyd’s syndicate. It underwrites builders selectively.
• Builder-backed warranties: some larger group home builders offer their own warranty, most of them privately funded through associated entities.
• Builtin: we offer the loss of deposit and non-completion risk now and will shortly be introducing our own 10 year defects cover.

If you’re a builder doing new builds or residential alterations over $100k and can’t provide a warranty from one of the above providers (or any others that enter the market before the deadline) you won’t be able to do this work anymore once the law comes into effect (in 2028).

Builtin’s Guarantee

Builtin will soon be offering its own 10-year residential guarantee. It’s designed for builders who aren’t tied to an association scheme. It will meet MBIE’s requirements once they’re confirmed. We’ll share more detail closer to launch.

Our guarantee will be provided to accredited, independent builders and Building Hub members who meet our qualifying criteria. Our aim is to support small building firms to be able to continue to operate independently by providing the products, services and support they need to stay independent and manage their compliance and regulatory obligations.

In a Nutshell

Mandatory warranties are coming for residential work over $100,000, but probably not until 2028 at the earliest. Use the lead time to get your financials, contracts and quality assurance processes in order, because providers will want to see them. If you’d like to get in early and offer our guarantee, call us on 0800 284 584 or email [email protected].