We are providing the public and media with information about how we are working with councils to help owners with impacted buildings in their communities.
On 10 May 2024, Judge Hollister-Jones sentenced Jonathan Beau Hall to 4 years 6 months jail for the impact of his offending through 112 charges of forgery involving the signatures of two Chartered Professional Engineers.
Find out more below.
Media
Engineering New Zealand press releases
- Engineering New Zealand welcomes Hall sentencing - 10 May 2024
- Engineering Technologist JB Hall guilty of forgery – 19 December 2023
- Guidance for councils reviewing consented designs – 21 July 2023
- Over 40 councils affected by consenting concerns – 7 July 2023
- Consented designs under investigation – 29 June 2023
Media coverage
- Police confirm recovery probe into engineering forger’s cash giveaways – Waikato Times (14 May 2024)
- Jail for Jonathan Beau Hall, bogus engineer who signed off almost 1000 homes throughout New Zealand – Newshub (10 May 2024)
- Taupō engineer Jon Hall jailed for ‘huge’ nationwide building forgery – NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB (10 May 2024)
- Jail for engineer forger behind ‘largest scale fraud by professional’ – Stuff (10 May 2024)
- Engineer Jonathan Beau Hall who forged colleagues' signatures on house designs sentenced – RNZ (10 May 2024)
- Alarming' - Engineer forged signatures on almost 1000 homes – 1News (10 May 2024)
- Engineer forged signatures on almost 1000 houses – Otago Daily Times (10 May 2024)
- Engineer who forged signatures on home designs to be sentenced – RNZ (10 May 2024) Engineer pleads guilty to fraud – Under Construction (27 February 2024)
- Sign-off scandal victim facing minimum of $20,000 bill – Waikato Times (23 December 2023)
- Engineer's forgery creates unsafe buildings and 'ongoing financial impact' – The Press (21 December 2023)
- How an engineer made ‘thousands of falsified building consents’ – Waikato Times (21 December 2023)
- ‘Alarming in its magnitude’: Engineer admits 112 charges – Waikato Times (19 December 2023)
- Bogus engineer who signed off houses pleads guilty to 113 forgery charges – Newshub (19 December 2023)
- Engineer Jonathan Hall pleads guilty in forgery case affecting hundreds of homes – NZ Herald (19 December 2023)
- Engineer accused of using colleagues’ IDs on property sign-offs pleads guilty to charges – Stuff (19 December 2023)
- Face-off outside taupo court as alleged bogus engineer appears on forgery charge – Newshub (8 November 2023)
- Sign-off saga affects about 60 Waipā building projects – Waikato Times (11 August 2023)
- 62 building consents caught in engineering sign-offs – Cambridge News (9 August 2023)
- Whanganui and Rangitīkei councils find forgery-accused engineering technologist involved in handful of projects – NZ Herald - Whanganui Chronicle (3 August 2023)
- Just a handful of buildings impacted by forgery-accused engineer – Newstalk ZB (3 August 2023)
- Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty councils find Taupō forgery-accused engineering technologist involved in 40 projects – NZ Herald (1 August 2023)
- Engineer’s own designs now also under scrutiny in sign-offs saga – Waikato Times (22 July 2023)
- Forgery-accused: Council's painstaking process – Sun Live (17 July 2023)
- Engineering scandal man Jon Hall nowhere to be found – The Post (15 July 2023)
- Rotorua council finds Taupō forgery-accused engineering technologist involved in 21 projects – NZ Herald (14 July 2023)
- Councils in Whanganui and Rangitīkei investigating possible building consent forgeries – NZ Herald (12 July 2023)
- Sign-off scandal a ‘bitter lesson’ for councils - advocacy group – Stuff (11 July 2023)
- Queenstown-Lakes, Central Otago properties victims of engineer fraud – Crux (11 July 2023)
- Three Southland District properties caught up in nationwide consenting concerns – Stuff (11 July 2023)
- Auckland Council urgently reviewing 42 properties worked on by man accused of forging engineers’ signatures – NZ Herald (10 July 2023)
- Taupō man accused of forging signatures to sign off on more than 1000 homes cooperating with police, Engineering NZ says – The AM Show, Newshub (10 July 2023)
- Homeowners face nervous wait after Taupō man allegedly signed off inappropriately on over 1000 homes – Newshub (8 July 2023)
- Sign-off scandal: More than 1000 homes around NZ may have false tick of approval – Waikato Times (8 July 2023)
- Man accused of forging qualified engineers’ signatures to sign off 1000 buildings, police investigation under way – RNZ and NZ Herald (8 July 2023)
- Over 1000 homes signed off by fake engineer – Newstalk ZB (7 July 2023)
- Building consent issues – RNZ (7 July 2023)
- Consentgate: 40 councils could be impacted – BusinessDesk (7 July 2023)
- Housing signoff saga affects more than 1000 properties around New Zealand – Stuff (7 July 2023)
- TDC team checking for building consent problems after allegations made – Newstalk ZB (1 July 2023)
- Taupo engineering sign-off allegations: Team trying to unravel extent of building consent problem – NZ Herald (30 June 2023)
- Investigation launched after hundreds of homes in North Island could've been signed off inappropriately – The AM Show, Newshub (29 June 2023)
- Hundreds of Waikato, BOP and central North Island homes caught in sign-off probe – Stuff (28 June 2023)
Have you got concerns?
Our list of affected councils is updated with any new information. If you have concerns about your property, get in touch with your local council, insurer and/or lawyer in the first instance.
