He who signs the paper carries full responsibility.  There is NO insurance you can get to cover this.  The certifier MUST BE SATISFIED that the work is done in accordance with the Act and regulations - end of story, no excuses.  No gasfitter should just "sign" a certificate for anyone else.  It's just not worth it.  If there is any prosecution it will be against the INDIVIDUAL GASFITTER who signed the gas cert (and perhaps the licensed person who was supervised if applicable) - the company the gasfitter works is almost, but not quite, irrelevant.  It is the CERTIFIER not the COMPANY who signs the certificate.  Be very, very careful of what you sign if you are signing off someone else's work that works for you or with you, and my advice is NEVER to "sell your ticket" by agreeing to sign off someone elses work that you can't personally inspect.  The ramifications are immense.

I believe if someone alters a cert without your permission - then that would be called FRAUD.  Outside of the PGDB environment have you thought about reporting the fraudulent actions to the Police?

I would agree with you - perhaps the Police would be more transparent in their dealings than the PGDB.  And it would be/should be free to do so and not cost you an arm and a leg.

I wish I can answer that question, and if I could I would then be able to move on and bring about world peace.  Not meaning to be flippant, but I ask myself the same question.  They should be - but until recently they have remained unchallenged by everyone and have dominated this industry without so much as a hand slap.  That is changing, but not fast enough to help you I'm afraid.  They are calling for people to sit on the PGDB, and I think you should have a go.  What have you got to lose, and if successful then you would certainly bring a new perspective to it all.

Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Board
The Minister for Building and Construction is seeking expressions of interest for member of the Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Board.

The Board’s statutory functions include protecting the health and safety of the public by ensuring the competency of persons in plumbing, gasfitting, and drainlaying trades; and regulating these trades. The workload is expected to be around 20 days per year.

There are vacancies for registered and lay members. In particular, the Minister is seeking people experienced in administrative law, policy and the machinery of government as well as experience in relevant tertiary or vocational education who can bring strong governance experience.

Board members must be able to demonstrate:

high level strategic thinking capabilities
governance experience in a Board environment
a commitment to promoting public interest and safety and
an understanding of the machinery of Government and the statutory environment in which the Board functions.
A role description and application form are available below. For further information please email governance@dbh.govt.nz.

You can send your application to:

Statutory Board Applications
Department of Building and Housing
P O Box 10 729
Wellington 6143

Applications close 5pm, Friday 1 April 2011.

Further information
Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Board role description 
Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Board application form [Word 92 KB, 4 pages]