Southern Building & Interiors Ltd
Dunedin North

"I am so humiliated and gutted that I employed this person - Ian Lockwood. EVERYTHING he said was lies! Southern building and interors is not a business anyone should use unless they want shoddy work, excuses and months of communication for nothing! Ian costantly uses his injuries and mental health issues as as excuse for not turning up. I felt sorry for him in the beginning and was so nice to him. sending him well wishes and compassion for his huge list of excuses and problems. What Ian didn't know is what was going on in my life, the terrible time I had experienced with loved ones dying and then he comes in and sabotages the achievable dream I had made for myself by doing a small reno in my house. I was trying to have small wins to bring some joy and income in to my home. He turned this in to a nightmare! He lied about items he had purchased which he had never even ordered! Everything he did needs to be redone ( an actual real builder has said it is the worst plastering job he has ever seen) and now I have lost my confidence and faith in people. So now my dream is put on hold or maybe even abandoned, while I try to heal after this terrible experience. Ian targets solo mums and whom he deems to be vulnerable people. Central Otago is a small community and us vulnerable people (who are actually strong) have each others backs. I have made some pretty cool new friends which is the only good thing to come from the misery of dealing with Ian for most of this year! Stop wrecking peoples lives and give up being a business man!"

17th Jun, 2023  •  Rating by: Tash  •  Contact: Ian Lockwood  •  Job date: May, 2023

"it makes me feel sick this guy can still operate. paid to do a job which he half did. after repeated calls of over a year, excuses and chances to finish i was blocked. im a single mum with not a lot if money so completly screwed. watch out wanaka!"

29th May, 2023  •  Rating by: Nicola  •  Contact: Ian  •  Job date: May, 2023

"I employed Ian Lockwood/ southern building and interiors to build a small deck for me. Starting date was agreed in march. Started out ok....then the excuses came rolling in. Promising to come to finish the job and just didnt show. Gave him too many chances. It was 9 months of stress and when he finally " finished the job" I got a registered builder to assess it because I felt it was sub standard work. And I was right. 3 things not to code initially ... and even now after getting someone to fix it they have found more problems. The deck wasn't even square ... The second step hadn't even been concreted in.. the post was sitting on top of old foundations. The side structure was just floating...the list goes on( see only some of the pictures I have taken). After an email to him asking for reimbursement so I could get it fixed ... I did manage to recoup the initial amount of the quote to fix his work ..it is going to cost alot more to fix than expected as there are more and more issues due to his terrible workmanship.
I would absolutely NOT recommend him for any work. He is not fit to be trading in any capacity as a builder.
Any contact with myself/ threatening messages and if you come near my property I will call the police."

19th Dec, 2022  •  Rating by: Wanaka Home Owner  •  Contact: Ian Lockwood  •  Job date: Oct, 2022

"Ian and his team built the timber fence around our property in Mosgiel. They were very friendly and easy to have working around the house, they spent a lot of time consulting with me to get the finish I wanted, and the end result was excellent. I would have no hesitation recommending them."

12th Dec, 2022  •  Rating by: Alice  •  Contact: Ian  •  Job date: Sep, 2022

"We used Ian and his small team to redo our backyard from a concrete and raised garden mess into something usable for our two primary-school aged children who are sports-mad.

I was very impressed by the work that was done. Ian was able to work through a couple of unexpected issues that arose - an extra layer of concrete under a path being one. It took them longer than expected to get the job done due to weather and the backlog they had from other jobs, but we cannot be happier with the result we have.

Reading the reviews that were written by others on this site, I find it hard to see that this is the same person. Ian and I got on well - he explained things clearly to us and completed everything that he said he would. I definitely plan on using him again in the future."

12th Dec, 2022  •  Rating by: Daniel  •  Contact: Ian Lockwood  •  Job date: Dec, 2022

"I wish like everyone else here has seen this feedback before signing up with Ian Lockwood - trading as SOUTHERN BUILDING & INTERIORS LIMITED, Company Number 7169133. Have commissioned Ian to do deck & temporary steps, the temporary steps alone failed miserably to get our Code Compliance Cert. He took our 20% deposit, & didn't even start the job. All excuses having a surgery, or currently being in the ambulance - he emailed us that refund will be made in end of Oct now it's November & cannot get hold of him. Do not engaged with this person or his future ventures, not to be trusted. Now talking to FAIR GO about having his name & business put out there so people will be aware of this person/business! you can't keep ripping people off, has to stop! Also can't seem to find him on Master Builder Registry - RED FLAG!"

7th Nov, 2022  •  Rating by: Donna  •  Contact: Southern Building & Interiors - Ian Lockwood  •  Job date: May, 2022

"Ian. please stop owning a business. "Renovated our laundry into a bathroom . I spent most of my time chasing Ian to start , come back and finishing the job . The shower area was not square and has to get Ian back to fix two more times . Eventually the plumber got his builder to fix and shower was installed by plumber . The plumber was never reimbursed for approx $1000 , even though Ian said he would . The arguments I had to get the project finished was a daily battle . I have been in the plumbing supply industry most of my working career . This included major hospital , retirement villages, housing developments , and university projects spanning 30 years . I have never struck a builder or tradesman that is this bad . Do not use this builder , he was aggressive to my plumber , and the plumbing company had to phone me to please explain why . DO NOT USE this builder . He will lie and blame his ex partner , my painter and the plumber. He doesn’t even hold a tradesman ticket for permits . "
Ian you will read this , do not contact myself or my family or enter my property. NO warnings other than the Police will be called, for trespass.
You have hurt too many clients .
look up his name Ian Lockwood and comments made in Feb 2022 by two clients
, they used his old company name as they could n' t find his new business.
Old business under No Cowboys website company called Total Building Ltd.

Ian , I know you well enough to say, STOP , please please STOP hurting people.

This is an amendment to my post today . The plumber did get his builder to fix the out of square shower frame . It did cost the plumber money . The plumber did not invoice Ian Lockwood , sorry . The reason would be that the plumber didn’t want anymore issues so decided to bury the dollar value and move on . Very respectful plumber indeed ."

1st Mar, 2022  •  Rating by: Brent  •  Contact: Ian Lockwood  •  Job date: Apr, 2021

"Ian Lockwood was hired to do a couple of smaller jobs at our place (fencing/decking). He showed up for the first week and completed some work (after us paying 50% upfront deposit for both jobs) and then the issues started. Started dodging our phone calls, saying he would be there but then not even showing up with no explanation as to why.

He'd drop off some materials and just started making excuses as to why he wasn't on site but would never call to advise what was happening or where he was. This went on for weeks. The little work that was completed was very sub-standard and would have taken another builder only a couple of days to complete. The job wasn't completed and I would totally recommend you steer well clear of him to avoid a disaster.

Here are some further reviews of his work, behaviour under his previous company:
https://www.nocowboys.co.nz/businesses/total-building"

16th Jul, 2021  •  Rating by: Bob  •  Contact: Ian Lockwood  •  Job date: Apr, 2021