It's not just an Auckland problem. Building industry insiders have raised concerns that relaxed council inspections could lead to the same scale disaster as the leaky building crisis did.

Recent research carried out by the building industry shows eight percent of newly built homes had serious defects.

The problem was raised yesterday as a result of the housing crisis, pressure on builders to get homes up, and a shortage of inspectors.

With so many defects found in homes that have already passed compliance inspections, some are questioning if those inspections are being done from the footpath.

Home Owners and Buyers Association chief John Gray to Newstalk ZB it's the sort of shoddy workmanship and poor detailing we saw come out of the intensive building activity of the 1990s.

"The hard evidence we're seeing in terms of the state of these homes and their finished condition with co-compliance certificates is very disturbing."

Gray contends the issues raised by Auckland Council inspectors are mirrored up and down the country, "but of particular concern in terms of the concentration in building activity in Canterbury in the rebuild is an area that we're very, very concerned about."

"What is going to happen is that we've got this very low number of capable, confident and caring builders relative to the number of houses that we need to build to meet the demand around New Zealand," he said.