What does the Master Build 10-Year Guarantee actually cover?
The Registered Master Builders Association is an industry body. The relevant consumer-facing benefit is the Master Build 10-Year Guarantee — an independent guarantee covering loss of deposit, non-completion, structural defects and weathertightness. It is not free for the builder to offer (they pay per project) and it is the closest thing NZ has to a serious independent guarantee for new builds.
Is the Certified Builders Halo guarantee the same thing?
The Certified Builders Association of NZ is a different industry body covering Licensed Building Practitioners. Its consumer-facing benefit is the Halo 10-Year Residential Guarantee, which is structurally similar in scope to Master Build's 10-Year Guarantee. Whether your builder belongs to one or the other tells you nothing about quality; whether they've paid for the guarantee on your specific project does.
Does Site Safe membership tell me anything about build quality?
No — Site Safe NZ is about workplace safety, not build quality or guarantees. A Site Safe membership says the company has been through the relevant safety audits, which matters if you're visiting site, and matters legally to the builder, but isn't a consumer-protection mechanism.
What do none of these logos cover?
None of them cover build-method quality, the plan library, fitness for your particular section, or the personality of the project manager you'll actually be dealing with. Those are questions a logo cannot answer for you, so ask them directly rather than reading them off a brochure.
How do I check a builder's membership is still current?
Every one of these can be checked on the public registry of the issuing body, and that is the only check worth trusting. Type the company name in. If the registry says 'inactive' or 'suspended', that is the answer, whatever the logo on the brochure says.