‘Worn out’ over house stoush
The view may be second-to-none, but this Wellington seaside property’s outlook remains grim.
Lyall Bay resident Michael Harper has been left ‘‘worn out’’ after steel supposed to hold his dream home together was incorrectly labelled – and no-one is ‘‘coughing up’’ for the mistake.
Two years down the track, owner and builder Harper and his partner, Gael Van Hattum, are left with the shell of what was supposed to be a special waterfront home.
‘‘It takes a huge toll on you,’’ Harper said.
The stoush was part of a national issue with steel supply, with a Commerce Commission investigation into five steel companies.
Charges have been laid against three of those companies for misleading consumers under the Fair Trading Act, and a proposal for a class action civil suit is hot on its heels.
One of the companies charged was Euro Steel, which had supplied the steel to Bunnings, where Harper had purchased it.
The steel was incorrectly marked 500E, the grade required for the build, but was in fact 300E.
The ‘E’ referred to earthquake compliance.
Harper said he noticed the weakness of the steel about December 2016 and notified engineers and Bunnings.
By that point, much of the concrete for the ground had been laid, and the first floor was ready to pour.
An engineer provided a redesign that utilised a ‘‘doubling’’ of the weaker steel, but then a crack appeared in a cantilever’s concrete on the first floor.
Harper said the council then ‘‘signed off’’ on compliance, based on the engineer’s assessments.
Exactly how much of the lowergrade steel was used and where was unknown unless the building was deconstructed and the steel tested.
Frustrated, Harper had erected a sign, visible from the roadside, reading ‘‘Bunnings reinforcing ruined our home’’. He said it was a last resort and he hoped it would prompt the company to take action.
Bunnings marketing and merchandise director Clive Duncan said his company and Euro Steel parent company Euro Corporation had been in touch with Harper.
‘‘Euro Corporation mistakenly supplied a small amount of incorrectly marked steel bars to Mr Harper.
‘‘Euro Corporation have accepted full responsibility for this error and together with Bunnings have made a number of comprehensive offers covering both remediation and compensation.
‘‘We remain open to settling this with Mr Harper.’’
Euro Corporation has been contacted for comment.
Harper would not reveal what those settlement offers were, but said they were ‘‘unacceptable’’.
‘‘Meanwhile, the house is sitting there for two years while it’s not resolved.
‘‘They’ve got time on their side. ‘‘Why can’t Bunnings go back to Euro Steel and say ‘cough up’?’’
Harper said the best solution would be ‘‘if we could get Bunnings to rip out both floors and re-do them’’.
Put to Bunnings, a representative said the company did not wish to comment further as it was an ‘‘ongoing discussion’’.
Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean said the council had had a ‘‘fair bit’’ of correspondence with the owners in recent months, but it was in an ‘‘unfortunate stalemate’’.
‘‘The owners want the council to make various declarations about the building, but we cannot do that until they produce important documents, which have so far not been forthcoming.
‘‘Our assessment of the building’s structural integrity, based on our own inspections and advice from engineers, tends to be at odds with the assessment of the owners,’’ he said.
Those documents were producer statements and other documents relating to design and materials used, which helped the council decide whether it could issue a codecompliance certificate.
The council considered that a ‘‘reputable engineer’’ was satisfied with a redesign of the building’s structure, involving a ‘‘doublingup’’ of the reinforcing steel, and that that redesign meant the completed project ‘‘could lead’’ to a code compliance certificate.
After the Canterbury earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, the government revised the standard of steel reinforcing mesh to require high ‘‘ductility’’, which referred to the steel’s ability to stretch under stress.
In 2016, the Commerce Commission signalled intention to pursue criminal proceedings against a number of investigated companies.
In October last year, Steel & Tube was fined a record $1.885 million after pleading guilty to 24 charges under the Fair Trading Act.
Euro Steel faces 59 charges under the Act.
A commission spokesperson said it was waiting on a court date for proceedings with parent company Euro Corporation. The commission had filed criminal proceedings and could not comment on Harper and Van Hattum’s circumstances.