Napier building compliant - 10 years after being built
A Napier office building has been given its code of compliance certificate, 10 years after it was built.
The four-storey PricewaterhouseCoopers building on the corner of Munroe and Raffles streets was built by Herbert Construction in 2007, but has been plagued by leaks and had not been issued a code compliance certificate by Napier City Council.
The council’s view that it was not compliant was disputed by the building’s owner, Malcolm Herbert, who appealed the findings to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
The council, which had initially felt the building’s roof and ventilation system did not comply with the building code, issued the code of compliance certificate on June 16.
When the building’s tenant, PricewaterhouseCoopers, engaged its own engineer in 2013 to investigate poor heating, ventilation and air conditioning on the top floor, the engineer found more problems of which the company was unaware.
The dispute went to MBIE, with Herbert Construction acting for the building’s owner, Thackeray Trust, in disputing the council’s findings.
PwC said the third floor was affected by three leaks, with new leaks appearing after any heavy rain.
In 2014, the ministry issued a determination and said the council had been correct in refusing to issue the certificate, because of failings in the weathertightness of the roof and the ventilation on the third floor.
Thackeray Trust was issued a notice to fix in December 2014.
Herbert was sole director of Herbert Construction, which was put into liquidation in 2013.
In a statement at the time, Herbert said he was considering legal action against the council over the delays and ‘‘failing to deal with the process in a fair, impartial and competent manner’’.
‘‘The council has been obstructive, refused to co-operate and meet experts to agree on matters and has changed and shifted the goal posts throughout the process.’’
MBIE’s expert had inspected the fresh air make-up system and tested the gutters and raised no issues, Herbert said.
He claimed PwC ‘‘has no issue and wants the code of compliance issued by the council without any further delays’’.