Floor torn in $40m Pak'nSave construction

Half the floor inside this store needed to be relaid. This is the new $13m supermarket opening in Tauranga later this year. Photo / Supplied

Half the floor of one of New Zealand's biggest new supermarkets at a $40 million Tauranga scheme has been torn up and re-laid, the store's owner says.

Construction issues hit the new Pak'nSave in the new 17-shop Tauranga Crossing project after the developer/owner's engineer discovered parts of the floor had been laid incorrectly and did not comply with supermarket operator Foodstuffs' specifications.

Mark Taylor, a director of supermarket owner/developer Tauranga Crossing of Auckland's Viaduct Harbour, said only the supermarket was affected in the $40 million project.

"It's about half the floor," he said of the extent of defects with the supermarket, due to open later this year.

Faults were only discovered once the entire floor was laid, meaning there were no other options other than to tear up about half and start again, he said.

"These supermarkets operate 18 hours a day, so it had to be done now," Taylor explained of the need for the contractor to fix the issues before further work proceeded.

The re-laying process was now about half completed.

"It's quite a technical floor and it goes down in 6m slabs which then have an armoured joint on each slab, which protects the corner of the slab. The specifications require a zero millimetre tolerance across the joint. If that armoured joint is not in correctly, or if adjoining concrete is not floated off correctly, there are problems. As trolleys or fork lifts go over it over time, that would ruin [the floor] because it would damage the edges," Taylor said.

"Remedial works have been undertaken on an area of floor to one of the tenancies -- the Pak'nSave at Tauranga Crossing. This has involved removal of a number of floor joints and concrete slabs from a portion of the retail shop floor area."

Issues were not caused by any changes in ground conditions or ground settlement, he emphasised.

"The remedial works arose as a number of armoured joints and adjoining floor areas were not to specification, not...related to ground settlement differentials," he said.

Taylor expressed confidence that the issues would not delay the new store's opening.

"Despite the requirement for the remedial work, Pak'nSave expect to open on time in late September early October. I do not have an estimate of costs incurred by the contractor for the remedial work at this stage as to-date we have been concentrating on completing the remedial works and staying on programme," Taylor said.

Taylor said he was dealing directly with main contractor Hawkins Construction over the issues.

Peter McCawe, Hawkins central regional manager, said work was advancing.

"Hawkins is managing some remedial work on the concrete slabs of a supermarket floor at The Crossing. This is been undertaken due to a number of armoured joints and adjoining floor areas not meeting engineering tolerances within the specifications.

"Hawkins has been working collaboratively with its client to remedy this issue as efficiently and effectively as possible. The project has been running ahead of schedule and these remedial works are minor in relation to the scale of the overall project which is on track to open on time," McCawe said.

A Foodstuffs spokesperson said the new $13 million supermarket would open in the third quarter of this year. The development was partly a response to migration to Tauranga, which has been high due to Auckland house prices. Construction issues were nothing to do Foodstuffs.

"Pak'nSave will be a tenant in the development. The build is the responsibility of the owner, Tauranga Crossings. From our perspective we are still on track to open the store in late September early October," she said.

Tauranga Crossings' directors are listed in the Companies Office as Taylor of Queenstown, Auckland businessman Adrian Burr of Herne Bay and Remuera's Richard Stilwell.