Council seeks $900,000 for leaks

Court proceedings regarding the leaky Hawke's Bay Regional Council building must involve all parties associated with its construction, Herbert Construction director Malcolm Herbert says.

The regional council filed High Court proceedings against Herbert Construction last week for leaky building repairs to its offices on the corner of Dalton and Vautier streets, built by the company in 2005.

The council has placed initial repair estimates at $900,000.

"This is a matter which needs to be determined through the Court and it will be necessary to join all associated parties and not solely the building company alone so that all matters can be properly determined," Mr Herbert said.

The three-storey building was designed by and received a practical completion certificate from Opus International, was built by Herbert Construction, and received a code of compliance from Napier City Council.

"The building achieved a practical completion certificate and a code of compliance certificate issued by the architects, Opus Consultants and Napier City Council, respectively," he said.

"Further, all the structural work was peer reviewed by Holmes Consulting - employed directly by Hawke's Bay Regional Council.

"I understand that the Regional Council notified both Opus Consultants and the Napier City Council and invited them both to attend the investigation/inspection which was recently done in relation to the claim."

The latest claim comes on top of repair work to the building in 2008 which cost $75,000.

"Some defects in the building were repaired in 2008, however further remedial work is necessary to fully address the problems," a council spokesperson said.

Regional council group manager asset management Mike Adye said the leakage looked like it came from cladding units.

"There is quite a few areas, but it is leaking and it is between the different exterior cladding units. There was fairly significant leakage from the time we took it over and that was clearly why we got the report done and the work done in 2008, and it is clear that that wasn't addressed at all."

Repairs were to be funded from a depreciation reserve and would not affect rates.

Issues with the building have been long-standing since its construction in 2005.

Herbert Construction initially filed a claim against the regional council in 2010 over non-payment for construction work. The council then lodged a counter claim just over a month later, but the claim lodged at the High Court last week by the regional council was new.