Rintoul Group again takes Far North District Council to court

Ken Rintoul's company Rintoul Group has again taken the Far North District Council to court over a tender process. Photo / NZME

Months after winning a case involving a tender process, a Northland business is again taking the Far North District Council to court over a similar issue.

Rintoul Group has filed papers in the Kaikohe District Court, alleging the FNDC engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct in handling the company's tender for the Waimatenui Rd bridge upgrade. A hearing date is yet to be set.

In a separate case, the High Court in June ruled FNDC was wrong to exclude Rintoul Group from a tender to build four sections of the Twin Coast Cycle Trail from Hokianga Harbour to Opua.

The Kaikohe-based business is seeking $500,000-plus in compensation from the territorial authority in that case.

In the latest case, FNDC called for tenders in November 2015 for the bridge upgrade which the engineers estimated would cost $172,360.

Rintoul Group submitted a tender at a price of $189,701 and was named as the successful tenderer in February last year.

In March, FNDC's engineer for the contract, Casey de Pereira, held a pre-contract meeting with Rintoul Group and informed the company it would be awarded the contract and would receive a letter confirming the deal the following week.

The company was also told to gear up and order the piles so work could start immediately.

In its statement of claim, Rintoul Group claimed a contract was formed when Mr de Pereira accepted its offer at the meeting. Mr de Pereira was placed on gardening leave shortly after the pre-contract meeting and did not return to work for the FNDC.

In a letter on April 4, FNDC informed Rintoul Group that no tender was to be accepted because the prices received were above the available budget for the project.

The other reasons stated in the letter were there was a wide spread of prices received and no geotechnical information was provided by FNDC with the request for tenders to allow tenderers to assess the ground conditions.

FNDC said it intended to complete further geotechnical investigations to better assess the ground conditions. Rintoul Group wants damages, interest, and costs.