Building chief faces flak over leaks

By ANDREW LAXON and AUDREY YOUNG

The future of Building Industry Authority chief executive Bill Porteous looks uncertain after Herald revelations of his role in the leaky building crisis.

Board chairman Barry Brown yesterday refused to express unqualified confidence in Dr Porteous, after Opposition calls for his resignation.

Asked if he had confidence in his chief executive, Mr Brown replied: "At this moment I have confidence in Dr Porteous, unless I have information that suggests that this confidence is unjustified."

The Herald yesterday revealed how the authority failed to take effective action to solve the problem, despite receiving four years of detailed warnings from leak investigation expert Philip O'Sullivan and others.

The advice in 1998 and 1999 included a six-page report matching the conclusions of last month's official inquiry, graphic pictures of rotting balconies and a plea to review the 1996 introduction of untreated timber from the chairman of the standards committee which originally made the decision.

Mr Brown said an executive committee would investigate how the authority had responded to the warnings it received from April 1998.

"We're not going to duck the issue," said Mr Brown, who insisted on having Dr Porteous present during the interview.

He promised to respond in more detail within a week to the "enormously significant" points raised by the Herald.

Mr Brown, an Auckland consulting engineer, said he joined the board as chairman only in June last year.

He began receiving monthly reports from Dr Porteous on the problem. By October, the authority decided to set up an inquiry, led by former State Services Commissioner Don Hunn.

The inquiry had to be independent so it would have the freedom to criticise the authority or the Building Code, which it administered.

Dr Porteous said he was surprised to hear calls for his resignation, as he felt he had discharged his responsibilities under the Building Act.

Asked why he had not intervened in November 1999 when shown pictures of rotten balconies - unlike the inquiry team which immediately prompted the authority to issue a national safety warning - he said the balconies the inquiry team saw were "real ones", not just photos.

If the authority had issued a warning on the basis of those photos, it could have faced action from cladding manufacturers.

In Parliament yesterday, National asked Internal Affairs Minister George Hawkins why he still had confidence in Mr Brown and Dr Porteous.

"We are dealing with the problem at the moment," he replied. "Blame will be looked at later."

Mr Hawkins has previously said he was informed only in April this year that the problem existed. Yesterday, he said the authority told him about the problem "a few months ago".

But letters produced by leak consultants Philip and Greg O'Sullivan yesterday show they warned Mr Hawkins directly in June last year.

He told them then that the authority was represented on an industry group investigating the issue.

National leader Bill English told Parliament that the authority had taken no notice of a December 2000 report it had commissioned itself on 287 Auckland homes which concluded: "A 75 per cent defect rate for buildings less than 10 years old is a cause for some considerable concern."

Mr English said: "The behaviour of the BIA gives no confidence to homeowners or the building industry it now blames for the crisis.

"National believes it has reached the point where the only way for public confidence in the BIA to be restored is for heads to roll."

Earlier, the authority's principal legal adviser, Brian Cashin, told a leaky buildings conference in Auckland that he and his colleagues felt shaken by the Building Code's failure to stop the problem.

* If you have information about leaking buildings,
email the Herald or fax (09) 373-6421.

Further reading
Feature: Leaky buildings

Related links