Chancery builders to fight leak allegations

Chancery's builder yesterday vigorously defended the upmarket Auckland block after the disclosure that it had leak problems.

Dan Ashby, managing director of Brookfield Multiplex's construction division which built the cafe, shopping and office quarter, said the buildings were put up according to the highest standards, and the properties were not a classic leaky building.

The company was staunch in its position and was talking to insurers, he said.

"Brookfield Multiplex will be defending this claim very strongly. We have our insurers involved, and it will be a matter dealt with by them. The process is that we have received a claim and we are preparing a response to that," he said.

Mr Ashby was sticking up for Brookfield's role after revelations that the award-winning buildings would cost $10 million to $12 million to fix.

Leaky building consultant Prendos issued a damning report detailing many issues.

"Chancery is not a classic leaky building case," Mr Ashby said.

"The form and design of the building, its use and its construction elements are not ones in the same broad range as leaky building claims. I believe it was built properly and professionally and the techniques, subcontractors and materials were high industry standards of their day."

Chancery was one of the first jobs done by Australia's Multiplex when it entered New Zealand in the late 1990s, he said, after its debut - the 40-level Metropolis apartment tower.

Its builders have worked on several big projects and in the past few weeks reached the top level of the $180 million high-rise office tower it is building at 80 Queen St in Auckland as the new headquarters for Deloittes and the BNZ.

The Chancery precinct was finished in 2000, well before the Building Act and building code were overhauled by the former Labour-led Government in an attempt to stamp out leaky buildings.

Mr Ashby said the firm had faced only one other leaky building claim and that was for the upmarket Bacchus Apartment block at Browns Bay.

That had been settled but all details were confidential, he said.

The builder is one of several parties named in papers filed in the High Court at Auckland by most of the 46 parties who own Chancery's 56 separate strata title units.

Lawyer Simon Stokes of Dawson Harford & Partners said this week that proceedings had been issued by the body corporate against Chancery's developers, building contractor and architects, although Jeremy Wheelan of Ignite Architects said Chancery was designed according to standards of the day.

Mr Ashby said that as far as he knew, no date had been set for the case to be heard.