Committee hears how rot set in

By CATHERINE MASTERS

The man who gave a warning at least 2 1/2 years ago of a crisis of leaking, rotting buildings faced a parliamentary select committee yesterday and took a swipe at the Building Industry Authority.

The authority would not listen to his warnings and failed to act, Philip O'Sullivan, a director of building surveying firm Prendos, told politicians on the first day of an inquiry into building weathertightness.

Mr O'Sullivan told the Herald later that he did not have a lot of faith in the select committee process.

But it had now also been warned and had a duty to act, he said after making his submission.

"One does lack confidence. You wonder if it's just a puppet process that they go through and then the real people make the real decisions at a higher level.

"The Building Industry Authority ignored us at their peril - if they [the committee] ignore us it's at their peril as well."

In his submission Mr O'Sullivan spelled out the crux of the problem.

"An exterior wall, comprised of cladding fixed directly to framing, without any proper provision for drainage and for ventilation, especially ventilation, is fundamentally flawed."

Rainwater would penetrate through minor faults within minutes but it took weeks for walls to dry out.

Because it rained a lot in New Zealand walls remained damp for extended periods.

The problem had suddenly become large because in the past there were mitigating factors: inadvertent ventilation, simple designs including roof eaves and more durable timber.

But the single most important factor was the loss of boron treatment of timber. Boron was an effective fungicide, especially against the more malignant brown rots.

The loss of boron had opened the door to a range of brown rots that had an "awesome" ability to destroy plantation-grown radiata pine.

The rots were devastating, he said. Once started, like a fire, they were hard to stop.

"We warned the Building Industry Authority but they would not listen. We then tried to warn the industry."

The industry had been "log-jammed" mainly because of the fear of litigation. "The only organisation that was free to initiate change was the authority. They failed and they continued to fail, even though it was their clear duty to act."

Mr O'Sullivan advocated a return to boron treatment or an equivalent level of treatment, known as H1 Plus, for all timber framing.

He also called for a verification method for claddings.

"I am equally critical of cladding suppliers. Most have sat on their hands and done very little to overcome the fundamental problem of lack of ventilation behind their claddings."

Mr O'Sullivan's brother Greg, also a director in Prendos, told the committee there was a "huge gap" in knowledge of weathertightness.

Surveys and inspections were badly carried out, only 20 to 30 people were trained to survey adequately, repair methods could be poor, fungal types and mould types were not understood and chemical treatments were not understood by the construction industry.

The human cost was huge, Mr O'Sullivan said.

"I do see clients racked with asthma ... having sickness and flu-like problems ...

"I have clients who are now in deep despair, on drugs to overcome depression. I've seen marriages strained and people almost in hiding and shame because they have a rotten home."

There was also a health issue for repair workers. "Where they come across stachybotrys they're likely to consume that mould toxin with their lunch after doing a repair."

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

Further reading
Feature: Leaky buildings

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