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A building expert says a balcony collapse which injured four people at the weekend was a freak occurrence, but could easily have been prevented.
A family of five fell 3m to a concrete floor when the balcony of their Browns Bay home snapped. Four were admitted to North Shore hospital, one with a broken leg.
Registered Master Builders Federation vice-president Andy Gray said he found the incident "most unusual", but acknowledged that any house, however modern, needed safety checks.
"This is a very rare occurrence, and unfortunate for those involved. When I first heard about it, I immediately thought of Cave Creek, which was a long time ago.
"When you get a building consent, it lasts for 50 years. However, any building requires maintenance. There is a degree of logic in observing the obvious signs of wear on a structure."
Mr Gray said the flaws to watch for in a balcony were surface rot around posts where they meet the ground, excessive rust, especially on the fixings, and any swaying or sagging. Compliance rules state that a deck must support itself, and not depend on a bracing to another structure.
An inspection by a North Shore City Council compliance and monitoring team revealed that a plate which secured the deck to the wall was fixed with just four nails. Team leader David Frith said a balcony should be fixed with galvanised bolts.
He said it was a similar problem which lead to the fatal Cave Creek platform collapse 13 years ago, in which 13 students and one DoC worker died.
Mr Frith said that even with modern, enclosed decks there was a problem of moisture clinging to the structure and increasing corrosion.
The deck was already in place when owner Leslie Thom purchased the house in 1985. The house was built in the 1970s.
Mr Gray felt that the North Shore City Council was doing enough to prevent similar accidents. "The council was stung by the leaky housing problems. It is so stringent now that we can be satisfied they are doing all they can to prevent this." North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams said it was easy to monitor new decks, but it was impossible to monitor those in older homes. Building consent is required for any deck built 1m above the ground.
Mr Williams said the council could not be policemen for the safety of all house structures, and homeowners needed to take some responsibility for maintenance.
Mr Frith added: "We can make sure structures are built right. But all things have a finite life.
"Nobody likes getting consent but the rules are there for a damn good reason. We would rather pick up these problems in the process of building, than have people pick themselves up when it falls."
