KEY POINTS:
The Government's new leaky building court has made only five rulings this year.
Patricia McConnell, chair of the new Weathertight Homes Tribunal, said most claimants were settling before cases got to the tribunal.
The body was established in April, after the Government shifted leaky building judicial functions out
of the Department of Building and Housing into the Ministry of Justice.
The new system has already come in for criticism.
In 2005, David and Fleur Hartley took their leaky Eastern Beach home in Auckland through the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service, now known as the Weathertight Services Group.
Mr Hartley complained last month, calling the service "a complete joke", saying an adjudicator made a wrong decision. The case went to the High Court where Justice Lynton Stevens partially upheld the Hartleys' claim.
Ms McConnell defended the low number of settlements, saying settlements were being reached, sometimes immediately before a tribunal hearing.
"There were a significant number of cases that were managed through to settlement, some as late as the morning of the adjudication," she said.
The average length of time for tribunal cases from filing to completion was under eight weeks, she said.
But she warned cases might take longer to get a hearing at the tribunal in future. "This time line of eight weeks is unlikely to continue as to date the majority of cases have settled at mediation and only three have been completed as a result of a hearing.
"So far, all but two cases that have gone to mediation have settled and one of those may still settle. There have only been three cases that have gone to hearing without mediation.
"Since the first application was filed in mid-April we have had approximately 12 cases that have been completed.
"There are currently no delays in the tribunal for hearing dates. There are a few cases that are on hold at the claimants' request because they have yet to quantify their claims," Ms McConnell said.
"The others are being case-managed through to mediation and/or adjudication so delays - if you want to call it that - are only as a result of providing appropriate time for parties to prepare their claims and defences and get the appropriate paperwork to the tribunal."
HOW IT WORKS
* Apply to Weathertight Services Group for an assessor's report/eligibility report.
* If eligible, file a claim with the Weathertight Homes Tribunal for adjudication.
* Mediation takes place after adjudication has started.
* If the claim is not settled, tribunal hears the case and issues a ruling.