More councils get tough over cavities

By BERNARD ORSMAN


North Shore and Waitakere City councils are following Auckland City Council and not certifying plaster-clad homes without a cavity to drain water.

Rodney District Council has also introduced a temporary halt on certifying homes without a drainage cavity until it formally considers the matter this week.

Manukau City Council will also consider the issue this week, but Mayor Sir Barry Curtis said it was against the principles of natural justice not to certify a house built in accordance with a building consent that did not require a cavity.

The moves come days after Auckland City let about 1800 homeowners know that they faced repair bills running into tens of thousands of dollars to have their homes certified.

The councils have the backing of Local Government New Zealand, which said Auckland City was reacting to new information on monolithic cladding without cavities and a landmark ruling which opened the way for owners of leaky buildings to claims millions of dollars in compensation from councils.

Local Government chief executive Eugene Bowen said councils had closely examined their procedures under the Building Act after the ruling from the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service involving Waitakere City.

The ruling found that Waitakere City should pay for the liability of the absent builder and that councils needed to be "satisfied on reasonable grounds" before granting a code of compliance certificate.

"We are opposed to having ratepayers' money used to pay for damages incurred by defaulting bad builders," Mr Bowen said.

Auckland City believes its ratepayers are exposed to millions of dollars in claims from the 930 claims in its area before the resolution service. Nationwide, ratepayers face potential bills running into tens of millions of dollars.

Waitakere regulatory group manager Grant Gillard said the landmark "Kelleway" ruling in Waitakere left the council with no option but to immediately stop certifying homes with monolithic cladding without a cavity.

Auckland and Waitakere cities have said they will deal with each application on a case-by-case basis and give homeowners the choice of fixing the problem at their own cost or seek a determination from the Building Industry Authority.

If homeowners go to the authority for a determination, the authority will confirm, reverse or modify the decision. A determination is a semi-judicial process that takes two months on average.

Auckland City has called on the authority to act quickly to help homeowners. If the authority determined that a building complied, the council would issue a compliance certificate.


Repair options

Homeowners in Waitakere and Auckland City can fix the problem at their own cost or seek a determination from the Building Industry Authority.

The authority will confirm, reverse or modify the council decision on repairs.

Claims with the authority take an average of two months.