It is the latest setback in the construction of the convention centre. Photo / Michael Craig
It is the latest setback in the construction of the convention centre. Photo / Michael Craig
Fletcher Building has announced it is “undertaking investigations” after revelations that fire doors installed at its under-construction International Convention Centre may be impacted by asbestos contamination.
Pacific Door Systems, the country’s largest fire door manufacturer, is currently at the centre of the asbestos scare after contamination was found in someof its doors. The scale and timeframe of the contamination is not yet known, but dates back at least one year.
“Fletcher Building’s project team for the New Zealand International Convention Centre has been made aware that this issue may involve fire doors supplied to the project by Pacific Door Systems,” the company said in an NZX announcement this morning.
“Importantly, surface testing undertaken to date has confirmed no asbestos residue in occupied or public areas, and the current advice is that potentially impacted doors are safe in their current, installed state,” the statement said.
“SkyCity has been informed of the situation and we are working closely together to understand any impacts.”
The issue impacts a product known as FRB board or core, which is made by an overseas third party, and used by Pacific Door Systems (PDS) and other Australasian manufacturers.
PDS was alerted after some of the FRB core was tested and found to contain asbestos. It is not yet known how many doors are affected by the potentially deadly fibre.
It is unknown how many of the doors are impacted by the asbestos contamination.
MBIE head of building system delivery and assurance Simon Thomas said the issue is under an “active investigation”.
They are working with multiple agencies and suppliers to “gather further information and determine the next steps”.
He noted that installed doors are safe if undamaged and unaltered, and have not been recalled.
WorkSafe central manager Nigel Formosa said the agency was notified of the potential health risk from the doors on June 30 and immediately launched a “targeted health and safety response”.
The convention centre project has seen a number of delays.
The SkyCity Convention Centre construction site suffered a fire in 2019. Photo / Daniel Walker
The site caught fire in 2019 – the year it was originally set to open before the damage, causing a further delay on top of earlier time and cost overruns.
The fire started on October 22, 2019, and could not be extinguished until November 1.
In 2020, a Fire and Emergency NZ report found that a gas torch accidentally left cardboard material smouldering on top of the convention centre.
The cardboard core of a roll of waterproof roofing membrane smouldered for more than half an hour during a lunch break before it burst into flames, causing the fire.
The cardboard roll had been inadvertently exposed to a worker’s gas torch and it smouldered undetected for 38 minutes, according to investigators.
SkyCity later announced it was suing Fletcher Building and the Fletcher Construction Company for $330 million, saying it had taken 10 years instead of three to build the centre.
SkyCity’s claim alleged that breaches of contract, including those that caused the fire, constituted gross negligence and/or a persistent, flagrant or wilful neglect to carry out obligations under the building works contract.
In an NZX announcement in February, SkyCity, which is behind the project, said it would be next February before the centre, between Hobson St and Nelson St in Auckland’s CBD, would open.
The Herald has contacted PDS for comment.
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.
Ethan Manera is a New Zealand Herald journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 as a broadcast journalist with Newstalk ZB and is interested in local issues, politics, and property in the capital. He can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.
