News & Insights
Dollar deterrence: bach renovation leads to $17,000 fine
A businessman who renovated an old bach in Abel Tasman was hit with a fine of more than $17,000 for illegal building work. Rice Speir helped Charlotte Spilman and the team at Tasman District Council to achieve the speedy and cost-effective Building Act prosecution. After early guilty pleas to eight charges involving illegal building work,…
Neighbourhood dispute or a disaster waiting to happen?
The case of a young family in Mosgiel who were forced to fix or get rid of their treehouse after a neighbour’s complaint gained national media attention. It all started because the neighbour felt their privacy was being breached by the children in the treehouse, which overlooked their backyard. The council was obliged to investigate,…
The show must go on
The owners of a defective apartment building in Mt Maunganui thought they had the right to repair the building before their case went to trial. The court, however, said the show must go on. The owners had argued that they stood to lose substantial sums of money if a 10-week trial went ahead based on…
If you snooze, you lose – prosecuting under the Building Act 2004
The moment a council officer notices something wrong at a building site, the clock begins ticking on a prosecution. A council gets just six months to prosecute under the Building Act from that moment. Once you know (or should know) about non-compliant building work, time starts to run for filing charging documents in Court. Running…
A welcome initiative from MBIE on the “gap” in B2
In May 2018, at the Building Officials Institute of New Zealand Conference, Helen Rice and I convened a panel discussion on an issue facing most councils in New Zealand – design engineers refusing to certify compliance with clause B2 of the Building Code. We explained that the situation is a directive from IPENZ and ACENZ,…
Can’t see the wood for the trees – part 2
In our March 2018 newsletter we discussed the District Court case where the Queenstown Lakes District Council was found not responsible for damage to motel units caused by a falling tree located on a council reserve. The motel owner has now successfully appealed that decision to the High Court, which found the council liable for…
Prosecuting to protect the past
At a time where land for new commercial and residential buildings is becoming increasingly scarce, heritage can be seen as a hindrance to development. Property owners, failing to appreciate the significance of their historic items, will undertake work without consulting with councils and/or applying for resource consent. However, the public interest in preserving heritage is…
Building Act potpourri
Rice Speir regularly fields questions from local government clients about the day to day application of the Building Act and Building Code. Here are a few issues that we have dealt with recently that may be of interest. Pre-fabricated buildings We have recently dealt with the issue of pre-fabricated buildings constructed overseas, then placed on…
Can’t see the wood for the trees
Queenstown Lakes District Council was found to not be liable for damage to motel units caused by a falling tree, which was on council land. The District Court concluded that the council did owe a duty of care to undertake inspection and maintenance of the trees on the council’s reserve, but had not breached its…
Councils fail to strike out claim by Carter Holt Harvey
The High Court has released its latest decision in the long-running litigation between the Ministry of Education (MoE) and Carter Holt Harvey (CHH) – this time, on an application by 54 councils to strike out CHH’s third party claims against them. Background The MoE’s claim against CHH alleges that its Shadowclad product is defective and…