News & Insights
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…
The Supreme Court on Stadium Southland
In our June 2017 newsletter we published an article on the key points from the Court of Appeal’s landmark judgment in the “Stadium Southland” litigation.The decision was a win for councils, as it was found that a council did not owe a duty of care to “commissioning owners”, because they could not be said to…
The right tool for the job in Building Act enforcement
Failing to comply with a notice to fix. Recently we assisted Tasman District Council in prosecuting a landowner who had transformed his rural, two-storey shed into a potential dwelling. The council’s practices received a glowing endorsement from the Court, which is always worth celebrating. The basic facts were that neighbours first complained of the man’s…
Homeowners Pay the Price of Being Difficult
The costs of dragging a reasonable council to court In building defect claims, sometimes it feels like homeowners are driven by raw emotion rather than good financial sense. In such cases, despite our best efforts, occasionally a claim that should settle will end up in Court for trial. In this situation, local authorities should consider…