News & Insights

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…