Architects deny liability over Quest

By ANNE GIBSON

The architect at the centre of criticism over a leaky apartment/hotel tower has hit back, saying although his firm designed the tower it did not supervise its construction.

Malcolm Brown of Brown Day Architects in Mt Eden denied liability for any faulty construction work on The Quest apartments in Auckland.

This month owners of The Quest, near the intersection of Queen St and Mayoral Dr, said they were suing Brown Day, Auckland City Council and developer Covington Group for work on the 5-year-old building.

Hartner Construction, which built the tower, is in liquidation and receivership and is not named in the lawsuit.

The 17-level tower is being torn apart as remedial work is carried out to stop leaks. Owners are spending $800,000 repairing it over six months and have engaged Shortland Chambers barrister Graham Kohler to represent them in suing those involved in the building.

A pre-trial conference is set down at the High Court in Auckland in November.

Brown, whose family owns a level 14 unit in the Quest, said this month the apartment did not leak, disputed the huge amount of work being undertaken on the site and refused to move out while the floor was stripped down. Jim Speedy of Covington Group also questioned the need for repairs.

But owner Lou Carroll lost about $160,000 when he sold two apartments cheaply last year because his health was affected by stressful battles with the tower's management. He vows never to buy an apartment again.

Brown said his firm would vigorously defend the lawsuit. "Our solicitors have filed a defence to the proceedings, based on a number of different grounds," he said.

"These include that our terms of engagement did not require us to supervise the building.

"The firm does not and could not accept responsibility for the outcome of the project in those circumstances."

The rotting homes crisis in New Zealand is estimated to potentially affect one new home or apartment in 10 and could cost between $1 billion and $6 billion to repair.

The Government-appointed Building Industry Authority is investigating the problem and is due to report this year.

The authority's chief executive, Bill Porteous, warned last week that people could be killed or seriously injured by the collapse of rotten balconies and balustrades on many new homes.

His comments followed a warning in June from Philip O'Sullivan, of Auckland property consultants Prendos, about cantilevered balconies being potentially lethal.

* If you have information about leaking buildings,
email the Herald or fax (09) 373-6421.

Herald feature: Leaky buildings

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