Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Napier City Council leads charge for changes to defective building liability

By Laura Wiltshire
Hawkes Bay Today·
27 Mar, 2019 02:35 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The apartments at the centre of a recent defective building case, where Napier ratepayers bore the brunt of the settlement. Photo / File

The apartments at the centre of a recent defective building case, where Napier ratepayers bore the brunt of the settlement. Photo / File

Napier City Council plans to put pressure on central government to change rules to limit councils' liability in defective building cases, and hopes other councils will support it.

NCC has drafted a remit to take to the Local Government New Zealand Annual Meeting, which recommends capping the responsibility councils across the country have when it comes to defective buildings.

In a paper being put before NCC's Community Services Committee on Tuesday, it states that councils, as regulatory bodies, are disproportionately affected by defective building claims.

"The courts have held that councils will generally have a proportionate share of liability in defective building cases in the vicinity of 20 per cent," the paper states.

However, councils tend to have to cover the shortfall when other parties involved, for example builders, in such claims are unable to cover the costs, including when they go into liquidation.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The paper states that councils covering the shortfall tends to be the rule rather than the exception.

A 2014 report by the Law Commission recommended capping councils' liability in defective building cases, but no further work has been taken on this recommendation.

"The cost to ratepayers of the current joint and several liability system is significant, disproportionately so," the paper states.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Although this was recognised in the Law Commission report in 2014, no substantive steps have been taken by central government to address the issue or implement the Law Commission's recommendation that council liability should be capped. "

The remit suggests councils across New Zealand form a working group with Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Ministry of Justice, draft amendments to the Building Act, and draft content for a cabinet paper regarding the Law Commissions recommendation.

NCC has recently been caught up in a case of an allegedly defective building case in regards to apartments on Humber St, and has another case pending.

Ratepayers will not know how much the recently settled case will cost them, as it is subject to a confidentiality clause, however earlier reports stated the remedial work on the buildings cost over $9million.

Discover more

New Zealand

Leaky building settlement: Why Napier City Council won't say how much it could cost you

15 Mar 12:35 AM

A council decision is needed so it can be discussed at a meeting of Zone 3 councils in April, a requirement before it can be put to the Local Government New Zealand. Zone 3 represents councils in the central North Island.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

MetService concedes Cyclone Gabrielle red weather warning could've come sooner

01 Jul 06:21 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

'Felt right across the district': Police name victim of fatal railway track crash

01 Jul 03:33 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Watch: 'I left my fingernails in the steering wheel' - van driver's risky overtake

01 Jul 01:42 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

MetService concedes Cyclone Gabrielle red weather warning could've come sooner

MetService concedes Cyclone Gabrielle red weather warning could've come sooner

01 Jul 06:21 AM

The decision was influenced by Hawke’s Bay hydrologists, who opposed the warning.

'Felt right across the district': Police name victim of fatal railway track crash

'Felt right across the district': Police name victim of fatal railway track crash

01 Jul 03:33 AM
Watch: 'I left my fingernails in the steering wheel' - van driver's risky overtake

Watch: 'I left my fingernails in the steering wheel' - van driver's risky overtake

01 Jul 01:42 AM
Watch as overtake manoeuvre goes wrong on State Highway 2 near Wairoa

Watch as overtake manoeuvre goes wrong on State Highway 2 near Wairoa

From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP