Auckland City Mayor John Banks has ordered an inquiry after it was revealed that the council has been paying twice for some footpath work.
It will be the second inquiry into the council's footpath contracts.
Last week, the Auditor-General announced an inquiry into the management of the council's footpath contracts after a series of revelations by the Herald.
Yesterday, the Herald reported that a flaw in the council's footpath contracts, had resulted in overpayments to John Fillmore Contractors since 2004.
The company has been paid twice for footpath and kerb-and-channel work that overlaps.
The council does not know how much the error has cost ratepayers.
"This is so serious and so damaging to the reputation of the council, its officers and my stewardship of this public business that urgency is required," Mr Banks said.
The mayor contacted the Auditor-General, Kevin Brady, to get support for a separate, urgent inquiry into the overlap issue.
The investigation will be conducted by engineer Waren Warfield, who is managing director of the project management firm RCP.
Mr Warfield has previously worked for the council as project manager on the Town Hall Arts Precinct and is involved with the $21 million Q Theatre project behind the Town Hall.
A spokeswoman for Mr Brady said it was agreed that the office would be involved in setting the terms of reference for Mr Warfield's review.
Mr Banks said he expected Mr Warfield to produce a rigorous and independent report.
Among the issues to be investigated are the extent and cost of the overlap issue, why the council agreed on a rebate only in the past few weeks and whether the overlap issue had been addressed in two new contracts, worth nearly $20 million, awarded to John Fillmore Contractors in April.
Chief executive David Rankin said the latest inquiry was appropriate to try to get to the truth quickly.
He said the view of staff was that the overlap issue was very limited in cost and offset by other factors. These include:
* In the original contract, the overlap was for asphalt 25mm deep, rather than the more expensive 100mm-deep contract.
* Concrete had been phased in over the past few years but the incidence of overlap was not significant.
* In most cases where the footpath was up against the kerb, the kerb did not require work and therefore there was no issue.
Banks calls new inquiry on footpath payments
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