Building Industry board to focus on leaky building solutions

By ANDREW LAXON

The Building Industry Authority board has postponed indefinitely any inquiry into why its staff failed to respond to warnings of the leaky building crisis for four years.

Board chairman Barry Brown said he wanted all the authority's attention focused on finding solutions to the problem, such as implementing the 20 recommendations in the official inquiry, led by State Services Commissioner Don Hunn.

Any investigation of why the authority had not acted sooner would have to wait.

Two weeks ago the Herald revealed how the authority had failed to take effective action to solve the problem, despite receiving four years of detailed warnings from leak investigation expert Philip O'Sullivan and others.

The advice in 1998 and 1999 included a six-page report matching the conclusions of last month's official inquiry, graphic pictures of rotting balconies and a plea to review the 1996 introduction of untreated timber from the chairman of the standards committee that originally made the decision.

Mr Brown told the Herald then that the board would not "duck the issue" and would investigate further.

Asked yesterday if anyone had asked him to delay his investigation in case its findings showed liability by either the authority or the Government, he said no such conversation had taken place.

The Government has repeatedly said that a Crown Law Office legal opinion shows it has no liability but it refuses to make this legal advice public.

Mr Hunn is expected to report to the authority by the end of the month on the role of the building code and various responsible organisations - including the BIA, the Building Research Association and local councils - in the leaky building crisis.

* If you have information about leaking buildings,
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Further reading
Feature: Leaky buildings

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