Ex-PM's leak row for court

The Moores say they have had to rebuild the house. Photo / Greg Bowker

The man who sold former Prime Minister Mike Moore and wife Yvonne their beachfront mansion has hit back in a legal row over leak claims.

Brian Metge owned the Omana Beach, Manukau City, house at the centre of leaky-building litigation but feels persecuted by the Moores, who paid him $1 million.

"Mike Moore has turned the place into Buckingham Palace. And now he's asking me to pay for that," an angry Mr Metge said, citing the big fixup, new cladding and installation of double-glazed windows.

The house never leaked when he lived there, "not one drop", he says.

The Moores' statement of claim, filed in the High Court at Auckland, alleges 26 separate defects. They are suing Manukau City Council, Mr Metge and his fellow vendor Colin Devcich.

Mr Metge said he bought the house for $518,000 and between 2000 and 2003, spent about $600,000 converting it from a red-brick building into a monolithic clad, multi-level house with a basement apartment.

He sold it in 2003, but leaks became apparent only in 2007.

He said he had already made a big loss. He had not intended to spend $600,000 "but one thing led to another".

Facing the court action just made it worse, he said, but he is most annoyed the Moores did not attempt mediation with him to iron out a solution before engaging lawyer Eugene St John.

John Dalton, of the Department of Building and Housing's weathertight services group, estimated $259,000 for repairs in a report last January.

The Moores' court action does not specify the amount they have spent but it is understood to be well above the state estimate.

The Moores say that Mr Metge's building work resulted in major problems at their house.

They discovered leaks in 2007 and problems were so serious that the house had to be rebuilt. Structural elements and the exterior envelope had to be fixed.

Manukau's building inspector failed to spot differences between plans and building work, the Moores said.

The roof was flat, did not comply with the Building Code, had water ponding on it and was not draining into gutters, which were also too small.

Windows and doors lacked weatherproofing, the cladding was wrongly installed and lacked control joints.

Top surfaces of balustrades and parapets were flat and lacked protection to stop water penetration. Pergola connections into outside walls did not allow for adequate protection from the rain.

Mr Metge has filed a statement of defence in which he challenges most of the action.