Tauranga council approves $1.06m extra for CBD carpark project after ‘unforeseen’ issues arise

The Spring St parking building, at the intersection with Durham St in Tauranga's CBD. Photo / Alex Cairns

“Unforeseen design complexities” at a CBD carpark building have cost more than $1 million in extra, unbudgeted ratepayer money - just weeks after the council approved $3.4m to finish another civic project that had hit surprise issues.

At a Tauranga City Council meeting on Monday, commissioners approved an extra $1.06m for the Spring St parking building seismic strengthening project.

It took the total project cost to $6.86m.

In a report presented at the meeting, civic redevelopment projects senior programme manager Mark Ross said “unforeseen design complexities” led to “significant redesign and [a] more complex strengthening programme”.

In November 2020, consultants were commissioned to do a detailed seismic assessment of the building, rating it at 25 per cent of the New Building Standard (NBS). This meant the building was considered earthquake-prone and required work. A detailed design that would bring the NBS rating to 67 per cent was done in 2021, and construction began in July last year.

The approved budget for the whole project - including consultancy fees - was $5.79m.

At Monday’s meeting, council general manager of infrastructure Nic Johansson said the project had a “robust design” and “we went into it with a high level of confidence”.

Once work started, however, elements such as reinforced steel were not where they were expected to be, he said.

“There’s been some increases in cost [as a result].”

Council staff sought approval for an increased capital budget.

Ross told the meeting the project had always been recognised as challenging but “we were all happy with the design”.

“We were working on some fine margins when it comes to drilling into concrete or existing structure. That proved to be our undoing,” he said.

“Basically … we thought we should add another $400,000 to the project just as a contingency measure but, obviously, we’ve exceeded that somewhat.”

Ross said a design change cost $600,000.

“Some electrical work [was] discovered through the drilling through the slab. It was unfortunate that cables were placed through the concrete, which meant $65,000 of additional cabling throughout the building.”

Ross said the electrical cabling “was a little bit of a surprise to us” as cabling was usually fixed to the underside of a concrete slab.

The Balcony Room at Tauranga Historic Village needed extra money to finish its upgrade. Photo / Alex Cairns

The cabling would have likely been done 35 to 40 years ago, he said.

A five-month extension of the programme added $180,000 and additional consultancy fees of $125,000, he said.

“On reflection, the one thing we could have improved is if we had done some more invasive investigation through the building …”

Council commission chairwoman Anne Tolley questioned how much investigation it was decided they needed to do “when investigating a project, because you could do a hell of a lot that would be unnecessary”.

“We can have confidence that the building is up to standard of 67 per cent, which is important for a public building,” she said. Commissioners approved the additional budget.

The building has reopened to the public.

In September, the council approved an extra $3.4m for an upgrade of a building at Tauranga’s Historic Village after unforeseen and “serious” existing defects were found after work had begun.

The Balcony Room, located on the northwest corner of the village’s main junction, opposite The Whipped Baker, was built in the 1980s before the introduction of the Building Act 1992 and associated building codes and regulations. Most of its construction was done by volunteers.

The council was told that the extent of the structural issues was only exposed once the wall linings were removed and involved discontinuous studs, no boundary joist and strapping inconsistencies.

Village manager Blair Graham told commissioners in the September 25 meeting the defects presented “a serious concern to the structural integrity of the building” and there was not enough budget to finish the project.

The building’s upgrade began in December and included a destination cafe and a commercial kitchen, which would serve the cafe and hireable venues within the village and was “essential” to attracting visitors to the village.

The council considered pausing the work or demolishing the building but commissioners ultimately approved the extra funding.

General manager of community services Barbara Dempsey told the meeting the money could be sourced from funds for unbudgeted expenditure for 2024/25 and uncommitted projects for 2023/24.

“We are very mindful we can’t keep adding to the ratepayer input for the village,” Dempsey said.

Kiri Gillespie is an assistant news director and a senior journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, specialising in local politics and city issues. She was a finalist for the Voyager Media Awards Regional Journalist of the Year in 2021.