KEY POINTS:
Owners of a large leaky Auckland townhouse project got so desperate for help that they pleaded for assistance from Prime Minister Helen Clark.
Craig Leishman, whose firm manages the townhouses' body corporate, said residents at Silverfield Terraces in St Lukes became frantic for a decision in their case, which has been running for six years.
In the latest round of litigation, the leaky building victims endured an excruciating six-month wait for a Court of Appeal decision.
The court heard the case involving repairs to their units on February 7 but took until last week for a decision to be issued.
Mr Leishman of Body Corporate Boutiques said the residents requested he write to Helen Clark, pleading for some action.
"The owners were getting quite desperate because of the delays," he said.
He advised them of the need for a separation between the legislature and judiciary and said there could be no political interference in the court system. Although he wrote, he got no help.
Mr Leishman said he was delighted that the court had ruled against builder Downer Construction (NZ), dismissing an application to challenge a building disputes arbitrator's ruling that the firm must repair the complex for more than $4.2 million.
In the latest round of the long-running dispute, Downer was denied the right to argue in the Court of Appeal about whether it should fix the St Lukes townhouse project, which it won the contract to build in 2000.
But Mr Leishman said he was concerned about weathertightness issues because some of the units were in a poor state and extensive repairs were needed.
"Some of the units have got to the point where habitability was in question - walls are propped up and water is coming in around the decks, flashings, through cracks in the walls. It's got a whole range of building defects."
Caron Orelowitz, chairperson of the owners' committee at the 65-unit Silverfield Terraces in St Lukes, said residents were delighted with the decision and hopeful that units could be fixed. Downer has had five separate judicial hearings on the St Lukes project.
