“If I had a hammer
I would hammer in the morning
I would hammer in the evening
All over this land…”
Pete Seeger / Lee Hayes - 1949
On 14 September 2002 the unit owners of a multi-unit complex known as “The Grange” issued proceedings against the North Shore City Council (the council) and a number of other parties for the costs associated with fixing their “leaky building”. The unit owners complain that the council was negligent when it undertook the consenting and inspection processes on the Grange in 1999/2000.
Chapman is another robust decision from the Weathertight Homes Tribunal demonstrating that the claimants do not always get what they want. It also illustrates the pitfalls associated with directors of building companies sitting back and failing to manage the construction process. It is a successful result for the council involved, whose liability overall was found to be significantly less than the claim it faced.