HBRC to Take Further Legal Action Over Building Defects

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council is to take legal action against other parties involved in the construction of its Dalton Street building as it seeks to recover the cost of fixing defects.

The offices were built in 2005 by Herbert Construction Company Limited. Following construction of the building, defects have been identified and remedial work (including re-cladding) is necessary to fully address the problems. The remedial work began in March and is expected to take around nine months to complete.

Herbert Construction joined eight other parties to the High Court claim filed by HBRC as those parties were also involved in the construction of the building.

HBRC Group Manager Asset Management Mike Adye says that it has recently been informed that there is a risk that Herbert Construction may be placed into liquidation. If this was to occur it would impact on the current court proceedings.

HBRC has decided to join some of the other parties as defendants to the claim who the Council considers are also responsible for the defects in the building. These parties are - Napier City Council, Opus Consultants Limited, Wynards Masonry Limited, Toop Aluminium Limited, and Malcolm Herbert.

Mike Adye says the Council believes it is commercially prudent to make every attempt to recover the remediation work costs.

ENDS

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