The Star: June 22, 2023

The Star Thursday June 22 2023
10
NEWS
Dodgy builder
fined over
faulty roof
• By Jeremy Wilkinson
A BUILDER who swapped out
consented roofing material for a
Chinese product to save money
was caught out when the paint
began to deteriorate several years
later.
The board found Christchurchbased
builder Scott Lilly guilty of
negligence and fined him $3000.
It is unclear how many
homes may have been built
with the unconsented product.
But evidence submitted to the
Building Practitioners Board
suggests it could be up to 60 in the
Selwyn District.
The decision said Lilly
substituted consented roofing
material on a new house he was
building with the product he
imported from China.
There was no evidence the
Chinese product met New
Zealand’s building code standards.
Selwyn District Council issued a
code of compliance for the house
without knowing the MetalCraft
product had been substituted.
The house was then sold. The
purchaser noticed deterioration
in the roof paint and made a
complaint about it, which led to
a closer inspection by the district
council into the actual roofing
product that was used.
• By Natalie Akoorie
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Building inspector may be liable
for leaky house after report all-clear
Paul
Cogswell
A RETIRED house inspector
is facing part liability for a
$700,000 leaky building claim
after he provided a pre-purchase
inspection report that the city
council alleges was negligent.
But the retired inspector believes
he has a good case to fight
the claim. Keith Milne said the
Scarborough house he inspected
in May 2010 would have been
markedly different from when
the weathertight problems were
found two years later because
there were two major earthquakes
and hundreds of aftershocks
in the intervening period.
Milne said he noted at the time
of the inspection the extension
where the problems emerged was
constructed in a style that has
since been found to have moisture
issues, and his moisture tests
could not be invasive without
removing wall and ceiling linings.
A claim was originally made by
the homeowners against the city
council. However, the city council
has successfully applied to the
Weathertight Homes Tribunal
to have Milne face a share of the
liability.
In the tribunal’s decision,
published in April, chairman Paul
Cogswell concluded the homeowners
could have a claim against
Milne, therefore the city council
did too. The saga began on May
13, 2010 when James Cooney
and Paul Dempsey signed a sale
and purchase agreement for the
house, subject to
a satisfactory prepurchase
inspection.
Milne provided
the report on May
17 when he was coowner
of a Christchurch
franchise
of The NZ House
Inspection Company.
The report said the house,
which now has a capital value
of $1.3 million, was in generally
good condition. Some cracks
were noted in the exterior cladding
and repair was advised.
It said moisture levels where
tested were good but the house
had been built in a style which
had problems with moisture.
The report concluded the extension
was relatively sound and
did not warrant further investigation
or raise significant concern.
The claimants went ahead and
bought the house, but in August
and November 2012, the extension
on the house was assessed
as having leaky issues. Cogswell
said it was arguable, based on the
extent of defects identified by assessors
in three reports obtained
by the claimants, Milne’s report
was negligent.
He said many of the defects
could have been seen on visual
inspection and many found
in 2012 would have existed at
the time of the pre-purchase
inspection report.
The claim against the city
council says it failed in its
consenting, inspecting, and
certifying role as the relevant
territorial authority.
However, the city council
claimed there was negligent
misstatement or breach of the
Fair Trading Act 1986 by Milne
because of the alleged defective
inspection.
Cogswell said Milne was
“arguably imposed with a duty of
care when preparing the report
for the claimants, the report
was arguably negligent and the
claimants arguably relied on it,
causing them loss”.
Cogswell said the claimants’
decision to go unconditional
was arguably made because they
were “deceived by the misleading
report and so, damage arose from
the impugned report”.
Milne retired in 2015 and could
not understand why the claim
had dragged on for a decade.
He said he would be forced into
bankruptcy if he lost.
The city council said it could
not comment further while the
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