Supreme Court rejects appeal over earthquake-damaged building

The former Harbour Quays building. Photo: RNZ/Phil Pennington

The High Court has rejected an appeal by an engineering firm trying to block legal action by the council over a building destroyed by an earthquake.

BNZ sued Wellington City Council for more than $100 million in 2019 over the Harbour Quays building, which was demolished after the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake.

The council also sought to hold Beka's engineers responsible, if that came to that.

The new Supreme Court ruling marks the third and final failure for Becca.

The award-winning bank's Wellington headquarters, owned by CentrePort, stood empty for years after 2016, before being demolished; it also suffered damage to internal services in the 2013 Seddon earthquake.

The Bank of New Zealand alleged that the council was negligent in granting building consent, conducting inspections and issuing a certificate of compliance.

The board denies responsibility. But it alleges that Becca was negligent in producing the data in 2007 and 2008 on which it relied in its approval.

RNZ revealed in 2018 that another engineering firm had claimed the council had gone against its advice when it approved the building on Waterloo Quay.

Becca tried to overturn the council's claim, saying there was a 10-year time limit under the Building Code.

But the High Court, in a 3-2 majority decision, agreed with the lower courts – applying a different timeframe, giving the board two years, to be triggered only if it is found liable to the National Bank of New Zealand.

The court's press release said its decision noted that if the 10-year legislation was intended to abolish the two-year rule, it “needs to make that explicit.”

The court majority relied in part on “the injustice that might arise under the interpretation advanced by Becca.”

“Accordingly, the Board’s action against Becca was timely.”

The council said on Wednesday it intends to defend itself against the National Bank of New Zealand's compensation claim in the High Court.

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