The Pulse is a 65-unit apartment complex on Richmond Road, Grey Lynn.
a body corporate which has survived the trauma to rise again better than new.
Eight years ago, leaks developed through its butynol roof, which turned out to have been poorly constructed. Very quickly the body corporate committee began putting together a remediation plan. As the construction company and the independent company that had certified the building had liquidated, there was no one left to sue. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment came to the party with the Government’s share of the Financial Assistance Package, a scheme designed to compensate owners’ costs, with 25% contribution from Government along with 25% from the local territorial authority if it was the certifier. In the Pulse’s case, only the Government’s 25% contribution applied, but the ministry ended up contributing to a wider range of work than originally expected.
Still a massive financial drain on owners, the management of this project was to be the key to its successful completion. Under the Unit Titles Act a Body Corporate appoints a chairperson and elects a committee to act for owners in operational and constitutional matters. They are vital to the successful running of complexes like The Pulse. A strong and well-informed committee is a decided asset when things go wrong, and continuity is vital as these big building projects inevitably require long term planning and often run over schedule testing both owner finances and emotions.
The Pulse has been lucky to have in Peter Dawson, a chairman who in retirement had the time to bring together an active committee and project specialists into a team to see the rebuild through to completion. This included new BC chairman for 2016-17, Neil Inns, himself a committee member for several years.
The body corporate wisely took a long term view to the project, determined to restore value even if it cost a little more. They hired a range of appropriate and well-qualified advisers, including Maynard Marks as remedial specialists and architects, HOBANZ, who helped navigate the remedial project through the morass of council requirements, and other specific consultants who provided expert support to the volunteer committee. Working together they were able to secure a contract with one of New Zealand’s premier construction companies and owners vacated the complex hopeful that they would be back within 10 months or so.
The Auckland Council now takes a comprehensive approach to inspecting work in progress on these reclad sites, and it soon became obvious that there were other building defects unrelated to leaks that were the result of shoddy construction and shortcuts being taken at the time of construction. To make the building compliant again all the defects needed to be addressed adding a significant cost and time to the project. Inevitably this extended out to a building empty for 20 months and a costly extension of time penalties.
As a result, virtually the entire building has been renewed, not just the outside cladding and the roof, and it will soon have a new Code Compliance Certificate. The Pulse committee took the opportunity to install a fire sprinkler system to upgrade to the latest fire compliance regulations. The Pulse now looks better than it ever was. Value has been restored and units in this apartment block are in high demand as they come on the market.
This is an example of a sad and sorry saga which has ended well, due to the breadth of skills from the full BC committee who forged a great team of experienced advisors, selected a reliable contractor, and had good support from the Government agency MBIE. (JOHN ELLIOTT)