Stories by Phil Pennington
News
Thames Hospital building WOFs revoked days after being issued
A health board that issued warrants of fitness for its maternity unit and main hospital building in Thames despite knowing they had firestopping defects, has hurriedly revoked the warrants.
Hamilton council makes changes to building WoFs
Hamilton City Council is making changes after concerns about buildings that do not have warrants of fitness.
Hamilton council 'too lax' on building WOFs, councillor says
Hamilton City Council says it is holding building owners to account for safety systems despite 200 buildings in the city not having warrants of fitness.
Government's public relations teams rapidly expanding
The government's communication and PR teams are rapidly expanding in size and cost to the taxpayer.
NZ's leading building product assurance scheme 'broken'
CodeMark, which provides product approvals that cannot be challenged by councils, is in disarray after another major company pulled out of it. The Building Industry Federation believes this might…
Fallout of truck certification crackdown: Inspectors 'scared to make decisions'
A critical shortage of truck safety certifiers is weighing down companies with extra costs and workload.
Councils lacking knowledge about quality of steel in buildings - SCNZ
Steel Construction New Zealand says local councils are being asked to sign off on major buildings when they have big gaps in what they know about the steel frames and seismic strength.
MBIE suspends Aust-based building products certifier
A leading certifier of building products, including aluminium cladding panels, has been suspended.
NZTA chose American IT firm over cheaper NZ firms, documents reveal
An internal investigation shows a lot more attention was paid to an American IT supplier than to locals, who were not given the chance to bid.
Plumbing firm liquidated: Health Ministry defends hospital pipe work
The failure of a plumbing company won't void warranties on troublesome pipes at a half-billion-dollar Christchurch Hospital project.
Deal done on how to assess whether DHBs owe staff millions
A deal has been done on figuring out if tens of thousands of hospital and other health board workers are owed millions of dollars for possible breaches of the Holidays Act .
Training organisations call truce to make construction industry safer
Construction safety organisations are signalling an end to turf wars that have got in the way of making the high-risk industry safer.
Spy agencies release Breivik-related correspondence
The only correspondence New Zealand spy agencies are prepared to release that references far-right killer Anders Breivik is an invitation to a play about lone-actor violence.
State abuse inquiry: 'I am not a lab rat'
An Auckland woman in her 70s says her experience of giving evidence to the historical inquiry into abuse in state care has been farcical.
Dispute over off-limits Chch building continues
Engineers have been meeting regulators in a dispute over a new Christchurch building that remains off-limits due to its earthquake design.
Hamilton councillor unaware hospital buildings without WOFs
A Hamilton city councillor says he's trying to find out if the council has been giving too much leeway to building owners who can't get a warrant of fitness.
NZTA knew of truck-trailer safety issues for months before acting
NZTA were calling problems with truck-trailers a significant safety risk for months before it pulled the trailers off the road.
Firestopping woes at multiple Hamilton hospital buildings
Major hospital buildings in Hamilton, including the child and women's health centre, do not have warrants of fitness because they are not up to scratch for fire protection.
Calls for special police training to deal with hate crime
A Muslim leader wants police to get special training in how to respond to hate crime. Video, Audio
NZTA reopens investigation into awarding of contract
The Transport Agency has reopened an investigation into how a senior manager awarded a contract to a company run by a close friend.
Intelligence agencies' white supremacist blind spot
Insight - New Zealand's security agencies are increasing their focus on the white supremacist threat since the Christchurch mosque attacks, Phil Pennington reports. Video, Audio
Middlemore Hospital building recladding runs into problems
Recladding of a large rotting building housing acute medical services and patients at Middlemore Hospital is running into major problems.
Man abused by priest: 'Like I was being stabbed in the chest'
Three brothers sexually abused by a Catholic priest have joined forces with their sister to write a book telling their story.
Real estate agent says he was kept in dark about concerns over Chch building
A real estate agent says the Christchurch City Council was "unprofessional" not to advise him of earthquake design concerns at a new central city building.
New Chch office building has serious flaws - engineers
A new office building in central Christchurch's main shopping precinct has many serious flaws in its earthquake design, according to three leading engineering companies.