Stories by Phil Pennington

Steel & Tube has pleaded guilty to criminal charges laid against it almost a year ago for misrepresenting its seismic steel mesh.

New Zealander Robert Peihopa died of a heart attack in detention in Australia after "physical and emotional distress" from a fight, a coroner has ruled.

A raft of Civil Defence emergency centres and fire stations in high-risk zones are substandard.

Just like parking wardens and speed-radar police, building inspectors make easy targets for anyone wanting to have a go, writes Phil Pennington.

Horowhenua Māori have agreed under a confidential deal to drop court action aimed at stopping the spraying of Foxton's wastewater onto an island in the Manawatu River.

A Christchurch woman is warning about the risks of being exposed to Legionnaires' disease through hotwater systems.

A leading fire engineer is accusing public officials of using the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy to scare New Zealanders.

The fast-tracking of new fire safety rules is expected to add costs and delays to major building projects. Audio

The amount of moderate and serious crime being committed by deportees to New Zealand is much less than police warnings suggested, according to official information.

Nerves remain on edge in central Wellington a year on from the Kaikōura earthquake, a survey shows.

Plumbers are calling for checks in high-risk places like hospitals, saying New Zealand's measures to combat Legionnaire's disease are years behind other countries.

A convicted child murderer is claiming he was moved between jobs inside Rimutaka prison as punishment over allegations he made against an officer.

Many Wellington apartment owners still face steep costs getting their buildings strengthened.

Analysis - There were big promises from the government in 2014 about making streamable classic New Zealand TV and movie titles available online. Phil Pennington asks what happened.

The country's core project to save New Zealand's television history has put just a handful of titles on the internet compared to the 20,000 the public was promised three years ago.

Structural engineers still partly in the dark about how earthquakes damage high-rises are pushing for greater caution over a common type of flooring.

Wellington City Council is looking at stepping in as lender of last resort for building owners with high earthquake risk facades.

A New Zealand man who went to Queensland on a family visit now finds himself detained on remote Christmas Island.

If people are killed or injured when non-structural parts of a building fall in an earthquake, building owners and employers will be liable, a lawyer says.

A New Zealand expat family has been left thousands of dollars out of pocket by the Australian government's flip-flops over changes to citizenship and university fees.

Shop canopies so unsafe they could collapse on pedestrians and kill them are a nationwide hazard, according to a steel frame engineering company.

With owners of 100 Wellington buildings ordered to reinforce facades by next March, half are increasingly unlikely to meet the deadline and say it makes no sense when the whole building needs fixing.

Building inspections show most Auckland and Wellington high-rises failed to meet earthquake standards to stop people being hit by falling objects.

Civil defence emergency centres in quake zones may not meet the rigorous building standards required for them to withstand a big shake.

Analysis - Facing deportation from Australia? Best hope your son's a footy star if you want a sympathetic run in the local press, Phil Pennington writes.