A Lower Hutt company has been fined $37,500 for failing to complete earthquake strengthening of a residential building in Petone.
The building at Jackson St has required earthquake strengthening work. Photo: Supplied/Google
The building owners had deliberately failed to undertake the necessary work, the Hutt City Council had told the court.
The prosecution was the first of its kind in New Zealand, the Hutt City Council said, and follows Alura repeatedly ignoring council warnings that the work needed to be completed.
Alura had owned the property, which is in the Jackson Street Heritage Precinct, since 2007 and Judge Arthur Tomkins said the lack of strengthening or demolition of the building for almost a decade was an "egregious" failure.
He noted that for 34 years Hutt City Council had been asking the previous and current owners to carry out seismic strengthening work on the building.
The council told the court, despite being aware of their responsibilities, the building owners had deliberately failed to undertake the necessary work.
"The prosecution also stresses that there is a strong public interest in buildings meeting earthquake standards and ... the current state of the building has resulted in a significant public safety risk," court documents of the judge's decision read.
"[That] is increased because the building houses residential tenants."
The council also noted the need to deter buildings owners from flouting the law.
"Where a defendant has continued to generate rent, while failing to take measures that would protect both the tenants and the public more broadly, there is a strong need to hold them accountable."
However, Alura's lawyer told the court there were good reasons for delays in the required work.
"[It] did undertake a significant amount of work obtaining expert advice, plans and consents in relation to the building.
"[Its] efforts were delayed ... due to the Hutt City Council changing its policy requiring buildings owners to meet 33 percent of the National Building Standard [NBS] ... to requiring building owners to meet 67 percent of the NBS."
Alura's lawyer said the council's designation of the building as "historic" also placed technical and financial burdens on the company.
Changes in the Reserve Bank's Loan to Value Ratio also inhibited the company's ability to finance the extensive work required to earthquake-proof the building.
Judge Tomkins said Alura told the court it always intended to complete the necessary work and still intends to.
"I acknowledge that [Jit Govind], a director of the defendant company, points to the steps he took towards bringing the building up to the necessary percentage of the NBS," Judge Tomkins said.
"But tellingly, these steps never progressed past the planning stage."
Judge Tomkins said a key theme of the company's submissions was that changing circumstances, both personal and institutional, had continually delayed the work being done to the building.
"Considering the defendant has owned the building for 11 years, that circumstances have changed is unsurprising ... He says many of the later difficulties stem from the defendant being 'forced to become a developer'," he said.
"However, the council's 1984 identification of the building as an earthquake risk and the defendant's knowledge, at the time of purchase, that the building would need earthquake strengthening indicates that the defendant knew it would have to take on such a role."
Judge Tompkins said the long-standing non-compliance amounted to a deliberate omission by the company.
He said the building posed a risk to human life and just because it had not yet caused harm that did not lessen the risk.
"In addition to the risk to passing pedestrians, in the event of an earthquake, the fact that the building houses residential tenants is especially concerning," Judge Tompkins said.
"The defendant's comment that the building has survived recent seismic events is unhelpful."
Judge Tompkins set a starting point of $50,000 for the fine, but reduced that by a quarter to recognise the company's guilty plea.
Hutt City Council's environmental consents manager Helen Oram said the judge's sentencing comments mirrored the council's key concerns.
"As a nation, we learnt some harsh lessons from the Christchurch and Kaikōura quakes, and local authorities and property owners need to keep these lessons top of mind," Ms Oram said.
She said one of the council's main aims in taking the prosecution was to send a message to other building owners who might be dragging their feet over doing earthquake strengthening work.
