29 August 2024

Construction: Wilkins v. 77 Degree Builders

 

Poorly completed renovations saw Christchurch building company 77 Degree Builders and its director Simon Washbourne liable to pay $400,800 for estimated costs of repair.

The company 77 Degrees Builders Ltd held liable for breach of contract; Mr Washbourne personally liable for negligence.  He both supervised the job and worked with employees on site.

Neither appeared in court to defend the claims.

The High Court was told Mathew Wilkins and Heather Jenkins purchased their Christchurch family home in late 2020.  Over the following months, they met with Mr Washbourne, discussing plans for renovation.  The house was some 35 years old. 

They paid $166,300 for what was supposed to be a fixed price contract.  The work was expected to take about eight weeks.

Evidence was given of work spread out over sixteen months, work poorly done and the owners being approached by unpaid sub-contractors seeking payment direct.

Installation of new windows was sub-standard.  Some were not fitted square and would not open.  Sill trays and pans supplied for installation with new aluminium windows were not installed correctly; instead, sills were wrongly re-purposed as head flashings.  Windows leaked.

New cladding was installed without a cavity system; instead, affixed directly to timber framing, in breach of manufacturer’s specifications.

When challenged during installation of the cladding, Mr Washbourne explained away this failure to follow industry requirements stating it was just the manufacturer ‘covering themselves since the leaky home stuff.’

Mr Washbourne was personally liable in negligence for his poor standard of workmanship and for his negligent statement that Building Act consent was not required for the proposed work.   

A consent was required because the new cladding was not ‘like for like’ replacement, but complete replacement of the previous cladding system, Justice Preston said.

The $400,800 damages order can be enforced against either Mr Washbourne personally, or his company 77 Degree Builders, or against both in whatever proportion they can pay.

Wilkins v. 77 Degree Builders Ltd & Washbourne – High Court (29.08.24)

24.211