after recieving encouraging support to the idea, we have published the givealittle page for the high court appeal.
Contributions appreciated and please spread the word
https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/costs-for-lbp-to-defend-high-court-appeal
since the last update in which we announced the success of our district court appeal MBIE decided to appeal the decision to the high court.. We are expecting a hearing in May /June
What is disappointing is that they are appealing the decision of the Kumar vs Ali decision which MBIE provided to the Judge in our case after the hearing. but before the decision was made.
The judge reinforced the 'Ali' decision. That precedent placed responsibility for advising the council of a new LBP being engaged with he owner (when there was a change).and not make the old LBP liable as has been the case in several LBP decisions. including Jeff Bells.
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The issue for Jeff and his advisors is whether he leaves MBIE to argue their case and play a passive role, or be active and ensure that the wins in his decision and the Ali precedent are protected.
.I think we are making a difference which is probably why the LBP board is pushing back but taxpayers footing the bill providing resources.
We are asking you the generous benefactors to indicate to us whether you would support the legal costs for a active defence. For this we are looking for $5000.This is only a contribution to costs of lawyers.
The Ali decision was not researched and argued by us as part of the earlier appeal so this now needs to be fully considered if a full defence is mounted..
The reason for this update is to ascertain whether there is goodwill to continue to fund this fight to safeguard the gains that have been made for the building industry.as a whole.
If you have a view one way or the other please indicate in email to;
If there is a level of support we will create a new givealittle. page and give the wider public a chance to contribute..
Thanks again for your support.
With the generous support of so many donors we were able to get this result that benefits all LBP's
as with all decisions there is some gains and losses
1. Judge Gibson didn’t in the end agree that registrar was acting unlawfully and gave the registrar some license to include other matters I don’t think he understood the role as well as he could have? This was despite his emphasis on this issue at the hearing. I think this issue is still unsettled and he hasn't appreciated the difference between the registrars role to present the complaint to the board and the boards different independent power to investigate?
2. We won on the RoW not being required as contract cancelled and s87 applied This reinforces the Ali/Kumar decision which is also referenced in the decision and fortuitously was issued during the period that the judge was considering our decision.
3. The judge made a useful ruling that building work is only RBW if exemptions to obtaining a building consent did not apply. He stated that if he hadn't already squashed the decision, he would have referred the matter back to the BPB for a ruling on whether the work was covered under schedule 1 and therefore not RBW. This is an important precedent for clarifying this meaning of RBW
if you want the decision please email me (buildingconsultant@xtra.co.nz)
This decision means that the Building Practitioners Board has now had three strikes (including the Beattie and Ali decisions and it is hoped this may cause it to review its processes..
Thank you again for your support.
The appeal was heard by Judge Gibson on the 16 Oct. He has reserved his decision.
We are hopeful this will be available is 2-3 weeks
Jeff and his lawyer are positive about the way the hearing proceeded.
As soon as the decision is available I will post to you all.
Once again thank you for your support.
as sometimes happens the original appeal date had to be vacated due to another hearing conflict. The new date is 16 Aug.
Submissions have been provided and we look forward to this date to settle the matter.
Thank you all fro your patience and support We will update you after the hearing
Thank you all for the marvellous support Jeff really appreciates it. We all wonder whether these battles are just our own and the public support is encouraging and humbling.
We have exceeded the initial target but are accepting further donations as we are unsure at the final costs. Any excess funds will be used appropriately but more on that later if required.
At present we are working to a possible hearing date of 10 May but otherwise set for 31 May (likely).
Thank you again for the support.
