Civil litigators, in the Auckland High Court at least, will know of many leaky building cases dealing with multi-unit developments, a fact attested to by the frequent appearance of such proceedings in the daily Court list.  Such proceedings are a natural by-product of the leaky building phenomenon and, like most litigation, usually settle before trial.

In my earlier article in June 2007 I examined recent decisions at adjudications in the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service and in the High Court involving the potential liability of directors of development companies in the leaky building context.

In casting the net wide to include all potentially liable parties, owners of leaky buildings have frequently sued directors of companies associated with the development of leaky buildings. In the recent and well-known decision of Dicks v Hobson Swan Construction Limited (in liquidation) (2006) 7 NZCPR 881, the High Court held a builder personally liable where his company was insolvent, and where he had built the house. (PDF)