Defective and leaky building litigation.
Tim Rainey is widely respected as one of New Zealand’s most experienced and capable advocates in defective building litigation. Tim has presented seminars for the New Zealand Law Society on this subject and has been involved in several of the leading decisions in this area.
Tim’s experience includes negligence claims against local authorities arising out of the performance of their statutory functions under the Building Act as well as claims against architects and engineers and those directly involved in the construction of defective buildings. Tim’s notable cases in this area include:
- Body Corporate 202254 v Taylor [2009] 2 NZLR 17 where Tim acted for the successful appellant. This case addressed the issue of the liability of directors of limited liability companies for acts and omissions in the performance of their role as “director” both in tort and under the Fair Trading Act and remains New Zealand’s leading authority in that area.
- Osborne v Auckland Council [2014] NZSC 67 where Tim acted for the appellants in their successful appeal to the Supreme Court in judicial review proceedings to challenge interpretation of the eligibility criteria for a “claim” under the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services Act 2006. Tim’s argument persuaded the Supreme Court to overturn five prior decisions of the High Court and two prior decisions of the Court of Appeal on that issue.
- Saffioti v Ward [2013] NZHC 2831 where Tim acted for the unsuccessful appellants in an appeal addressing the contractual liability arising from the sale and purchase of a leaky home.
- Body Corporate 326421 v Auckland Council [2015] NZHC 862 where Tim acted for the successful plaintiffs in High Court proceedings against the Council and other parties who were directly involved in the design and construction of a defective multi-storey apartment complex in Orewa. This remains one of the largest defective building cases to go to trial in New Zealand.
- Lee v Whangarei District Council [2016] NZSC 173 where Tim acted for Olivia Lee and her successful appeal against a decision entering summary judgment against her on limitation grounds. The Supreme Court accepted Tim’s argument that applying for an assessor’s report under the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services Act 2006 stopped the clock for limitation purposes on all claims arising out of the property.