Updated 20 November
Last Thursday, Auckland Council staff met with the owner of Sky World and his building system technical experts.
The owners’ technical experts confirmed that all identified specified system issues had now been resolved or were being actively addressed by specialists with a view of having all systems cleared in a month.
“We have gone through the list of outstanding issues and are satisfied that there are no major risks or danger to the occupants of the building,” says Ian McCormick, General Manager Building Consents.
“To clarify, most issues involve clarification of exact locations within the building of every system, and submission of documentation that specifies each and every element has been maintained (e.g. each ventilation filter changed).
“To ensure compliance with the timeframe provided, we have issued a Notice To Fix to the owner instructing him to ensure a Building Warrant Of Fitness is displayed by December 15.”
Mr McCormick says the owner appears fully engaged in working with the council to achieve compliance within the new timeframes.
“They have plans to invest and develop the building into a major Auckland attraction and understand how important it is to get this right now before proceeding with their plans,” he says.
Updated 3 November
Auckland Council takes the safety of the public very seriously. We will always take urgent and appropriate action to ensure safety is a priority as soon as we are alerted to issues.
We would like to reassure people that despite no current Building Warrant of Fitness being issued by the owner for the Sky World building, we have no cause to believe there is a risk to public safety.
On 20 December 2016, following concerns that the system which activates the building’s automatic fire systems, not the fire system itself, was not operating correctly, the council issued a Dangerous Building Notice (DBN) to Sky World at 291 Queen Street.
The building has been safe at all times. Auckland Council urgently worked with the NZ Fire Service to ensure alternative fire safety systems were in place immediately to ensure the safety of occupiers and visitors.
While the building owners have been slow to fulfil their statutory requirements, at no time has there been a risk to public safety.
In conjunction with the NZ Fire Service, Auckland Council required the owners to implement urgent mitigating measures to ensure the safety of the occupants and visitors to the 80 different businesses in the building. Immediate safety measures included security guards in each of the cinemas and food hall when these areas were accessible and open to the public.
The building owners undertook works needed to address the defects to the automatic fire system. This was done to the satisfaction of both Auckland Council and the NZ Fire Service and on 16 May, following the upgrade works, the DBN was removed.
The council continues to work closely with the building owner in respect to the 2017 Building Warrant of Fitness (BWoF). A BWoF is an annual certification by the building owner or its agent that specified systems in a building have been inspected and maintained.
The compliance schedule lists the specified systems and their expected performance. This includes everything from fire safety systems to extractor fans and hearing loops.
The council is expecting the relevant BWoF and supporting documentation imminently. If the owner does not provide this, legal remedies under the Building Act 2004 will be enforced by the council.
