Court of Appeal upholds the Ministry’s product liability claim

Education Minister Hekia Parata and Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye have welcomed today’s judgement from the Court of Appeal about the Ministry of Education’s case against Carter Holt Harvey over leaky school buildings.

In 2013, the Ministry started legal proceedings, on behalf of schools, against Carter Holt Harvey, James Hardie and CSR Building Products Ltd alleging the supply of defective building products.

Ms Parata says settlements have already been reached with James Hardie and CSR.

“Today’s judgement means Carter Holt Harvey’s bid to have the claim struck out was unsuccessful and upholds an earlier ruling from the High Court.

“This action is about protecting Crown assets, offsetting remediation costs and promoting better building practices in the future.

“It’s important we do everything we can to ensure children can learn in modern, comfortable environments that inspire them to succeed.”

Ms Kaye says the Ministry remains open to settlement discussions with Carter Holt Harvey.

“The Ministry has already repaired school buildings at greatest risk of weather-tightness failure, and has a programme in place to work through the remaining school buildings.

“We’ve felt strongly about this action because of the disruption caused to so many schools and students, as well as the costly remediation programme.

“Over the last few years, we’ve invested $4 billion to ensure that more New Zealand students and teachers have the best possible modern learning environments.”

The Ministers are unable to make further comment on the case as it is still before the court.