Update: 7:48 am – Thirty-four of the village’s 161 residents were moved out of Eastcliffe Retirement Village in Ōrākei last week.
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Whai Rawa, which owns the retirement complex, found the problems in an apartment block late last week when doing weather-tightness work.
Testing found walls were not up to code or in line with the plans, raising concern the building’s structure may not withstand a fire or earthquake.
Director Ngarimu Blair said the block was built at the same time as four others so they had decided to move the residents.
“It’s devastating – not only for the residents but also for ourselves. We certainly never wanted this sort of thing to happen. It’s affected a lot of home owners around New Zealand; there’s been a lot of shoddy building practice and we’ve certainly had that in regard to these units.”
Mr Blair said other accommodation had been organised but it was too early to say how long residents would be there.
“It just depends on the extent of the problem and what the future options will be so we just simply don’t know at this point.
“We’re informing them as we go along – as information comes to hand.”
Mr Blair said he was hoping to relocate everyone safely by the end of the week.
“We understand how unsettling this is for them, and we are grateful that they have been very supportive of our approach. We couldn’t in good conscience allow residents to live in homes that are potentially unsafe.”
Auckland Council said in a statement it did not have any specific concerns at this stage but would continue to liaise with the owners.
“[The] council understands Ngāti Whātua Whai Rawa has made a decision to relocate tenants from one of its buildings, and the council has not issued a dangerous building notice,” general manager of building control Ian McCormick said.
“The council has been working through a recladding programme with the property owner for a number of years. Several of the buildings were issued with notices to fix in 2010 because of weather-tightness concerns, and we have been working very closely with the property owner to address this.”
A building consent was in place for the reclad that was currently under way on one of the blocks, the council said.
-RNZ
