Life Lessons From A Leaky Building

By Robyn Horsfall

$16.75 USD

Strategies for Personal Resilience

New Zealand has experienced the horror of several years of homes, schools and offices being built that actually proved not to be weather tight. In NZ the tragedy became known as the Leaky Building Syndrome.

Many people found themselves living in homes that not only leak, but because of excess moisture; poor building materials and a fairly warm, wet climate, are actually growing fungi and mould which are toxic to health.

Sadly no-one has accepted responsibility. Not the architects who brought a new concept of building which is totally unfit for NZ conditions; not the actual builders who must have known that what they were building would not be water-tight and certainly not the local councils who approved the building work.

And meanwhile the homes deteriorate; some have even been condemned - many, many families are left with no hope of ever selling the homes; are faced with bills in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to patch up shoddy work - there have even been suicides!

This directly from the author:

‘My name is Robyn Horsfall and for the past 5 ½ years I've been a member of the Body Corporate Committee for Farnham Terraces in Parnell, Auckland - the last 18 months of this as the Body Corporate Chairperson. Our complex has 41 units and was completed in the mid-1990's.

To say we have a "leaky building" is something of an understatement. Unlike many of the leaky buildings out there looking to fix their problems, our experts tell us that because of fundamental structural issues (and a myriad of other issues), our best solution is to tear down and rebuild the entire complex. This has resulted in ours being one of the largest claims in New Zealand leaky building history and it being strongly contested by the defendents.

Back in September 2004 when we commenced legal proceedings we thought the process would run for about 18 months. Sadly this hasn't been the case and one of the defendents brought an application to strike out our claim in 2007. An initial case, an appeal and a further application for appeal later (all of which they lost), we are now gearing up to go to court for our actual case in October 2010.

To date we have spent in the region of $1.2 million on legal fees, experts' costs and remedial "patch" work to keep the complex liveable. Our current estimates are for almost as much again to cover both preparatory work and an 8 week case if we actually go to court in October.

I'm sure you can begin to appreciate the stress and financial strain this has caused all of us as owners, particularly in the current economic climate - every one of us has our own story and life that this is impacting.

So yes this book is based on the challenges of the Leaky Home Syndrome, but it is also a book about resilience in the face of extreme adversity.

The author talks about:

• The bounce back factor
• That life isn't always fair
• That things always turn out OK in the end
• That anger and frustration can sometimes sneak up, but we can still choose whether or not to be a victim

This book is a must read for anyone who is facing adversity; whether that be a health challenge; a relationship challenge, a career challenge, or a leaky building challenge.

$16.75USD

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Life Lessons From A Leaky Building

By Robyn Horsfall

$16.75 USD

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