Subj : Council, MBIE reveal history of audits at Parnell backpackers To : All From : News Person Date : Mon Apr 08 2024 01:23 pm compliances" that caused the City Garden Lodge to fail previous BWoF audits. A fire broke out at the backpackers hostel at about 4.30pm yesterday afternoon, with firefighters remaining on standby overnight. An eyewitness said they saw people running from the inferno when it first broke out. Speaking to Breakfast, Auckland Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson said the building had been visited "multiple times" by Auckland Council auditors following compliance failures. Auckland Council's field surveying manager Jeff Fahrensohn told 1News the owner of City Garden Lodge had gained BWoF compliance when their last audit was issued in November last year. "Our Building Warrant of Fitness team has been working closely with the owner of the lodge to gain compliance with their BWoF requirements, with three visits undertaken since July 2023 and another audit scheduled for tomorrow (9 April)." Fahrensohn said a BWoF audit undertaken on July 18 last year failed due to "numerous non-compliances". "A recheck on August 4, 2023, failed again due to the external fire escape not being considered structurally sound." At a follow-up visit on August 22, the stairs had been strengthened sufficiently for the BWoF audit to be passed, with the owner agreeing to arrange a more permanent solution for strengthening the stairs. A new BWoF was issued on 28 November, he said. An audit was scheduled to take place on April 9 this year - tomorrow - to confirm the permanent stair strengthening was completed. "The council's compliance unit will be issuing a Dangerous Building Notice to the lodge today as it is no longer safe to occupy," Fahrenson said. Garden City Lodge is one of approximately 160 buildings used for transient accommodation in Auckland on the council's BWOF register. The council expanded their auditing of building safety systems in transient accommodation in 2023, and will continue to audit them on an annual basis moving forward. MBIE noted 'maintenance and fire safety concerns' The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) had previously visited City Garden Lodge as part of its report into boarding houses across the country. Tenancy compliance and investigations manager Brett Wilson said maintenance and fire safety concerns were noted at the time of the visit in September last year. "Where relevant, MBIE's Building System, Delivery and Assurance team referred those to Auckland Council for follow up, as well as information being provided to building management on the spot." He said MBIE's Tenancy Compliance and Investigations team followed up with the property regarding compliance with the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA). "This investigation was in the process of being closed with a final follow up to be sent to the property owners this week. As a provider of mostly temporary accommodation, it was also noted during the investigation that City Garden Lodge may not be subject to the RTA." Building is 'quite unstable' Assistant Fire Commander Barry Fox told 1News FENZ are in their "investigation phase" as they try to piece together what happened. "The structure is quite unstable, so at this point we've had to utilise other techniques with other appliances to get an aerial perspective," he said. "We've also got our drone team on site to map out the dangers for us and see what we can see." Fox said it was a "well-developed fire" requiring 12 appliances and 45 firefighters to put it out. "Our tactics were limited due to the extent of the damage, particularly to the top storey which was pretty much gone. "[It is] an old building, it was certainly developed as a boarding house with a lot of accommodation in those upper levels that needed to be taken account of." Police appeal for footage Police confirmed investigations are continuing following the fire on St Georges Bay Rd yesterday, and appealed for anyone with footage or information to come forward. Fire and Emergency crews worked to contain the fire and police assisted with traffic management. "At this stage a scene guard remains in place until a fire investigator can attend and make enquiries to determine the cause of the fire," a spokesperson said. Anyone with footage or information was urged to contact police by calling 105. --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A44 2020/02/04 (Windows/64) * Origin: S.W.A.T.S BBS Telnet swatsbbs.ddns.net:2323 (63:10/102) .