Chamber of Commerce Award
Business Leader of the Year

Holland Beckett is proud to announce that senior partner Bill Holland recently received the Business Leader of the Year award at the Westpac Business awards. Attending the awards in support of clients who have done well in business, it came as a surprise to Bill to receive an award himself. "There are so many people doing good things and flying under the radar, and I was just here to support them. I had no idea I had even been nominated!".

Judges comments from the awards –

Bill has one of the highest profiles in the Tauranga legal community, and is well regarded by his peers. In 2007 he was appointed to the office of Notary Public which is part profession and part community based. He has high ethical standards and is what clients expect of their lawyer. He also reflects what the profession should expect of anyone working in the law.

He works very hard for the community using his legal skills to contribute on a voluntary basis to assist with many community initiatives including his work with sporting, educational, charities or other not for profit organizations. Bill has had a long history with Rotary, being awarded the Paul Harris Fellow, and ultimately the Paul Harris Sapphire Pin award in 2007.

Alongside two other previous winners of this Leadership Excellence Award, Sally Morrison and Neil Craig, Bill is Chair and a founding member of the Acorn Foundation. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Foundation which in years to come will have an enormous benefit to this community. Acorn has to date distributed over $70,000 to local charities.

Bill, along with Greg Brownless, is trustee of Legacy Trust, another philanthropic entity set up to benefit the community and has to date distributed $300,000 back into the community. Bill is also a member of the Priority One Board.

It goes without saying that behind every great man is an even greater woman. Bill's involvement would not have been possible without the support of Sally Holland. She is extremely supportive of his community activities and at times very tolerant of Bill's energy to become involved. Bill Holland is an outstanding member of our community.

A year after moving to the Hub on Cameron at the corner of Cameron Road and Eleventh Ave the New Zealand Institute of Architects ("NZIA") and Design Institute of New Zealand ("DINZ") have affirmed what we and our clients already knew - we arguably have the best legal offices in the Waikato Bay of Plenty and maybe New Zealand.

NZIA Awards:

We recently joined our Interior Architect, David Wingate of Wingate Farquhar Architects, at the Waikato Bay of Plenty NZIA Awards evening in Hamilton. Partner, John Mackay was honoured to accept two awards on behalf of Holland Beckett. The first being the Commercial Fitout of the Year which included the following comments from the judges:

"An unconventional open plan approach has been used for this conservative professional office, arranged on two floors and linked by a generous open staircase.  A light and spacious work environment transforms previously closed offices into an open plan arrangement which brings principals and staff together, while retaining all cleint-related activities on the upper floor.  Imaginative glazed walls and partitions from acoustically separated spaces without compromising the open layout."

Of more surprise was the Resene Colour award for bold use of colours. Given early concerns that there were too many white surfaces the introduction of soft furnishings and art ultimately completed the look. The judges made the following comments with reference to this award:

"Splashes of strong primary colour, treated consistently across soft furnishings, light fittings and furniture detailing, together with warm timber and cool metal materials, lift the muted tones of the wall finishes."

The photos below are testament to the justification for both awards.

DINZ Awards:

David Wingate attended the National Awards in Auckland as our fitout was a finalist in the National Spatial Design Office and Workplace Environments category. Once again success abounded with our premises receiving the bronze award.

While proud to be acknowledged by both institutes the true test is how our new offices work on a day to day basis. Both the work floor and meeting floor are functioning beyond expectations. The key features that have set us apart are as follows:

• Pavilion style meeting floor finished to an extremely high standard with tasteful art and soft furnishings;
• Client floor and work floor linked by an American Ash timber stair set alongside and American Ash feature wall;
• 6 meeting rooms and a boardroom on the meeting floor;
• All staff and partners working in an open plan work area;
• Operable wall between boardroom and meeting room 6 to open up the rooms for presentations and client functions;
• A series of quiet rooms to allow partners and staff on the work floor for drafting and research;
• IT and AV solutions in the boardroom including telephone and video conferencing, integrated sound system and large flat screen television;
• Communal staff areas including the staff lunch room ("CAFE") positioned in the prime space facing Cameron Road.

Meeting Room 5 back to Reception	Workfloor from staff lunchroom
Boardroom	Waiting area on Level 3
Cross-section Level 2 and 3	Meeting Room 6 & Boardroom from the deck
On the Level 2 workfloor	Across waiting area meeting rooms 1 to 5
The link between Level 2 & 3	Arriving at Level 3 to greet clients

 

 

The impact on a home owner who discovers that they own a "leaky home" can be devastating both financially and mentally.

But what can be even more devastating is for a home owner to find out that although they have a "leaky home" they are unable to sue any of the people legally responsible. This is because, quite simply, they are out of time.

Therefore, it is important for home owners to be aware that there are various time limits that apply if they want to bring a claim against those responsible for their leaky home.

The main time limit for home owners to be aware of is that they have 10 years from the date their home was built to bring a claim. So, generally speaking, if your home was built over 10 years ago, then you are unable to bring legal proceedings against those responsible.

Home owners who have a "leaky home" have the option of using the Weathertight Homes Tribunal (set up by the Government specifically for leaky homes) or going through the Courts. The ten year time limit (with slight variations as to when it commences) applies regardless of which option is chosen.

However, it is important to also be aware that when the clock stops is different depending on whether the Weathertight Homes Tribunal or the Courts is chosen. In using the Weathertight Homes Tribunal a home owner has to have applied for an Assessor's Report within 10 years of their home being built. If using the Courts, proceedings must be filed within the 10 years from the date of the act or omission on which the proceedings are based.

There are also a number of other time limits that apply depending on the nature of the claim and who is being sued. Working out how these time limits apply to a leaky home claim can be quite complicated and legal advice is necessary, especially if it is getting close to the various time limits being up. The time limits are such it can be a matter of days between being able to bring a claim against those responsible and not being able to bring a claim.

So, if you think your home may be leaky and it is getting close to being 10 years old, then don’t procrastinate. It is a simple matter to talk to Holland Beckett about your options and we can advise you how best to ensure that you do not end up without any legal remedies because you are out of time.

The information supplied in this article is in general terms and should not be relied upon without taking legal advice particular to each situation.

Seminars coming soon...

Bill and John's positive messages for Tauranga

An opportunity recently presented itself for Partners' Bill Holland and John Mackay to inspire others to focus on the positive aspects of the Bay and promote Tauranga as a vibrant and exciting city to live, play and raise a family. 

Click below to listen to their sound bites currently playing on More FM.