A Dunedin man's business, which imports lightweight aerated concrete blocks from China for the construction sector, is one of several companies being investigated by the Commerce Commission.
The investigation and allegations surround Cavan Forde's former CFG Group and subsidiaries between 2007 and 2013, which now trade as SuperBuild International.
The main issue for the Dunedin-headquartered company is centred on the use of the brand name Hebel, for which Mr Forde once had New Zealand rights as sole distributor.
Mr Forde now uses a new Chinese-sourced product, Supercrete, another aerated concrete product.
The story is one of a falling out between Mr Forde, the former Hebel distributor, and Hebel manufacturer and supplier Australian listed CSR Building Products, which turned over more than $A2billion ($NZ2.24billion) last year.
Confusingly, the Supercrete and Hebel brands were on packaging together, with agreement of both CSR and Mr Forde, for two years, before they parted company.
Besides Hebel and Supercrete, there are at least six other products branded ‘‘autoclaved aerated concrete'' (AAC) around the country. AAC is a lightweight high-insulation concrete block or exterior panel used widely in the housing and construction sector.
Yesterday, the ODT asked a Commerce Commission spokeswoman about the investigation into Mr Forde's former companies.
She confirmed the commission had an active investigation into allegations several businesses misrepresented the nature and origin of AAC products. When pressed for more details, she said as it was an ‘‘active investigation'', the commission was unable to provide any further information.
The other companies' names were not revealed.
Allegations have been laid that Mr Forde's product was misrepresented as Hebel, and that there had been product failures, including in a residential property in north Dunedin.
When interviewed by the ODT yesterday, Mr Forde (65) said he was yet to be interviewed by the commission, but had contacted them, and believed they would meet within a few weeks.
‘‘When we get face to face, we'll put all the documentation to them,'' he said.
He stood by all the products of the former company, which also supplies a variety of coating systems including paints, plasters, coatings and rendering.
Allegations have surfaced about three recent product failures around the country, including in Dunedin. Mr Forde said a Dunedin issue had been rectified after ‘‘deformed and defective'' panels from Australia were identified in one house, and were replaced, while a second property had ‘‘defective reinforcing'' from Asia-sourced panels replaced.
Mr Forde was adamant his Supercrete product had the correct appraisals for the building industry since importing began in 2009, and his documentation would stand up to scrutiny from the Commerce Commission.
On the question of a sub-station construction project in Auckland, Mr Forde said AAC product had been damaged while being freighted, and, because of time constraints, the product was repaired, as opposed to replaced.
There was also an issue with a Wellington property, where repairs were estimated beyond $100,000, but Mr Forde claimed the property owner had never contacted him directly.
When asked, Mr Forde said there were no legal proceedings under way against SuperBuild International or any of the former CFG companies.
‘‘We have never misrepresented using Hebel.
‘‘Our Chinese product has only ever had Supercrete [branding], never Hebel. Appraisal documents show this; there's been no misrepresentation on our part,'' he said.
He said because Hebel had been in the country for almost 20 years, it was common for tradesmen and buyers to refer to any AAC product as Hebel.
Mr Forde has had a long association with AAC products, being the first to import them into New Zealand 1994, and had the sole distribution rights to then sell Hebel on behalf of CSR Building Products.
Between 2010 and late 2012, CSR manufactured AAC panels in Australia and they were then distributed by Mr Forde's company, the pair having agreed to put both Supercrete and Hebel on the packaging.
When asked if the agreed twin branding, from 2010 to 2012, would not be confusing for builders and homeowners alike, Mr Forde said it was ‘‘unintentionally confusing ... in retrospect, it shouldn't have been there''.
He said CSR and the former CFG companies reached agreement around various issues, including his New Zealand distribution agreement, in a confidential, out-of-court settlement.
Mr Forde could only say he stopped distributing Hebel in New Zealand, which CSR now does, while his new company, SuperBuild International, distributes only Supercrete.
