The $73,000 paving programme, mostly at the southern end of the street, was part of a $2.5 million-$3 million redevelopment that included wider footpaths, landscaping and benches to accommodate the expected growth in pedestrian traffic over the next 25 years.
Turnbull Contracting, on behalf of the Queenstown Lakes District Council, has paved more than 500sq m of Camp St and found faults with 70sq m.
It was not until the paving tiles had been in the ground for some time and exposed to moisture that contracting and council staff noticed cracks in some of them, the QLDC general manager engineering services, Mark Kunath, said.
"With any work undertaken for the council and the community there is a need for stringent quality control. In a job involving this many pavers, there would always be an expectation that some pavers would need to be replaced.
"The number of failed pavers is around 14%, which is higher than we would have expected. But the council was not prepared to leave any substandard or faulted pavers in the street."
Mr Kunath said the Chinese basalt pavers were chosen from several evaluated options as part of the Shotover St project in 2004. Council installed a sample paving section and invited public comment.
The Chinese pavers were supplied by SCE Stone and Design Ltd.
The Auckland and Whangarei-based company would pay the cost of transporting replacement pavers and the Chinese manufacturer would pay for the new pavers, SCE business development co-ordinator Dani Foote said.
"We've never had this problem before. It's inherent with that particular batch and it was no good for council's requirements. The suppliers are sending stones again and we've told them to have quality checks in place."
The council would continue to deal with SCE until the end of the project, Mr Kunath said.
"The Chinese pavers were submitted to independent testing for strength and slip resistance and were evaluated as the best option considering price and performance. The supplier has stood by the product, which is a natural product and subject to natural variations."
The Camp St redevelopment was still on budget and due for completion by the end of November, he said.
