Auckland District Court heard that between 2000-2003 CHH sold timber labelled as MGP10 which did not consistently meet grading standards. An estimated 20,000 new homes were built using the wood during the period.
CHH, which pleaded guilty to 20 charges, may now face further prosecutions and compensation by the Commerce Commission which brought the case.
The New Zealand Timber Industry Federation originally raised concerns about CHH’s timber. Subsequent testing by the commission found some of the wood was not up to the MGP10 grade.
The court heard that documents seized by the commission at CHH offices proved the company knew about the problem since 2001.
