A compensation case against New Zealand wood products manufacturer Carter Holt Harvey (CHH) relating to the sale of falsely labelled timber will go to trial.
The Supreme Court overturned an earlier Appeal Court decision that said civil compensation proceedings could not be heard because of the time elapsed since the mis-marked timber had been sold (1998-2003).
CHH was fined NZ$900,000 three years ago after pleading guilty to 20 charges of selling MGP10 graded timber which did not consistently meet grading standards.
The Supreme Court said the compensation claim by the Commerce Commission on behalf of people or businesses who bought the timber was not clearly time barred and could be taken to court.
The Commerce Commission believes up to 60,000 houses and other buildings may have been constructed using the timber in question.
