Doors removed from $275m foreign ministry building after asbestos discovery

Wednesday, 3 September 2025

A $275 million building under construction for the foreign ministry has been troubled by the potential discovery of asbestos in its fire doors.

Pacific Doors Systems, one of the country’s major suppliers, announced earlier this week that asbestos has been discovered in its products, potentially affecting 13 types of doors it had sold.

Government regulators WorkSafe and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) are now involved.

MBIE said it has been advised they intended to voluntarily recall the fire doors.

Already affected by the discovery has been the construction of 61 Molesworth St, a 11-storey Precinct Property building under construction for an important occupant, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT).

Work is due to be completed on the new-build by the end of 2025.

A Precinct Property spokesperson said it had been made aware of the industry-wide potential issue with fire doors imported into New Zealand through its main contractor LT McGuinness and had removed the doors as a precaution as it was investigated.

It couldn’t immediately say how many doors were affected.

MFAT was aware of the issue.

“Precinct, the company managing the build of 61 Molesworth St and its main contractor LT McGuinness have advised investigations are under way as to whether any of the doors at the site are impacted. As a precaution all potentially impacted doors have been removed from the site.”

Asbestos is a mineral that was in prior decades used in building products such as cement cladding, insulation boards, pipes, and flooring, for its durability. The material is resistant to heat, chemicals, and does not conduct electricity.

But asbestos is made up of tiny fibres which, when disturbed, can release these fibres into the air, and cause disease when inhaled. A single exposure can cause serious health problems in later life, according to WorkSafe.

MBIE’s head of building system delivery and assurance, Simon Thomas, said it was notified on July 30 by WorkSafe of an issue with fire retardant boards, imported into New Zealand via Australia by China, testing positive for asbestos.

“MBIE has engaged with suppliers within the industry who may have supplied the potentially affected product. Pacific Door Systems…has published a notice on their website and are informing relevant parties as part of steps to help ensure safe working and handling practices in connection with fire-rated doors that may be impacted.

“MBIE is reliant on the manufacturer to identify where the doors are located and the quantity impacted.”

Installed doors were considered safe if undamaged and unaltered, and the presence of asbestos will not detract from the fire resistance and performance of the door, Thomas said.

It became illegal to import raw asbestos into New Zealand in 1984, and to important products containing asbestos in 2016.

Pacific Doors Systems on Monday issued a notice to customers which said it had become aware of asbestos fibres within the core of a fire-rated door through the testing a product imported into Australia.

The Post has contacted Pacific Doors.

The “FRB board” or “FRB core” within the door that was contaminated with asbestos was manufactured by a third-party, that was not disclosed. The contamination did not appear to be “uniform” through the specific products.

The door company was now using a different supplier for the core of such doors.

An investigation was under way, and a “significant volume of testing” of doors the company had in stock had occurred, with a small percentage shown to contain asbestos.

So far, the company had listed 13 doors it sold that may be affected by the asbestos contamination.