Plumbers board boss suspended for inquiry

The chief executive of the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board, Phillip Routhan, has been suspended on full pay while being investigated for potentially serious misconduct – and has been ordered to return official board documents.

The information is contained in a ruling from the Employment Relations Authority obtained by The Dominion Post.

The board went to the authority asking it to make Mr Routhan and his legal representative, Chapman Tripp, return official files and documents that he had taken to his home.

Mr Routhan told the authority that either he or Chapman Tripp had the papers, which included personnel files relating to other board staff.

He said they highlighted several problems within the board, including apparent systemic gasfitting certification failures and substantial failures by board employees.

An interim authority ruling was made on September 18 requiring Mr Routhan and Chapman Tripp to return all files, including computer files, to the board.

The authority said in its ruling that "it would be profoundly inequitable ... to condone Mr Routhan's unauthorised removal of company property by acceding to his argument that their return would somehow disclose the nature of the legal advice he has sought and been provided".

Mr Routhan could not be contacted for comment but he told the authority that since July last year he had been subjected to a sustained campaign by members of the present board to undermine him in his role.

Chapman Tripp and board chairwoman Hazel Armstrong did not return messages asking for comment.

The Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board, which is industry-driven with a focus on consumer health and safety, is a statutory board established under the Plumbers Gasfitters and Drainlayers Act.

Its registration and licensing functions are totally funded by revenue from licence and gas certification fees.

Mr Routhan was board chairman in 2006 when the deputy prime minister at the time, Michael Cullen, sacked the entire board.

Dr Cullen's move came after an internal review, and intense select committee scrutiny over an Australian training package that was introduced but found to be outside the board's statutory role.

Mr Routhan was later elected registrar and chief executive of the board.

- © Fairfax NZ News