A building chief has warned people of potentially fatal consequences after video footage of a young person scaling an Auckland crane tower surfaced online. 

Dan Bosher, Icon NZ director, warned against people breaching construction site security and climbing high-rise cranes. 

Comment was sought after a youth posted footage of himself climbing the crane on the side of the 56-level, $300 million Seascape building. 

A video showing a young man scaling the side of an Auckland high-rise building has surfaced on TikTok. 

‘Highly concerning’ 

The site is the partially finished apartment tower on Customs St East. 

“The consequences are potentially catastrophic for the individual and their family,” Bosher said. 

Dan Bosher heads Icon in New Zealand. The business built the new 41-level tower that is the Hotel Indigo, Auckland with apartments above. Photo / Jason Oxenham 

“We were unaware of the incident until the video was shared with us by the Herald. It is uncertain if the footage is recent. 

“Nevertheless, it is highly concerning and we will be in touch with the police to ensure the nature of the issues captured are reported. We will also check our CCTV camera on-site,” Bosher said. 

Whether the event occurred before Icon took possession of the site on April 30 or afterwards was uncertain. 

A comment on the video – posted to social media site TikTok – says the clip was captured about two to three weeks ago. 

The Auckland Sky Tower can be seen just behind the young man scaling the crane. 

A young man is seen climbing a crane tower on the 54-level Seascape building in downtown Auckland. 

Bosher said Icon found Shundi Customs had good security in place at the site, including security fencing, security alarms, CCTV systems and fulltime security, which includes a night guard undertaking roaming inspections throughout the night. 

“Unfortunately, crane climbing has occurred previously on other sites in Auckland and it’s hard for even the most robust security measures to stop something stupid and potentially self-harming happening.” 

On April 16, the Herald reported how Icon would replace China Construction to finish the 56-level tower. 

“While we remain in the early phase, we continue to make progress,” said an Icon spokesman based in Australia. 

“We are moving quickly to establish our team for the project.” 

Fatal consequences 

In 2019, a 19-year-old Canadian national holidaying in New Zealand died when he fell from a building in Wellington. He had been free-climbing the building at the time. 

Police have put out several warnings to members of the public who have carried out similar daredevil stunts. 

Asked whether authorities had been made aware of this latest video, a police spokeswoman said police had not received any reports about it until now. 

“It’s really important our young people think about taking part in this sort of action. It puts them at risk of serious or fatal consequences,” police said in a statement. 

“There have been instances in recent years in Auckland CBD where we have located people unlawfully inside buildings or building sites.” 

Police also warned that those people had faced enforcement action.