thebears

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/...ectid=10420051

Will this start to force builders to up the quality level? discuss?

Am Loolah

Am Fairy, can't discuss ... anyone else any knowledge on NZ's "Leaky Building Syndrome?" reported by recently arrived friends?

Batty

To be honest, the first thing that jumped out of that article at me was ... RATEPAYERS Apart from that, and assuming that the council doesn't appeal and win, it can only be good for the poor suckers stuck with houses they can't live in and can't sell! I know two people who've had to shell out over $100k each to fix their houses and still if they wanted to sell them people would be very hesitant to buy. Basically, one of the things to look out for are houses that have no eaves for a start and that one is really obvious. Other than that there were some houses with issues with the plastering and even later ones that were supposed to have passed muster have failed watertightness tests. There are a couple of companies that do tests now and I'll post the names when I go back to work on Monday as I don't have them here. There's been a fair few house sales fall over because of the test results.

Personally, I wouldn't buy a house that was built between 1990 (and maybe a few years earlier too) and 2000 without iron clad guarantees that there were no leaky issues (and really how can you get THEM when most of the companies responsible 'went out of business' - yeah right - started up the next day under another name). Especially around Auckland. Obviously not all houses would have this problem but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

southerner

I agree!

thebears

So much for a property boom when developers/builders are going out of business. Shows signs of inflated development (literally about to fall like a pack of cards).

Batty

I was being sarcastic when I said they 'went out of business'. That company by that name may not have been in operation anymore but that company by another name was/is. There are loads of them around.

SecretSquirrel

jesus i though you had to pay extra for that

soulflour

I live in an area that has undergone a MASSIVE boom over the last 3 years. Even now there are WAY more sections for sale than houses! The council development plans for the next 10 years here have put a ring around development of this area as they plan to keep the 'small community' thing going but even so i know of around 200 more sections that will come on over the next year or so (i have a part time admin job in a real estate office, of which there are only two in town! ha ha).

Consequently there is constant building going on around here - and I know of many people personally that have built/are building at the moment - some are using house building companies, some are doing it themselves (in fact a friend of mine who is building himself is sitting about two feet from me right now ).

The council inspections are really really stringent now. There hasn't been a leaky building thing here - i think that was probably more an issue in the big towns? I'm not sure. But i know that the inspections and requirements are such now that I doubt it could happen again (at least here, which is the only area I can speak for).

So really just to say that if you are thinking of building then I think you'll be OK, and if you're thinking of buying, make sure you get someone to inspect the building for build quality first. You can put any conditions you like into a real estate contract (which is how you offer on a house in NZ). Most people get a LIM (which is a report on everything that has happened to the house that the council holds, at least everything that it has permitted for - obv. if someone has done something without the council's knowledge it won't be there!).

But you can also put in with your offer that your offer is subject to an inspection by a qualified building inspector or surveyor, or anyone you want really.

If you're going to buy a house here i'd strongly advise learning the real estate system. It's COMPLETELY different to the English/welsh model so there's no point making comparisons (esp. regarding commissions!!). Just think of it as another industry entirely!!

SF

Dave in Auckland

Be careful, there have been cases of this style of building later than 2000, some anecdotal evidence of them still being built, and non-H6 timber still being used for frames

Batty

We'd never consider buying a new house anyway. Unless we had it built to our specifications and it was sitting in the middle of at least 5 acres

JakeG

Don't want be picky (especially being new to this forum) but you will find few houses made with H6 timber - it's for marine use and would be overkill, although of course if you can afford it, fair enough! H1.2 should be sufficient in a correctly designed and built house for the frame with anything facing the weather such as fascia's probably H3. Just in case you are concerned (maybe having new house built) you can check what you should be using at http://www.nztpc.co.nz/hazardClassDescription.php

With regards the 'leaky homes' alot of the problems (but by no means all) seems to stem from the fashion for 'Mediterranean Style' flat roofed villas (also angled roofs) which just aren't designed for kiwi weather. Coupled with shoddy construction and you have a huge problem.

On another note it's nice to find such an interesting forum - Hello to all

Dave in Auckland

You are of course correct.

This

http://www.leakyhomesactiongroup.org.nz

is a good site to start, if anyone wants to see how the story's developed and it gives pointers on what houses to avoid.

JakeG

...it's just something I picked up on because I have been doing alot of research into the correct spec of building materials (inc timber) and design as I would like to build my own house when I finally make it to NZ. (hopefully I should make it before they bring compulsory registration for all builders as I would like to build a kit house.

My worries have been (brought to my attention by the leaky homes affair) mainly about the lack of correctly designed/installation use of weather flashings such as we seen on UK houses all the time. (Lead flashings around chimney etc). On my trips to NZ I have seen any amount of houses missing flashing where it looks to be needed - and it does't have to be lead, they are available prefabricated now in all sorts of metals from copper to stainless steel.

The other thing I can't understand is why so many of these houses made it first past the NZ building control officer and secondly why building surveys haven't alerted more potential buyers.

Another useful link which I can't remember whether or not has been posted is the Consumer Build's section on this at http://www.consumerbuild.org.nz/publish/leaky.php