Healthy Homes Standards have Changes

Changes to the healthy homes standards came into force on 12 May 2022. The changes primarily affect the heating standards, but there are also modifications to ventilation, moisture ingress and drainage standards.

Heating: If your rental property was built to the 2008 Building Code and the insulation and glazing meets the 2009 insulation and glazing standards, you can apply the new heating formula when assessing your property’s heating obligations. This acknowledges that modern homes are generally warmer, dryer and easier to heat than older properties. The changes allow the fitting of a smaller heating unit in your rental and, as an added benefit for tenants, a smaller unit uses less power.

Ventilation: The standards now allow for certain existing continuous mechanical ventilation systems to comply with the ventilation standards. The key is, however, that the system must extract the air outside, meaning HRV and DVS systems won’t be sufficient. If you already have a continuous mechanical ventilation system in place, you may not need to do further work to comply with this requirement.

Moisture ingress and drainage: Additional guidance is available in relation to moisture barriers, particularly where installation is not reasonably practicable in the subfloor area.

DISCLAIMER: All the information published is true and accurate to the best of the authors knowledge. It should not be a substitute for legal advice. No liability is assumed by the authors or publisher for losses suffered by any person or organisation relying directly or indirectly on this article. Views expressed are those of individual authors, and do not necessarily reflect the view of this firm. Articles appearing in this newsletter may be reproduced with prior approval from the editor and credit given to the source. Copyright, NZ LAW Limited, 2019. Editor: Adrienne Olsen. E-mail: adrienne@adroite.co.nz. Ph: 029 286 3650 or 04 496 5513.