Timing of New Treated Timber Requirements

Timing of New Treated Timber Requirements

The NZ Building Industry Federation has welcomed the announcement today by the Building Industry Authority that the new requirements for using treated timber in houses will now be introduced in two stages over the next year.

In December 2003 the Authority announced that new, higher levels of timber treatment would apply from 1 April 2004. (Referred to in the building trade as Acceptable Solution B2/AS1)

Federation Chief Executive John Pfahlert said the decision by the Authority will now allow houses that were issued with a building consent under the old rules until 31 March 2005 to be completed.

“This is important for homeowners who were part way through construction when the rule changes were announced last December. They faced the prospect of either having to replace untreated timber with treated timber after the council had issued them a consent to build and construction had started, or completing construction under their original consent knowing the council would not issue a code compliance certificate.”

Mr Pfahlert said the decision will also resolve potential problems within frame and truss manufacturing plants who had received forward orders to build components for houses under the old rules.

“For those houses where construction work had already commenced, and will not be completed until well after 1 April, this will be a welcome announcement” said Mr Pfahlert.

Mr Pfahlert said that the issue was not one about the ability of timber merchants to supply timber, but rather the level of work already committed under current regulations which will not be completed by 1 April 2004.

ENDS

New Zealand Building Code The Building Code sets out a range of performance standards that buildings must meet. These cover things like durability (how long parts of a building should last), fire safety, energy efficiency and access.

Building Consent Building Consents are issued by councils where they consider that the Building Code will be met if the proposed building work is carried out in accordance with the submitted plans and specifications. A Building Consent authorizes building work to be carried out and is needed before building work can begin.

Code Compliance Certificate A certificate issued by a council or building certifier at the completion of building work. It confirms that the council or building certifier is satisfied that the finished building complies with the Building Code.

Acceptable Solutions Acceptable Solutions provide a prescriptive means of complying with the clauses of the Building Code. They set out a building method which, if followed, means a building is automatically deemed to comply with the relevant part of the Building Code.

A building can be designed and constructed in a way that differs partially or totally from an Acceptable Solution but can still comply with the Code. This is known as an Alternative Solution and must be considered on its merits by a council or building certifier when determining code compliance.

Acceptable Solution B2/AS1 details the type of treated timber that must be used in different parts of a residential house to ensure the house is durable. Different parts of the house are subject to different risks and require timber with varying levels of treatment to be used.

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