No change to current weathertightness procedure in North Shore City
December 9, 2003

North Shore City Council has no immediate plans to change its existing procedure for assessing new or existing buildings that use monolithic cladding and is not stopping the building of homes using this type of construction.

Last year, the country's fourth largest local authority began requesting more detailed information from consent applicants about the various components related to weathertightness for all new buildings using any type of monolithic cladding.

Based on (but not limited to) information received about the type of cladding used, the provision of a wall cavity and the design, formation and construction of roofs, balconies, parapets and window flashings, the council assesses each application for weathertightness before consent is granted. Additional inspections are then carried out to ensure weathertightness issues have been addressed during construction.

Following recent publicity, there has been some concern and confusion about existing buildings that have used monolithic cladding, but are yet to receive a code compliance certificate.

North Shore City's regulatory and hearings committee chairperson, Gary Holmes, says the code compliance issue has the potential to have a huge impact on property owners, developers and the building industry as a whole, but the council stands by its initial approach.

"Careful consideration is needed before a code compliance certificate can be issued for homes that have not had weathertightness inspections, but this does not mean there will be blanket refusals for code compliance certificates," says Councillor Holmes.

"Owners of existing properties where final inspections may have been carried out months or even years ago, who would now like code compliance certificates, will have their property assessed on a case-by-case basis. If we are satisfied that there is compliance with the building code, a certificate will be issued.

"If we can not determine beyond reasonable doubt that a building complies with the code a certificate will not be issued and we will advise the owner to seek a determination from the Building Industry Authority.

"We believe this is the fairest way of dealing with a difficult situation as we also need to consider the interests of future owners and the community at large, but we will be keeping a close eye on industry developments and revising our procedures if and when necessary," he says.

North Shore City Council advises home owners not to delay requesting a code compliance certificate as the longer it is left after the final inspection, the more difficult it becomes to obtain in the future.

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