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Other guidance information

Other guidance information published under section 175 of the Building Act 2004.

Quick guides for builders working in the Canterbury Green Zone

What sort of publications are they: Quick guides.
Who it's for: Builders in Canterbury and interested others.
What it contains:Quick overview of requirements for building in the Canterbury Green Zone. They are an introduction to the detailed MBIE guidance Repairing and rebuilding houses affected by the Canterbury earthquakes.

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Guidance: Repairing and rebuilding houses affected by the Canterbury earthquakes

Guidance on house repairs and reconstruction following the Canterbury earthquake. What sort of publication it is: Industry guidance document.
Who it's for: engineers, designers, builders, Building Consent Authorities (BCAs), insurance companies.
What it contains:This guidance provides robust and well-balanced engineering solutions for repairing and rebuilding earthquake-damaged houses in the Canterbury region.  

You can download this guidance as six separate PDFs:

This guidance is issued under section 175 of the Building Act, and supersedes all earlier versions.

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Transitional Arrangements for Internal Surface Finish Requirements for Building Code Clauses Protection from Fire

Guidance for internal surface finish requirements for Building Code Clauses Protection from Fire cover What sort of publication is it: Guidance document
Who is it for: Fire designers, Building Consent Authorities and suppliers of wall and ceiling lining materials.
What it contains: Guidance about how to comply with the new test methods for verifying internal surface finishes specified in the revised Building Code clauses C1-C6, Protection from Fire (2012).  

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Guidance to assist the development of temporary accommodation to house workers in greater Christchurch

Guidance to assist the development of temporary accommodation to house workers in greater Christchurch cover What sort of publication is it: Industry guidance document
Who is it for: designers, builders, developers, engineers and architects and project management organisations
What it contains: Guidance to assist the design and construction of temporary worker accommodation in the context of the greater Christchurch rebuild.

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Guidelines for the investigation and assessment of subdivisions on the flat in Canterbury

Status: This document updates the previous version of the guidance entitled 'Guidelines for the geotechnical investigation and assessment of subdivisions in the Canterbury region' which was published in November 2011.
What sort of publication is it: Industry guidance document
Who is it for: engineers, designers, builders, contractors, Building Consent Authorities, insurance companies
What it contains: Guidelines for the investigation and assessment of subdivisions in the Canterbury region. It lists documents that give guidance on the requirements for geotechnical investigations for subdivisions and on the assessment of liquefaction risk. It summarises the minimum requirements for assessing liquefaction for land development in Canterbury.

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Guidance on barrier design

What sort of publication is it: Guidance information
Who is it for: Building consent authorities, designers, builders, manufacturers and installers of barriers, and others interested in the quality of buildings.
What it contains: Guidance on how to achieve Building Code compliance for barrier design.

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Guidelines for documenting Fire Safety Designs

"" What sort of publication is it? Colour guidance document
Who it’s for? Fire Designers, Building Consent Authorities and building consent applicants.
What it contains: Guidance about how fire design should be communicated and documented, including evidence of design methodology. It encourages good quality design documentation to make building consent processes easier for both designers and regulatory authorities.
How to get it:

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Guidance on using NZS 3604 construction on ground with potential for liquefaction

Guidance on using NZS 3604 construction on ground with potential for liquefaction What sort of publication is it: Guidance information
Who it's for: Building consent authorities, designers, engineers, builders, homeowners and others interested in the quality of buildings.
What it contains: Guidance information for those building to NZS 3604:2011 construction where there may be potential for liquefiable soils, and who may choose to use foundation details even more robust than those provided by the Acceptable Solution B1/AS1.  

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Guidance on reinforcement for concrete slabs-on-ground

Guidance on reinforcement for concrete slabs-on-ground What sort of publication is it: Guidance information
Who it's for: Building consent authorities, designers, engineers, builders and others interested in the quality of buildings.
What it contains: Guidance on an alternative solution option for the reinforcing steel mesh specified in the Acceptable Solution B1/AS1 (as amended on 1 August 2011).

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Immediate changes to seismicity and foundation details for Christchurch

Information sheet - seismicity changes cover image

Status: Superseded by changes made on 1 August 2011 to the B1 supporting documents
What sort of publication is it: Information sheet
Who it's for: Building consent authorities, designers, engineers, builders, and others interested in the quality of buildings.
What it contains: Information on increasing the seismic hazard factor for Canterbury and requiring stronger foundations for buildings through immediate changes to the Building Code Structure documents. The main topics it covers are:

  • Changes to Structure verification method B1/VM1
  • Changes to Structure Acceptable Solutions B1/AS1 and B1/AS3

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Pink is Tough - A Quick Guide to Timber Treatment for Enclosed Framing

Pink is Tough brochure cover What sort of publication is it: Information booklet 
Who it's for: Building consent authorities, designers, builders, trade merchants and others interested in the quality of buildings .
What it contains: Details amendments to Acceptable Solution B2 /AS1 for radiata pine and Douglas fir. The main topics it covers are:
  • H1.2 (currently boron) treatment, is required for nearly all radiata pine and Douglas fir enclosed timber framing 
  • Table giving overview of which timber treatments are used where  
  • Reference diagrams detailing where timber treatment is used in B2/AS1 
  • When the new system came into effect 

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Using the Product Assurance Framework to support Building Code compliance – A guide for manufacturers and suppliers of building products

Product Assurance Framework guidance document cover. What sort of publications they are:Industry guidance document.
Who it's for: Manufacturers, suppliers, importers, distributors, direct marketers, trade merchants and retailers of building products in the New Zealand market.
What it contains: The guide covers the following:
  • a summary of New Zealand's building regulatory environment
  • introduces the risk-based product assurance framework and lays out the options for manufacturers and suppliers etc to achieving building code compliance
  • outlines to manufacturers, suppliers etc their responsibilities in providing building products with the necessary technical evidence to demonstrate code compliance
  • informs manufacturers of the audiences they need to support in the design/build process
  • case examples and flow charts.

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Guidelines for energy efficient HVAC plant

What sort of publication is it: Guidance information
Who it's for: Designers and building consent authorities.
What it contains: Provides guidance on the appropriate energy efficiency measures for HVAC systems in commercial buildings.

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Quick guide - Building code requirements: house insulation 

What sort of publication is it: Guidance information
Who it's for: Designers and building consent authorities.
What it contains: Simple ways to comply with house insulation requirements in the Building Code.

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Guidance for complying with new energy efficiency requirements for houses in Northland

What sort of publication is it: Guidance information
Who it's for: House designers and building consent authorities in Northland. 
What it contains: on how new houses in Northland can comply with the energy efficiency provisions of thee building code. In particular, it highlights that new houses may not require double glazing when the BPI (Building Performance Index) is used to show compliance with NZBC clause H1.

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