Weathertight e-news:
Issue 11 – May 2011
In this issue we cover:
Progress on the Financial Assistance Package
With the second reading of a Bill in Parliament yesterday the financial assistance package for owners of leaky homes is on track to become available in mid-2011.
Under the package, eligible homeowners will receive a 25 percent contribution from the Government and may receive 25 percent from their local council. The contributions will be based on agreed actual repair costs.
Eligible home owners who use the scheme must agree not to sue contributing councils and the Crown, although they can still pursue other liable parties such as builders, developers and manufacturers of defective products.
An amendment to the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services Act 2006 is needed because, although home owners who accept the package must agree not to sue their council, the council could still be drawn into litigation brought by homeowners against third parties such as builders and home designers.
Full details of the package will be announced after the supporting legislation has completed its progress through Parliament.
Meantime home owners close to the 10-year limit on lodging claims can ‘stop the clock' by lodging a claim with the Department of Building and Housing now. They may then choose to apply for the financial assistance package when it becomes operational.
More information on lodging a claim with Weathertight Homes Resolution Services can be found under Bringing a claim.
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Two new guides to assess and repair leaky homes
The Minister for Building and Construction Maurice Williamson has welcomed the publication of two new guides for diagnosing and fixing leaky homes.
The documents; Weathertightness: Guide to the Diagnosis of Leaky Buildings and Weathertightness: Guide to Remediation Design, provide clear, authoritative and practical advice that assessors and designers can refer to when they are undertaking design of weathertightness remediation solutions.
The new Guides provide clear, reliable information for assessing and designing repairs to leaky homes in a cost-effective way, benefiting homeowners and taxpayers.
Assessors used by the Department will be familiar with the content of the Guide to the Diagnosis of Leaky Buildings as they have completed training covering the equipment and methodologies described in the Guide.
Weathertightness: Guide to Remediation Design provides useful information for designers who are unfamiliar with remediation design. It covers issues associated with remediation and focuses on the differences between designing repairs to leaky houses and designing new houses. These include; understanding the condition and constraints of the building, dealing with moulds and decay; and managing associated risks; to develop a solution that works for each homeowner.
The Guide aims to ensure designers undertaking remediation design work understand the important issues and risks and can manage these to produce a successful outcome for the owner.
The Remediation Guide has been published in partnership with BRANZ. The Guides are available from the Department of Building and Housing which developed them with extensive input from designers and other experts from the building sector. You can download both Guides from the weathertight publications section.
The publication of the Guides coincides with the progress of the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services (Financial Assistance Package) Amendment Bill, which is on track to pass into legislation mid year.
Meantime if you have any questions please contact the Department of Building and Housing
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