Leaky home register

[Rizowz]

Hello, have done a fair bit of research on here and google as well, and can't get a definitive answer.

Regarding homes that are deemed 'leaky'. Is there a website or some sort of register of these places that is kept somewhere permanently for astute people to investigate further? Or is it more a case of buyer beware etc. Obviously a potential house purchase should nowadays include a moisture inspection, particularly if it is 'that' sort of cladding, but if that gets fixed, will that fact always be around that it did/does leak? I'm thinking perhaps if a house needs a full reclad, then if they council gets notified/involved there will then be something always on the council file and/or LIM relating to this?
So if a house had moisture ingress issues, (e.g. cladding failure, rotting untreated timber etc) and somebody were to reclad/repair to a good standard so any leaks were gone, and didn't notify the council regarding any consents or codes of compliance, then nobody would be any the wiser right?

Sorry this is a little bit difficult to follow, but I will compare it to an example with vehicles; if a car is written off by an insurer due to water damage, it is very very difficult and expensive to get re-complied (major engineer reports etc), yet if a vehicle is just de-registered for some reason, it is a lot simpler to re-register provided the car is in good condition (even if the vehicle was water-damaged, but non-notified to NZTA). Even if this water-damaged car is repaired back to a good standard and recomplied for road use (much the same as recladding a leaky building and having a current code of compliance) it is forever visible that the car was written off for water damage by running a check on it, and as such the vehicle has a lower value compared to an 'original' car and will always have that stigma attached to it for any potential purchaser.

Basically, is there any way to find out if a home has been reported or noted as a leaky home previously?

Cheers,
Rizowz

[eri]

basically it seems as there is so much money tied up in this for owners councils and home owners that a register has been resisted.....

plus the definition of "leaky" is next to impossible as all homes leak and most get repaired...

[speights boy]

What did these guys say?

http://www.hobanz.org.nz/ContactUs.html

[Rizowz]

Well I had a good read of their website, and although it is a useful resource for anybody with a modern leaky home, I stopped short of emailing them

[lukasr]

that is an interesting one

home has been reported or noted as a leaky home previously

That is an interesting one BUT:
reported by whom?
noted where?

It wouldn't be difficult to set something up like that - but you'd need pretty good quality sources for this information.

Also, there are different definitions and categories of leaky - a bank may hold a different view on what constitutes a leaky building than a property management company for example.

Would you consider leaky anything that went trough the weather tightness tribunal - isn't that publicly available somewhere?

[Rizowz]

That is an interesting one BUT:
reported by whom?
noted where?

It wouldn't be difficult to set something up like that - but you'd need pretty good quality sources for this information.

Also, there are different definitions and categories of leaky - a bank may hold a different view on what constitutes a leaky building than a property management company for example.

Would you consider leaky anything that went trough the weather tightness tribunal - isn't that publicly available somewhere?

Yes that's exactly my question, where would it be notified? At this point it sounds as if the answer to any sort of national database of leaky homes does not exist, and I'm starting to think it lies more in what one might find on the LIM or council file.

I guess further on from that, what sorts of things would you expect to find on the LIM or property file relating to a leaky home repair? e.g. building consent application for re-clad? would this even be on there if it wasnt considered structural?


Yes perhaps the weathertight resolutions people (part of the MoJ website?) have some sort of database, or even a list of cases, much the same as you can look up tennancy issues of LL vs. Tennant with the DBH.

[Rizowz]

I was thinking along the lines of the LIM I guess in my original question. For example, you have those things that state is this property succeptable to high wind, is it a flood zone, is your house built on a toxic waste dump beside a maori burial ground etc etc. They may have something along the lines of "has this home had any reported cladding/framing/strcture failure" but I'm sure more likely one would just have to look for the signs like building consents for re-cladding etc.

[leakyhomeforum]

Claims with the Weathertight Homes Tribunal are recorded on the LIM. A High Court Claim of course, will not be on the LIM. Any repairs to a house for weathertightness or durability issues require a building consent in most regions, therefore a full property history check will uncover such repairs as the building consent and hopefully CCC will be included. This information will not be in the LIM. If the building work was done without a building consent, it is illegal. This is a common trick builders play with clients, they say the repairs are "maintenance", not "repairs". No amount of work to rectify weathertightness issues are deemed maintenance though, and they always lose in court if they plead that. Whether the repairs are legal or not, claimed through the Tribunal or court, the builder and home owner are liable for any non-compliance issues for 10-years after the repairs were completed, as per the 10-year longstop in the Building Act 2004. Leaks, as one would expect, fall into the 'non-compliance' category. Hope that clears things up for you. Cheers.

[Rizowz]

Thanks for your reply.

Any repairs to a house for weathertightness or durability issues require a building consent in most regions, therefore a full property history check will uncover such repairs as the building consent and hopefully CCC will be included. This information will not be in the LIM.

So... where might it be found? property file? what other 'property history check' is there?

Cheers,
Rizowz

[leakyhomeforum]

Yes, I mean the property file. I didn't use that exact terminology for two reasons. One, I'm not sure that all TA's actually offer one, and two, some TA's have been known to 'miss out' including some documents in property searches (due to poor administration), so you might be better off specifying which documents you want, rather than just asking for the 'property file'. I hope this makes sense...