So last vlog I highlight 7 gaps in our New Zealand Building Code and why when it is used as a design guide it fails to create the homes that New Zealanders believe they are getting.

So to recap on the 7 differences, I see between just a legal home and a healthy home, we explored Ventilation, energy efficiency, overheating, internal moisture or humidity, airtightness, insulation and window installation.

Our New Zealand Building Code is a legal document. All building work, whether requiring a building consent or not, has to comply with the Building Code to be legal. Legal building matter, not for the Council or for Architects and Designers, but for homeowners. Illegal buildings cannot be sold without disclosure, don’t qualify for financial lending and aren’t insurable. The NZBC is there to provide protection for the homeowner. It is effectively the set of legal minimums that must be achieved.

Building better products and systems.

I often see substitutions made on architectural projects by builders and what happens is that the client misses out on a better preforming building because they were convinced by someone that they should settle for status quo. If the way we were building was creating better preforming buildings easily, don’t you think we would already be creating healthy comfortable and energy efficient homes?