New Zealand learning from B.C.'s leaky condos

[editor]

CLADDINGS INSTITUTE OF NEW ZEALAND

Here is an excellent website devoted exclusively to building envelope performance. Click on http://www.cinz.org.nz/aboutus.htm for a look at this non-profit organization's objectives and proposed means of achieving same. There are a few well selected articles to download, including Don Hazelden's The Vancouver Experience as well as a link to a recent gov't discussion paper on how New Zealand's building industry ought to be regulated.

Our favorite report, however, is the Weathertightness Study at http://www.cinz.org.nz/newsweathermay02.htm undertaken in 2000, which sets out in plain language the lessons to be learned from North American building failures. The institute will e-mail the full report. Simply click on the e-mail link. Here are the highlights of that report as they appear online:

Building Weathertightness

Weather tightness has become an important issue in New Zealand. The Claddings Institute of New Zealand has been making its members aware of these problems and, in 2000, undertook a study tour to the USA and Canada.

Summary of findings fo the New Zealand Industry Study Tour to the USA and Canada, November 5-10, 2000

Study tour participants:

Brad Ridoutt, Manager Built Environment Programme, Forest Research;

Dale Knox, Systems Design Engineer, James Hardie Building Products;

Guy Cavanagh, Marketing Engineer, Carter Holt Harvey;

Kevin Golding, Manager-Future, Winstone Wallboards;

Philip O'Sullivan, President, Claddings Institute of New Zealand;

Rosemarie Knight, Development Executive, Winstone Wallboards;

Wayne Sharman, General Manager Science and Engineering, BRANZ.

Background

Early last century, New Zealand's residential architecture and construction was influenced greatly by North America. Timber is an abundant resource in both regions and remains the predominant structural material used in housing today.

Since the mid-1980s the range and complexity of cladding materials have flourished allowing a freedom of style and architecture that has changed our residential landscape.

However many of these recent buildings have weathertightness problems. New Zealand's pattern is strikingly similar to reported failures in North America.

A forum was held on weathertightness to help create a greater industry awareness of building leakage. The study tour was one of the outcomes. The tour focused on the PATH Conference on Duarbility and Diaster Mitigation in Housing, held in Madison, Wisconsin, and a visit to Vancouver, Canada on the return leg. This coincided with a meeting of BERC, a reserach consortium that leads weathertightness research at present. Three of the New Zealand group were able to attend that meeting.

Summary of findings

Scientific research is needed to better understand the building envelope and its role with moisture.

Such understanding will eventually lead to a rational approach for the development and design of exterior wall systems.

Technology is best transferred from research agenices to industry by creating useful tools for design and understanding.

Education is necessary for all levels and parts of the industry.

Even with improved codes, the implementation through the design, approval and construction phases will be an elusive goal.

In order to bring about successful outcomes, co-ordinated government agency and industry initiatives are best.

While timber framing is the predominant structural form in housing, it is being challenged by its perceived poor performance during hurricanes and because of reported termite and decay problems.

New Zealand can directly benefit from North American initiatives by monitoring programmes, using their knowledge and adapting this to our needs.

Problem analysis - The North America Situation

US$250 billion industry with 1.6 million new home built each year. 90% are woodframed.

29% of recent houses have problems with 6% considered serious. 90% of surveyed problems are due to rainwater leaks.

The population is increasing most rapidly in durability and disaster prone areas.

The size and complexity of houses are increasing.

Floor levels are too close to the ground.

Loss of roof eaves

Inappropriate use of vapour barriers

Omission of flashings and abuse of sealants

Abuse of claddings by other trades and poor construction sequencing.

English is a second language for many workers.

Multitude of opinions. Science is still evolving and there is a lack of good research.

Condensation within concealed spaces of airconditioned buildings eg. on the underside of floors in subfloor spaces.

Stiffening of buildings from monolithic claddings can generate earthquake damage.

Problem analysis - Canada (British Columbia)

Residential construction is stretched to allow cheaper low-rise condominiums on expensive inner suburban land.

800 three to four-storey condominium complexes were built in Vancouver between 1980 and 1995 with over half of these experiencing water leakage. It is estimated that 50,000 units are affected. Repair costs range from C$35,000 to C$40,000 per condominium unit that have a value of around C$150,000.

Condominiums are often owned by retired people on fixed incomes. They are used as their own homes or sources of income. Some emergency loans are now available.

The builders' home warranty scheme has collapsed.

Buildings are sometimes repaired more than once.

Condominiums are difficult to sell unless the cladding has been replaced, irrespective of damage. Repaired buildings are readily identified by exposed flashings at each flood level.

Leakage problems are also present in highrise buildings.

Given the level of public awareness it is surprising that nothing is being done to rectify problems in attached and detached dwellings.

Key lessons

The Consumer

Consumers expect industry to get it right.

Cheap and inappropriate construction, while seemingly lowering building costs, merely allows land values to rise often to unrealistic levels.

Increased consumer awareness promotes change.

Claddings are vulnerable to owner abuse - blocking vents and rains, inappropriate alterations and poor maintenance.

Science

All buildings leak.

More rain means more rain control is needed.

Moisture penetration is deceptive in its apparent simplicity.

The building envelope must have drying potential.

Greater building complexity leads to lower building performance.

The envelope is a climate transition zone that can provide ideal micro-ecological niches for destructive organisms.

The creation of energy efficent buildings has resulted in tight, cold and unforgiving claddings.

Poor indoor air quality is not related to external leakage. It is due to high occupant density, excessive moisture from internal sources, inadequate ventilation and excessive subfloor moisture.

Buildings are chaotic structures, created in a chaotic manner and occupied by chaotic people. Accurate prediction is not possible.

There must be robustness and a margin of safety in the way we build.

Implementation

Educating the public requires lots of time and money. In the short term industry-based solutions are required.

A common language for weathertightness is needed - simple terms that convey meaning and understanding.

To educate, first we must have knowledge, then we must educate the educators.

Problems can become institutionalised where unreasoned behaviour is not only accepted, it is difficult to change.

Most failures are due to poor implementation, often arising from simple mistakes.

Inspecting quality into building does not work.

Quality comes from personal traits such as knowledge, pride, care and attention to detail.

The claddings institute, according to the website, is also forming committees to formulate a standard of durability and to develop appropriate study for builders.

In general:

We're not sure about the numbers in the B.C. portion of the study, but we're otherwise impressed by the honesty and transparency of information here. A willingness to name the problem and cut to the chase suggests that New Zealand will fix its weathertightness crisis long before B.C. does.

Note the very cryptic finding listed under Problem analysis - Canada (British Columbia) in the Weathertightness Report highlights:

Given the level of public awareness it is surprising that nothing is being done to rectify problems in attached and detached dwellings.

Quite a heads-up to B.C. buyers hoping to escape the condo crisis by buying a house here. Yikes. We'll certainly pursue this site for further developments.

We'll try to contact a condo owners association for further developments and updates. In the meantime, let's find out what NZ engineers and architects have to say:

From: editor [SMTP:editor@bccondos.ca]
Sent: Monday, August 25, 2003 10:54 AM
To: 'nsscott@paradise.net.nz'
Cc: 'editor@bccondos.ca'
Subject: B.C.'s leaky condo experience

Hello NZ Cladding Institutue,

We’re a leaky condo advocacy website from Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada at www.bccondos.ca and we’re trying to find out about construction standards, deficiencies and fixes in other jurisdictions before we all lose our shirts in this debacle. Are you grappling with a similar problem in the Land of the Long White Clouds? If so, how are you solving it? What is the biggest challenge facing NZ building designers?

You can write to us at editor@bccondos.ca or directly to our Worldwide Condos forum.

It’s going to take lots of ideas to get us out of this mess. We are anxious to get your perspective.

Thanks and we look forward to hearing from you.

Editor@bccondos.ca

...No reply. Let's try again:

From: editor [mailto:editor@bccondos.ca]
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2003 11:16 AM
To: nsscott@paradise.net.nz
Cc: editor@bccondos.ca
Subject: Building envelope renovations -- durability guidelines

Hello New Zealand Claddings Institute,

We’re a consumer advocacy website devoted to leaky condos in British Columbia, Canada at http://www.bccondos.caand may we say how impressed we are with your site and what appears to us to be a very streamlined approach to your weathertightness crisis, which we follow in our Worldwide Condos forum. We’d like to know how your committee on durability is progressing and what members have to say about Canada’s S478-95 Guideline on Durability in Buildings Structures (Design), which compares favorably with ISO guidelines according to one report in the three-volume proceedings of the Durability conference here in Vancouver in May, 1999.

Here is the problem in B.C. as we see it: There is a gap, to say the least, between the S478 guidelines on residential buildings and building envelope components and the meager 10-year warranty protection provided under the governing statute. Is there some engineering calculation we’re not aware of that would explain such a gap? Is the nature of building envelope renovation so complex and fraught with risk? In addition, many if not most local architects and engineers appear confident in the rainscreen components at new buildings, yet consumers still have no assurance beyond this same 10-year temporary warranty. How does this gap compare with New Zealand’s objectives?

We look forward to hearing from you. You may write directly to any forum at our site or to editor@bccondos.ca

Thanks for your kind attention.

Editor@bccondos.ca

[editor]

New Zealand's leaky condo crisis

My, my...It seems we're not alone. Check out the Hunn Report, not unlike the Barrett Inquiries, at http://www.bia.govt.nz/publicat/pdf/bia-report-17-9-02.pdf. We hope to have a look at the legislative fix along with some local opinion. Come back soon for more on New Zealand's leaky housing problem.

Ed.

[editor]

Wow. Compare B.C.'s largely ineffective response to leaky construction with New Zealand's at http://www.weathertightness.govt.nz/diawebsite.NSF/wpg_URL/Resource-material-Weathertightness-What-is-the-Weathertight-Homes-Resolution-Service?OpenDocument. Click on the new statutes and note the number of free or low-cost services available to owners.

We'll try to find out whether it's really as good as it looks.

Ed.

[editor]

Here's a preliminary report on New Zealand's problem:
http://www.bia.govt.nz/whatsnew/word/public_statement.doc. Apparently, they conferred with B.C. experts...

Ed.

[editor]

From: editor [SMTP:editor@bccondos.ca]
Sent: Monday, August 25, 2003 11:50 AM
To: 'info@dia.govt.nz'
Cc: 'editor@bccondos.ca'
Subject: Weathertight housing fix

Hello NZ Internal Affairs,

We’re a leaky condo website from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and we were delighted to find your excellent online reports this a.m. on solutions to your weathertightness problems. Do you have any stats measuring the effectiveness of these solutions, i.e. number of arbitrations as well as the actual repairs made and the cost? How did the problems first come to light? Can you help us link with any homeowner associations? We’d like to find out, too, about your strata titles or condominium governance.

We’re very, very impressed at your efforts at solving your weathertightness problems and hope to import at least some of your wisdom. Thank you for your kind attention.

Editor@bccondos.ca

[editor]

A possible down side to legislated arbitration: http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0211/S00114.htm.

Ed.

[editor]

Long waits for assessments: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3507346&thesection=news&thesubsection=general&thesecondsubsection=.

[editor]

New Zealand is calling it a crisis: http://www.xtramsn.com/news/0%2C%2C3779-2130914%2C00.html.

[editor]

NZ's leaky building crisis develops: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3100674&thesection=news&thesubsection=general&reportid=562587. Click on the sidebars, too. These guys seem to have diagnosed their problem very, very

[editor]

From: Kate.Harray@dia.govt.nz [SMTP:Kate.Harray@dia.govt.nz]
Sent: Monday, August 25, 2003 7:50 PM
To: ‘editor@bccondos.ca’
Subject: Weathertight housing fix

Hello and thank you for your e-mail about our website.

We do not have any resolution statistics that we can release to you, as our Service is fairly new and we are just at the stage where claims are going through the mediation / adjudication process. You can see how many people are moving through our system by looking at the weekly media release (published on the front page of our website: www.weathertightness.govt.nz).

All homeowners who apply to our service are guaranteed confidentiality so I am not able to pass on any details of homeowner associations.

All the best and thank you again for your interest.

Kind regards,

Kate

Kate Harray
Communications Adviser
Weathertight Homes Resolution Service
PO Box 5011, Wellington
DDI: 04 494 0620 Fax: 04 494 0524
Email: kate.harray@dia.govt.nz

[editor]

Hey, let's tell our own Homeowner Protection Office about New Zealand!

From: editor [SMTP:editor@bccondos.ca]
Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2003 5:35 PM
To: '‘bmaling@hpo.bc.ca’'
Subject: New Zealand and Weathertightness

Hey Bob Maling,

We thought you might be interested in this great site in New Zealand. Click on http://www.weathertightness.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/wpg_URL/Resource-material-Weathertightness-Index?OpenDocument, where you can read about someone else’s leaky building crisis for a change. We’ve put it up at our Worldwide Condos forum along with an e-mail we received from their office this a.m. It’s really interesting to read about their fix and how they track it online.

We’re still looking for owner associations and case law and so on to see how the fights go, but so far, the NZ strategy looks impressive. We’ll sign anything you like to get Premier Gord to send you there for a working visit. We’d go ourselves but you know how it is…tarps, scaffolding and the unrelenting scream of well-used power tools.

Editor@bccondos.ca

[editor]

E-mail to Scoop.co NewsAgent at http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/about/, which provided some commentary recently criticising the ADR process in the leaky building crisis. You can click on that URL at this forum.

From: editor [mailto:editor@bccondos.ca]
Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 10:58 AM
To: 'editor@scoop.co.nz'
Cc: 'editor@bccondos.ca'
Subject: ADR and New Zealand's leaky building crisis

Hello Scoop,

We’re a consumer advocacy website devoted to the leaky condo crisis in British Columbia, Canada at http://www.bccondos.ca and we’ve been following New Zealand’s handling of weathertightness (we love that word!) issues with interest at our Worldwide Condos forum. The B.C. government seems to be following it, too, now.

We’d like to know how the alternative dispute resolution process is working for owners in the Land of the Long White Cloud. Do you sense satisfaction, terrific backlog or utter despair among owners who have reached settlement? The problem with that process is, of course, confidentiality. Nevertheless, the disgruntled usually come forward. What’s the word? How are repairs progressing?

We’ve been to the cladding institute’s website, which is very impressive. Those guys seem to have cut to the chase much faster and more efficiently than B.C. has, which gives us pause.

Editor@bccondos.ca

[editor]

New Zealand's Weathertight Homes Resolution Service

Where would B.C. be today if leaky condo owners here had an alternative dfispute process that looks like this: http://www.weathertightness.govt.nz/Pubforms.nsf/URL/WTHomes.pdf/$file/WTHomes.pdf.

So far, it looks great to us, but we'll keep trawling the web and report back.

Ed.

[editor]

Leaky building stories from the New Zealand Herald online

Here are some recent stories on New Zealand's leaky building crisis: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storyqueryprocess.cfm?kw1=leaky%20buildings&kw2=&thesection=&period=month&day=&month=&year=&op=all&searchorder=2&datedrop=no&start=1&requesttimeout=180. Check out the piece on apartment blocks. Sound familiar?

We're very interested in The Unit Titles Act 1972: the Case for Review discussion paper. We'll have a look and report what we find.

Ed.

[editor]

Legislative reform

This one on legislative reform just in: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/businessstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3527578&thesection=business&thesubsection=commproperty&thesecondsubsection=general.

Here's another: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/businessstorydisplay.cfm?storyID=3526741&thesection=business&thesubsection=dialogue&thesecondsubsection=%20&reportID=562587.

And a few more: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storyqueryprocess.cfm?kw1=leaky%20homes&kw2=&thesection=&period=month&day=&month=&year=&op=all&searchorder=2&datedrop=no&start=1&requesttimeout=180.

Ed.