There is a perfect storm on the horizon if you’re building a home or a residential development. It’s compounding in nature and likely to add both delays and significant cost. And it all comes down to proper, demonstrable design and performance in an area under increased scrutiny.
To be fair, this perfect storm is not as much on the horizon as it is already here. In a nutshell, the situation is this: the increased focus on ventilation is leading to an increased likelihood of building consent delays through the issuance of RFIs (Requests For Information). The resultant delay then adds further cost and delay, thanks to the current rate of inflation and worldwide supply chain issues. This makes a small problem much bigger. Which means a bigger price tag.
Below, we explore what’s happening so you can be prepared and avoid it.
The Increasing Scrutiny of Ventilation
Housing in Aotearoa: 2020, by Stats NZ and the Building Research Association of New Zealand (Branz) was released in December 2020. It was damning, showing 46% of Kiwis lived in homes that had issues of damp and mould. The report added further justification for the need of the Healthy Homes Standards and the urgent calls to improve NZs housing stock. It meant ventilation was placed under the legislative microscope.
As Covid spread and developed, ventilation became an increasingly hot topic. In August 2021, as Auckland was plunged into lockdown, the University of Otago highlighted the need for improved ventilation as part of controlling the outbreak. This request for more focus on ventilation has continued, with calls for a national ventilation strategy appearing in the press as recently as last month (March 2022).
One of the outcomes from the increased scrutiny is a shift in the way ventilation is assessed during the consent process. Whilst the requirements set forth in section G4 of the building code may not have changed, the onus on meeting its requirements have intensified.
For example, to comply with NZ Building Code, a bathroom extractor fan should have at least a 25/l per second extraction capacity. Whereas it was previously acceptable for an architect to label where the fan was placed on a set of drawings and specify a particular model, it no longer is. The Council issuing a Building Consent will now often require further information which demonstrates the performance of the overall system, including the ducting and other parts such as fire dampers and facade grilles - not just the fan.
To further illustrate the point, we can look at rangehoods. To meet the requirements of the Building Code, the extractor fan in a rangehood must have a capacity of at least 50/l per second. At first glance, many models will meet this capacity. But delve deeper into the details and there are issues. That 50/l per second capacity might be based on a connection to straight ducting no more than 1.5 metres long. Not every build will allow you to have straight ducting of such a short distance. This is especially due in medium and high density residential complexes.
This explains why Councils are seeking more detailed information. Next come the delays and cost.
The time frame for processing a Building Consent will vary depending on where you live. In Auckland, the goal is to process applications within 20 working days. The same goes for the Queenstown-Lakes region. But in Christchurch, you can expect the consent for a residential home to take from between 12 to 14 weeks.
If your ventilation design fails to meet the increased scrutiny, the Council will issue a RFI. This ‘pauses’ the clock on your consent. Effectively, the Council is no longer bound by their stated timeframes.
The Rising Cost of Delays
Aside from the frustration of having to respond to the RFI (there’s a cost involved there too) and the delay incurred, there’s a knock-on effect.
Inflation is definitely here. Whilst some might point to the recent Ukraine crisis and the post-pandemic blues, the building industry was seeing inflation as early as 2016. In the five year period between 2016 and 2021, NZ had the seventh highest construction cost inflation in the OECD.
Where there are delays with the building consent and the building process, costs will continue to rise. Stonewood Homes is one NZ’s larger builders of residential homes. They predict waiting to build might increase the build cost by up to $50,000. We appreciate this isn’t going to be a likely cost increase from a consent delay but use it to illustrate the point; costs are rising at an alarming rate.
Much of the increased cost is down to the worldwide supply chain issues. A survey of NZ Building Suppliers showed building product costs were up 34% and set to rise by another 11%, mostly off the back of supply issues. It’s simply taking longer and costing more to get stuff shipped here. This is where it all starts to get really complicated and becomes a vicious circle.
Builders are increasingly cautious when it comes to ordering products. Unless a consent is issued, they run the risk of having costly products sitting there. There is also the risk some plans need amending and the product needs are altered. So they wait.
So as the builder waits to procure materials, the price increases along with the timeframe for delivery. Given the high number of interdependencies on any build, ‘Builder A’ can easily delay ‘Builder B’ and so on. It’s a compounding effect. And it all adds yet more time and more cost.
What Can You Do to Avoid Delay & Cost?
Your building consent application has to clearly demonstrate that the ventilation as designed will meet code requirements. Demonstration really is the key word here too. We note Auckland Council states the most common reasons for an RFI are:
Quality of drawings
Incomplete forms
Not all relevant approvals are included, and;
Compliance with the Building Code is not clearly demonstrated
The only certain way to avoid falling into one of these pitfalls is to engage with a specialist who can provide the depth and clarity of detail needed.
We can provide design services for any sort of project, including complicated residential and commercial development builds. This includes detailed drawings, calculations to meet demonstration criteria, supported with a PS1. This service provides considerable safeguard against likely cost increases later, along with the peace of mind that comes with knowing you are significantly mitigating risk.
