How Weathertight Services works and how to make a leaky home claim under the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services Act.

How it works

On 1 April 2007, the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services Act 2006 (the WHRS Act) came into force. It makes changes to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the services provided under the WHRS Act and deliver better outcomes for owners of leaky homes. The key measures of the ACT are:

• more comprehensive assessor reports for WHRS claimants so people can claim for potential, as well as actual, weathertightness-related damage
• a streamlined process for lower-value claims
• a process for standard claims, involving preliminary conferences and time-limited mediation before claims move to adjudication
• the establishment of the Weathertight Homes Tribunal under the administration of the Ministry of Justice to provide more independent adjudication services
• enhanced power and authority of members of the Tribunal, including criminal offence provisions when parties fail to appear when summoned or disobey an order of the Tribunal
• clear objectives for Tribunal members to use a more investigative approach
• a Registrar for the Weathertight Homes Tribunal
• allowing WHRS settlements and determinations to be enforced in the District Court regardless of value
• a change to the required voting thresholds for bodies corporate to make it easier for a class action approach to be taken by owners within multi-unit complexes
• requiring Territorial Authorities to place WHRS notices of new and existing claims brought, and their outcomes, on Land Information Memorandum (LIM) reports.

The purpose of the WHRS Act is to provide speedy, flexible and cost-effective procedures for resolving leaky home disputes as an alternative to the courts.

The WHRS Act is administered by two government agencies.

• Weathertight Services at the Department of Building and Housing receives claim applications and provides assessment, information, guidance and mediation services.
• The Weathertight Homes Tribunal supported by the Ministry of Justice, is a judicially independent Tribunal that provides adjudication for claims.

The WHRS Act provides owners of leaky homes with:

• a low-cost assessment of the weathertightness problems with the house (or multi-unit complex)
• access to dispute resolution services.

Bringing a WHRS claim

To bring a WHRS claim, the:

• claim must be brought by the owner(s) of the house
• house must be used principally for residential purposes
• house must have been built or altered within the 10 years immediately prior to the date of lodging the claim
• house must be or have been leaking (water is entering the house from outside)
• house must be damaged as a result of the leaks.

Claimants living in multi-unit complexes (properties on a unit title, cross-lease title or company-share licence) have slightly different eligibility criteria. Details are outlined on the Weathertight Services website.

If you think your home may be affected by weathertightness problems, you can download a claim form from the Weathertight Services website or you can call 0800 324 477 to request a claim form.  There are three claim forms:

1. Stand-alone houses.
2. Stand-alone complexes.
3. Multi-unit complexes.

Assessment

If a WHRS claim is accepted for an assessor’s report, an independent expert assessor will be commissioned to investigate the house or complex and provide a report to Weathertight Services.

The claimant can choose between two kinds of report:

1. A full assessor’s report costs $500 for a stand-alone property or single unit claim, $1000 for a duplex (2 units) or $1500 for a multi-unit complex.
2. An eligibility assessor’s report is free of charge.

The assessor will be looking to see if your house is a leaky building, i.e. one where water has got into the house as a result of:

• any aspect of its design, construction or alteration, or
• the materials used in it.

To qualify as a leaky building, damage must have been caused by the leaks. If the claimant chooses a full assessor’s report the assessor will also consider the cause of water entering the house, the extent of the damage (both actual and potential), the work needed to make the house weathertight and repair the damage, and the estimated cost of the work.

The assessor also gives their view of who should be parties to the claim, for example, the builder, the person supplying the materials, the designer, the Building Consent Authority, or all of them. It is then up to the claimant which parties they wish to pursue.

Invasive testing forms the basis of the assessor’s report. This testing allows the assessor to test otherwise inaccessible areas and it causes some damage. This includes:

• Drilling holes in walls
• Cutting A4-sized holes in walls
• Taking samples of wood or mould from inside the wall for laboratory testing.

The assessor will make temporary repairs, but the claimant is responsible for final repairs. Pictures of invasive testing sites are available on Weathertight Services' website. Claimants are required to consent to invasive testing when they make their application.

Following the assessment, the Chief Executive of the Department of Building and Housing will make a decision on whether the claim is eligible to proceed to the resolution stage. If in the assessor’s opinion the claim is ineligible, the claimant will be given a chance to make a submission to the Chief Executive on eligibility before a decision is made.

If the claim is decided ineligible and the claimant disagrees with the decision, they can apply to the Chair of the Weathertight Homes Tribunal to have the eligibility of their claim reconsidered.

Resolution options

If a WHRS claim is decided eligible, the claimant can:

• Start or continue repairs.
• Proceed to resolution.

Resolution is the process of settling a WHRS claim. The claimant’s options under the WHRS Act will depend on their estimated or actual repair costs.

There are two separate resolution paths depending on the value of the WHRS claim:

1. The lower-value WHRS claim process for those claims where the Weathertight Services assessor’s estimate or actual repairs costs are $20,000 or less. These claims have access to negotiation and mediation through the Weathertight Services and, if this is unsuccessful, can apply to the Weathertight Homes Tribunal for adjudication.
2. The standard WHRS claims process for all other claims. These claims can apply to the Weathertight Homes Tribunal for adjudication.

Finance and repairs

Claimants with an eligible WHRS claim can repair their leaky home or complex at any stage of the process.
There are advantages to undertaking repairs as early as possible to prevent damage increasing and provide an exact amount to claim (actual repair costs).

Things to consider when undertaking repairs:

• It’s important to mitigate leaking damage until permanent repairs can be made.
• Once you decide to repair your leaking property, it’s important to get expert help to plan and do the work properly.
• There are no general rules on repairs as each home is different. The repairs should reflect the design of the home as well as the leaking problems. Advice should be sought from an experienced building professional.
• To organise an effective repair contract with a builder, the homeowner first needs to get a ‘scope of works’ and technical specifications, which provide a full description of what needs to be done.
• It’s important to follow a thorough and transparent repair process and to keep accurate records for use during dispute resolution.

Information sheets on repair are available from the Weathertight Services website.

On 1 April 2007, the Government introduced a two-year financial assistance pilot to provide access to bridging finance for WHRS claimants who meet the criteria.

If WHRS claimants are unable to obtain finance for repairs from their private lender, loan guarantees or loans at market interest rates may be available from Housing New Zealand Corporation. Claimants wanting to apply for lending assistance should contact their claims advisor.