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Healthy Homes Act

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Types of Insulation

  • Healthy Homes Act

    Full Healthy Homes Standards Report & Smoke Alarms

    The Healthy Homes Standards have introduced minimum standards for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture and drainage, and draught stopping in rental properties.

    Tenancy Services have a full set of documents and standards that rental properties must follow to meet the Healthy Homes Standards. We have developed our RentFit.co.nz inspection tool to enable us to deliver an accurate, timely and professional report covering all 5 categories of the Healthy Homes Standards plus smoke alarms.

    The categories covered in our Healthy Homes Standards report include Heating, Insulation, Ventilation, Moisture Ingress and Drainage, Draught Stopping and Smoke Alarms.

    We believe there is value to be leveraged by using The Insulation Warehouse’s RentFit.co.nz report to provide a full HHS Assessment, identify what work is required to ensure you meet the Healthy Homes Standards, and then choose who you want to do that work.

    In addition to inspection and reporting, we have our insulation business, The Insulation Warehouse which can help with ceiling and under floor insulation and ground moisture barrier.

    About RentFit.co.nz

    Within our RentFit.co.nz report, we assess how each property meets the Healthy Homes Standards.  

    We assess each of the 5 categories to evaluate if they meet the Healthy Homes Standards, breaking them down into different sections:

     

    HEATING

    What is Required: 

     

    • Landlords must provide one or more fixed heaters that can directly heat the main living room to a maintained temperature of at least 18 degrees Celsius*.  
    • Open fires are not acceptable.

    Our Assessment:

     

    • To determine the Healthy Homes Standards heating requirements we use the Tenancy Services heating calculator tool. This is the only approved heating calculator tool. A copy of the calculator output is held in our Google Drive file for each property.
    • Our heating assessment includes identifying what insulation is in place in the ceiling and underfloor (wherever possible) as higher quality insulation will reduce the required heater size. 

    INSULATION

    • What is Required:

    • Where it is reasonably practicable, ceiling and underfloor insulation must be installed in rental homes since 1 July 2019. It must meet the standards set out in the regulations and be installed safely. Wall insulation is not compulsory.*

    • Depending on location, ceiling insulation needs to meet minimum R-values (‘R’ stands for resistance – an R-value is a measure of how well insulation resists heat flow).* 

    • Our Assessment:

    • We complete a full check of all accessible ceiling and underfloor insulation assessing it to the required standard.  

    • We note R-value where there is product identification present.  If there is not, then we are unable to determine the product R-value and we revert to the Tenancy Service guide, which is to measure thickness for ceilings.

     

    VENTILATION

    • What is Required:

    • All habitable rooms in a rental property must have at least one window, door or skylight which opens to the outside and can be fixed in the open position.*

    • In each room, the size of the openable windows, doors and skylights together must be at least 5% of the floor area of that room.*

    • All kitchens and bathrooms must have an extractor fan vented to the outside.*

    • Our Assessment:

    • While assessing ceiling insulation we identify what ducting is present for kitchen and bathroom fans including the diameter.

    • For the kitchen and bathroom, we do a visual and power on check of the fan to ensure it is working.

    • For all other habitable rooms, we measure the floor m2 and check that there is over 5% of complying external doors, windows or skylights.

     

    MOISTURE INGRESS AND DRAINAGE

    • What is Required:

    • Rental properties must have efficient drainage for the removal of stormwater, surface water and groundwater. Rental properties with an enclosed sub-floor space must have a ground moisture barrier.*

    • A rental property must efficiently drain stormwater, surface water and groundwater to an appropriate outfall; and include appropriate gutters, downpipes, and drains to remove water from the roof.*

    • Our Assessment:

    • From ground level, we complete a full visual check of the rainwater (guttering and downpipes) system looking for damage, missing components, signs of a water leak, debris and organic material, and connection to an appropriate outfall.

    • We complete a visual inspection of the property’s section looking for any signs of poor drainage.

    • While inspecting the underfloor insulation in a suspended subfloor we check to see if there is a compliant ground moisture barrier installed.

     

    DRAUGHT STOPPING

    • What is Required:

    • Landlords must make sure the property doesn’t have unreasonable gaps or holes in walls, ceilings, windows, skylights, floors and doors which cause noticeable draughts.*

    • All unused open fireplaces must be closed off or their chimneys blocked to prevent draughts.*

    • Our Assessment:

    • While completing our room by room ventilation check we are also looking for obvious causes of draughts. This includes external doors with open gaps (often at the bottom), old cat doors with broken latches, windows missing latches that can’t be secured fully closed.

    • Our draught stopping check covers every room of the house including non-habitable spaces such as hallways and laundry. Our check does not include garages or external utility rooms.

     

    SMOKE ALARMS
    NOTE: Not a component of the Healthy Homes Standard but covered under the Residential Tenancy Act

    • What is Required:

    • Working smoke alarms or detectors are compulsory in all rental homes. New smoke alarms must be photoelectric and have a long battery life, or be hard-wired.*

    • Smoke alarms must be installed:

    • Within 3 metres of each bedroom door, or in every room where a person sleeps.*

    • In each level or storey of a multi-storey or multi-level home.*

    • In all rental homes, boarding houses, rental caravans, and self-contained sleep-outs.*

    • Existing smoke alarms do not need to be replaced if they are working, and have not passed the expiry date.*

    • Our Assessment:

    • We complete a visual inspection of all bedrooms and adjoining area to ensure there is a smoke alarm in the bedroom or within 3 meters.

    • For multi-storey houses we check that each level has at least 1 compliant, working smoke alarm.

    • For any sleep-out or rented caravans, we check that they have a compliant, working smoke alarm.

    • We test each smoke alarm to ensure it is operational.

    • We check the expiry date of all smoke alarms.

     

    NOTES: 

    • There are other technical requirements and exemptions which we take into account during our assessment.

    • Extracts marked with * are from www.tenancy.govt.nz/healthy-homes, and extra information about all requirements can be sourced from that site.

     

    PRICING STRUCTURE

    RentFit.co.nz delivers an independent, professional and comprehensive report covering all 5 categories of the Healthy Homes Standards for:

    • $250+GST per house

    • $185+GST per apartment or unit (a minimum of three apartments or units are required per visit)

     

    Terms and Conditions apply. 


    Call 09 6368409 or email info@tiwl.co.nz or contact us here to book your report, and ensure your properties comply with the Healthy Homes Standards.