Special problems require specialist help.

Depending on which group of experts you are talking to, leaky building syndrome is an ongoing issue for between 42,000 and 89,000 buildings, mostly residential homes and apartments. So, if you are a potential buyer or home owner, especially in Auckland where they are most prevalent, you need to know the facts and the fiction around the subject, in order to act wisely.

The links and information provided here are designed to put you in touch with industry, building and legal professionals who can help; whether it’s to understand the issues and reasons behind leaky homes, or to give you contact details of moisture detection specialists and companies that can repair and re-clad affected homes.

Use the links to learn more and check out the websites of people who can help.

By way of some general background, leaky building syndrome most commonly affects homes built between 1994 and 2005. The Building Act 1991, which came into effect about 1994, changed buildings controls from a prescriptive system to a more self-regulated regime. At the same time there was a significant increase in the use of cladding systems such as fibre cement sheet and EIPS (Externally Insulated Plaster System) that relied on a paint finish as the primary defence against water ingress. 

These plaster cladding systems typically allowed for little construction or thermal movement so that fine cracks allowed continuous entry of moisture into the framing. These causes, combined with the reduced air movement through the prevalence of the monolithic look cladding and use of untreated timber for framing, resulted in very damp conditions which are ideal for rot and the leaky homes crisis was born.