Leaky Homes Financial Assistance Package (FAP) Scope of repair information pack

Transcription

1 Scope of repair - June 2014 Page 1 Leaky Homes Financial Assistance Package (FAP) Scope of repair information pack This information pack discusses the preparation of your plans prior to applying for a building consent. Much of the information in this pack will also be of use to your designer The diagram below is a stage on the homeowner journey through the process of commissioning a developed design stage repair plan, having it reviewed by the Ministry and council, finalising the design and then obtaining building consent. 1 3 INITIAL REVIEW OF SCOPE & FINALISE DESIGN Commission repair plan to developed design stage Council and Ministry review repair plan Finalise design Obtain building consent KEY MINISTRY ACTIONS HOMEOWNER ACTIONS To see the homeowner journey in its entirety visit The aim is to ensure the proposed design will remediate the weathertightness issues and identify the scope of the construction work that will receive FAP contributions. A futher aim is to ensure that the design the Ministry approves is the same as the finalised design which obtains building consent. Key points You must have a signed homeowner agreement with the Ministry before submitting your repair plan. Your plans should not go further than developed design stage without Ministry and council review. The council may be contracted to the Ministry to review repair plans. The scope should enable your tendering builders to quote a reasonable actual cost for your repair, on a like-for-like basis. Any work that goes beyond the scope of the is likely to be betterment and is not covered by contributions. Betterment work must be clearly identified within the repair plan. If your scope includes betterment work that is not clearly separated from agreed repair work, we may decline your repair plan or require you to agree with our assessment of betterment. You will later be asked to seperate the costs of betterment items. See the betterment fact sheet for more information MB

2 Scope of repair - June 2014 Page 2 Commission repair plan to developed design stage ƨfocus ƨ on scope The repair plan review is about approving a scope (but not costs at this stage). The scope should address the weathertightness issues identified in the assessment, including any potential or actual weathertightness issues from adjoining buildings or adjoining parts of the building. This is to ensure the entire property is weathertight and no ongoing damage occurs. Any work that goes beyond the repair scope in the, and which may cost more than a like-for-like repair, should be identified by your designer as potentially being betterment in the repair plan. ƨwhat ƨ is necessary in a repair plan? The repair plan must describe the scope and type of works that will be incorporated in building and resource consent applications. It must resolve all weathertightness issues, i.e. stop current leaks, fix the damage caused by the penetration of water and protect the home against future water penetration. The repair plan should not contain as much detail as building consent applications. Developed design drawings only are highly recommended in case it needs to be amended following the Ministry s review. You should apply for repair plan approval before proceeding with (and paying for) any more than the minimum level of documentation needed to clearly define the scope of all architectural elements. The developed design documents should show what work is proposed, but not proceed to show how this work will be constructed ƨdeveloped ƨ design includes: floor plans (dimensioned) - both existing and proposed plans should be provided elevations (confirmed floor-to-floor heights) - both existing and proposed layouts should be provided sections where necessary to show the layout of existing and proposed building elements annotations to describe the scope and type of repairs and annotations or a schedule to list internal and external materials and finishes affected by the work. ƨother ƨ non-repair-related work may be included in the repair plan A repair plan does not need to limit itself to addressing the weathertightness issues alone. There may be other aspects of a dwelling that it would be sensible to address at the same time, though these will not qualify for contributions. Such items are defined as betterment by the Ministry. This is discussed later in more depth. ƨother ƨ work could include: any deferred maintenance work that is now due or overdue any house alterations that have previously been contemplated but not yet started or work to improve the performance of the dwelling, such as: improving insulation levels adding double glazing using a more expensive cladding system. ƨdeparting ƨ from the scope in your A claimant may choose to carry out repairs in a different way or using different materials to that recommended in the assessment. Claimants should discuss possible repair options with their designers in the course of developing a repair plan. Designers should exercise their professional judgment when proposing a repair strategy, and will need to document the reasoning behind it, irrespective of the degree of match to the. Any element of your repair plan that departs from the scope in your must be clearly identified in the drawings accompanying the repair plan. If your repair option is more expensive than the assessor s proposal then this will be betterment. ƨif ƨ the repair scope is narrower than in your In order to qualify for contributions you will need to demonstrate that your approach will still address the weathertightness damage. This may be through a more cost-effective approach to the repair, and/or evidence that damage is less than identified in the assessment (making some work proposed by the assessor unnecessary). ƨexamples ƨ of more cost-effective types of repair are: removing an unusually shaped window instead of designing and manufacturing complex flashings to suit the window re-cladding by using a cheaper cladding system than a like-for-like replacement constructing a simple pitched lean-to roof over a side room instead of major repairs to a complex flat roof and parapet over the room.

3 Scope of repair - June 2014 Page 3 Examples where evidence could be provided that damage is less than identified in the assessment are: providing moisture tests or other information to prove that one small wall of a dwelling does not need to be re-clad where the assessment had identified a full re-clad as necessary but had not investigated that particular wall providing information from a product manufacturer that a durable weathertight junction can be made between old and new materials where the assessment had been based on this not being possible and wholesale replacement of the material therefore being necessary providing a report from a weathertightness specialist that included timber lab tests showing that one or more timber framing members in an area not specifically tested during the original assessment will not require replacement, due to a higher level of treatment or lower level of fungal damage than anticipated by the assessment. ƨif ƨ the repair scope is wider than in your In order for the additional work to qualify for contributions, you must present evidence that the damage is greater than that stated in the report. Where the evidence does not support a variation in scope from the, then the additional work proposed is deemed betterment and will not qualify for contributions. ƨbetterment ƨ Repair-related betterment is: work different to the scope recommended by the assessor of higher cost than recommended in the assessment and not justified as being necessary for a like-for-like repair by factual evidence. Non-repair-related betterment includes work that: does not relate to weathertightness issues or addresses other building deficiencies. Because betterment may (in some cases) be integral with repair work, identification of betterment might only be able to be described in broad terms. For example a betterment item may be the construction of a new roof less the expected costs of repairing the original roof. Examples of betterment are included in the betterment fact sheet. The full definition of betterment is included in the homeowner agreement. ƨaddressing ƨ betterment in the repair plan Separating betterment means you will need to separate the cost (or value) of betterment work based on your preferred quote, leaving the balance as the actual cost of repair. Your designer is expected to attempt to identify the scope of all betterment work included in your repair plan and must sign a declaration to this effect, for submission with the proposed repair plan. For your repair plan to be approved, the Ministry must agree that all betterment items have been identified. The Ministry will include a list of the betterment items with the approved repair plan. After your repair plan is approved, you should ensure your designer continues to show the listed betterment items as separate items in your consent and tender documents. This is so your tendering builders will be able to quote separately for repair work and betterment work. ƨdemolish ƨ and rebuild proposals Proposals to repair the house by demolishing and rebuilding are treated in a specific manner. A separate fact sheet is available for such proposals. The council and Ministry review your repair plan The council is contracted to the Ministry to review repair plans in their capacity as a building consent authority for building consent purposes. ƨthe ƨ purpose of the review The repair plan review seeks to ensure the proposed scope will remediate the damage to your dwelling at a reasonable cost, based on like-for-like repairs. That is, it will return your dwelling to the condition it would have been in if water ingress had not occurred. Acceptable repair work includes the repair of deficiencies and replacement of damaged materials, including items such as: replacing damaged claddings, building wrap, insulation etc to match the original construction (but rectifying weathertightness deficiencies) providing a cavity to the replaced cladding where it is required by the risk matrix of E2/AS1 replacing decayed timber framing with suitably treated timber applying on-site treatment to sound untreated framing exposed during the works adding flashings or replacing defective flashings to make the building weathertight providing for insulation loss where an insulating cladding is placed on a cavity (EIFS installed on a cavity loses approximately 50% of its insulation value) consequential work needed for the above items e.g. scaffolding, disconnection and reconnection of electrical or plumbing services within wall frame, reinstatement of linings, finishes, fittings, floor coverings etc.

4 Scope of repair - June 2014 Page 4 ƨadvising ƨ the outcome of the Ministry s review of your repair plan The Ministry sends you a letter advising the outcome of its review, which will be one of the following: 1. Your repair plan is approved as submitted 2. Your repair plan is approved with conditions 3. Your repair plan is declined. Outcome 1 Your repair plan is approved as submitted This is more likely to occur if your plan adheres closely to the assessed scope and has little or no betterment. Outcome 2 Your repair plan is approved with conditions This means: An approved plan may have conditions attached such as repairing an item that was omitted or unclear within the plan. There may also be clarification of what items the Ministry regards as betterment. This list may differ from your designer s list of betterment items. Reasons: In these cases, there may also be a mix of factors affecting the overall picture and the Ministry s decision will seek to address all of these - examples: the Ministry accepts evidence that there is more damage in one area the Ministry accepts evidence that there is less damage in another area the approved repair plan also shows betterment in a third area, being a higher cost element than described in the assessment e.g. using a more expensive type of roofing rather than a likefor-like repair, in order to improve durability or appearance, or to avoid materials with a poor reputation. Note: narrower scopes of work may arise from your design identifying simpler ways of repairing the dwelling. These are perfectly acceptable and will usually result in a lower cost result. Because costs are not reviewed until a later stage of the process, the Ministry may list such items as (potential) betterment until cost information has been provided. Next steps: If you do not accept the conditions attached to the repair plan approval, you must submit a new repair plan which addresses the matters covered by the conditions in another manner, or provides evidence that the conditions were unnecessary. Outcome 3 Your repair plan is declined Reasons: This can occur if your plan: will not adequately remediate the dwelling i.e. there are outstanding deficiency and damage items or contains betterment that is not fully identified. If your repair plan has been approved subject to conditions, but you later fail to address one or more specified conditions of approval, your repair plan will be treated as being declined, and you will be unable to continue through the FAP process without submitting a new repair plan. Next steps: You must submit a new repair plan which addresses the reasons for the first repair plan being declined. Finalise design and obtain building consent This part of the process is the same as for any building project (e.g. one which does not involve FAP). However, the council will additionally check to ensure the plans submitted with the building consent application are consistent with the repair plan approved by the Ministry (including any conditions attached). If there have been material changes to your design, you will need to submit a new repair plan application to the council and Ministry for review. You can now proceed to tender for your project. Information on the tendering process is included in the Quote Information Pack.

5 Scope of repair - June 2014 Page 5 Summary of steps ƨprevious ƨ STEP: Signed homeowner agreement. ƨnext ƨ STEPS: You and your designer discuss the scope of your proposed repair-related work and any other work you wish to undertake at the same time. Your designer prepares a repair plan to developed design stage. The repair plan is also your opportunity to submit any relevant factual information that you may have, that indicates that it is necessary to add to or subtract from the repair scope described in your. The council and Ministry review the repair plan and provide you with written comments on the scope and what to do with any betterment work proposed. Your designer may need to re-work the repair plan if the Ministry are unable to approve it; if you wish to submit further evidence on the scope of the repair that is necessary; or if the Ministry s review identifies betterment that you then decide not to carry out. If necessary, the Ministry and council will ask to review the repair plan again. Your designer prepares the building consent documents. The council issues the building consent. ƨnext ƨ STEP: Obtain quotes. See the quote information pack. More information Identifying a suitable designer - occupational-licensing Design and contract management fact sheet Betterment fact sheet Repair plan example fact sheet Approved repairs fact sheet Demolish and rebuild fact sheet Want to know more about FAP contribution criteria? Need more information? Visit the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website