Determinations issued
To date, 119 Determinations have been issued this year. The following are summaries of two Determinations issued recently.
Determination 2005/97
House 87 - Refusal of a code compliance certificate for a building with a monolithic cladding system
In this case the owner disputed the council's decision not to issue a code compliance certificate for an 8-year-old house unless changes are made to the monolithic cladding system to comply with the external moisture requirements (E2) and durability requirements (B2) of the Building Code.
The building work
The building is a two-storey house situated on a level site in a low wind zone. The external walls of the house are of conventional light timber frame construction built on concrete block foundation walls. The ground floor external walls are faced with a brick veneer, and the upper walls are sheathed with monolithic cladding.
The house is of a fairly simple shape, but with some complex features, with the steeply pitched roofs having hip, valley, and wall-to-roof junctions. Apart from a small area adjacent to the sitting room where there is a maximum 800 mm projection, the eaves have no projections. The first floor also over-sails the lower floor over the entrance, and this projection is supported on brick-veneered columns.
Submissions/Reports
The owner and territorial authority made submissions, which were sufficient for the Determination to be made. An independent expert was not requiredto inspect the building work.
Discussion
The territorial authority's notice to rectify described items of non-compliance of the cladding, and the photographs provided by the territorial authority further illustrated these. In particular, the Determinations Manager noticed the lack of control joints and the cracking in the cladding that these photographs show.
The Determinations Manager was satisfied that the current performance of the cladding is not adequate because of the areas of non-compliance described by the territorial authority. Because the cladding faults on the house may at present, or eventually will, allow the ingress of moisture, the house does not comply with the durability requirements of the Building Code.
Decision
The cladding does not comply with Clauses E2 and B2 of the Building Code. The territorial authority's decision to refuse to issue the code compliance certificate was confirmed.
Determination 2005/67
Sanitary fixtures in a weight loss and fitness centre
The matter for determination was a dispute about whether a shower must be installed in the conversion of part of an office and retail building to a weight loss and fitness centre and whether, without a shower, the fitness centre complies with personal hygiene (G1) requirements of the Building Code.
The building
The centre occupies approximately 100 m2 of the lower ground floor of an existing commercial and retail building. It caters for a maximum of 16 clients at any one time, together with 2 staff.
Submissions/Reports
Both the owner and the territorial authority supported their case by making several submissions.
Discussion
Under section 46(2)(a) of the Building Act 1991, the building in its new use is required to comply with the provision of the Building Code for sanitary facilities 'as nearly as is reasonably practicable as if it were a new building'.
The factor considered in this case was that it would be difficult to install a shower in the space available. That does not necessarily mean that a shower is not required. It might mean that the space is not acceptable as a fitness centre, but it is a factor to be taken into account.
The centre comes within the description of places of active recreation in G1/AS1. However, the activities in the centre are less physically demanding than would normally be expected in a gymnasium or the like.
In an expert's opinion, the programme offered by the centre is such that showers are not necessary. The fact that there is no accessible shower is a less weighty consideration than, for example, the facts that there are accessible toilets and fully complying means of escape from fire.
Decision
It was determined that the centre complies as nearly as is reasonably practicable with Clause G1 of the Building Code, and accordingly the territorial authority's decision to refuse to grant the building consent, unless a shower is installed, was reversed.
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