Eligibility
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These criteria apply whether you choose to use the Weathertight Homes Tribunal to resolve your leaky home dispute, or to apply for the FAP to repair your home.
An application to the Department of Building and Housing must be made by the owner of the dwelling, or be authorised by the owner. The Weathertight Homes Resolution Services Act criteria are:
- water has penetrated the dwelling because of some aspect of the design or construction or alteration of materials used in its construction or alteration
- the dwelling is damaged as the result of water penetrating from the outside in
- the dwelling was built (or altered if applicable) in the 10 years immediately before you lodge your claim.
If your home is part of a multi-unit complex there are some additional requirements. You will need to read the Information pack for homeowners in multi-unit complexes.
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The Eligibility Report
When the Department accepts your application you will be allocated a Claims Advisor we will also get in touch to organise an Eligibility Assessment. A qualified assessor will do some initial testing of your home and provide a written report about its state of weathertightness, whether it meets our general eligibility criteria and, if it does, whether it is likely to need targeted or full repairs.
The assessor will also look at information from your local council that is relevant to your claim, including proof of its construction date.
Remember, the Eligibility Report establishes whether you have an eligible claim. You’ll make the decision whether to participate in the FAP later in the process.
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The 10-year limitation period
There is a 10-year time limit from when your home was built for lodging claims with the Department, including those for the FAP. Home owners close to the 10-year limit can “stop the clock” by lodging a claim now.
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Working out your home’s “built date”
It is important that the “built date” on your claim is as accurate as possible because your claim will be turned down if it is lodged outside of the 10-year period. The Eligibility Report will establish the built date and whether your claim is within the 10-year period.
Your home will generally be considered “built” when it is considered completed to the extent required by the building consent. So usually the built date is taken from the time a Code Compliance Certificate was applied for. However, if the intended final inspection on your home revealed problems, the built date will likely be the day that the last significant work was completed prior to your home passing its actual final inspection.
In cases where, no building consent was issued for the work, or your home did not receive a final inspection, or there was a significant delay in completing building work, the Department will need to look at other information and factors to establish the built date.
When working out the built date we can consider several forms of evidence. These could include;
- council records
- quotes or invoices for materials or labour
- statements or letters from utility companies showing electricity or gas connection dates
- photographic evidence
- the word of your neighbour
- any other information you think could be relevant.
Further detail on the "built date" is contained in the Application Form for the Financial Assistance Package.
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What is the definition of actual damage?
The Eligibility Report must show damage caused from water leaking in from the outside of your property. Damage from internal leaks is not covered. Damage resulting from leaks due to building alterations is covered but damage from leaks due to maintenance issues on the property is not.
Simply showing potential for damage, such as a lack of flashings on your home, is not enough on its own to qualify for a claim without proof there is actual damage from water getting in.
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Participating in the Financial Assistance Package
Once you’ve met the criteria above and your claim has been accepted, there are some extra conditions that apply.
These include:
- that you forego your right to sue your local council over the leaks (if your council is participating in the package)
- agree to fund half the agreed cost of your home’s repair yourself (or 75 per cent of the cost if your council is not participating).
To participate in the FAP you’ll also need to do the following:
- Have a Full or Concise Assessment on the home. This is additional to the Eligibility Assessment already done. More on the assessments can be found in Bringing a Claim for FAP.
- Agree to a Repair Plan with the Department and your local council, if it is participating. See Information pack about repair and payment.
- Provide proof you are able to pay your share of the repair costs outlined in the agreed repair plan. That may involve getting your bank’s approval to lend you the money for your share. See Information pack about funding.
- Sign a Homeowner Agreement.
The full Financial Assistance Package Contribution Criteria are available »
If your council is participating in the FAP scheme
Most councils have agreed to participate in the FAP. A list of those can be found here or you can call us on 0800 116 926.
After your Eligibility Report is completed we will then clarify if your council is participating and, if it is, whether the council may accept your claim as being capable of qualifying for financial assistance.
The council will only contribute to the FAP if it was responsible for signing off on the work that led to your leaks and has a duty of care to you.
In this case that means it issued either a final or interim Code Compliance Certificate for the building work or that it failed to give you a Notice to Fix, or a Notice to Rectify any defects with the work, or otherwise advise you of the defects, when it did the final inspection.
The council does not have a duty of care to you if:
- it relied on a certificate from a private certifier when it issued the final or interim Code Compliance Certificate; or
- it issued a Code Compliance Certificate following a determination from the Department of Building and Housing.
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If you’ve started legal action against your council
A condition of receiving money from the Government and your council is that you waive all current rights to sue the council over weathertightness problems with your property.
If your council is participating in the FAP scheme and you have already reached a settlement over weathertightness problems, you are not eligible for financial assistance under the FAP.
But if you’ve already begun legal action against the council, you can ask them to agree for you to participate in the FAP on the condition you withdraw completely from legal action against it.
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If your council is not participating in the FAP scheme
You can apply for the Government-only contributions of 25 per cent of the cost of fixing your home provided you agree to meet the remaining 75 per cent cost yourself.
You may still sue your council if you want, because any future or past settlements against a non-participating council have no effect on your eligibility to the Government’s contribution.
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Contributions from other parties
Under the FAP you still have the right to sue other liable parties like builders, developers and manufactures of defective building products, or you may simply want to ask them to contribute towards your share.
This can be made “in kind”, for example as goods or services put toward the repair, rather than cash.
But, once you receive this money or service, you cannot take legal action against them for weathertightness damage to your property.
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The November 2009 cut-off date
If you have already been issued with a building consent to undertake repairs on your leaky home, whether you have repaired or not, that consent must have been issued on or after 1 November 2009 in order for you to qualify for the Financial Assistance Package (FAP).
The FAP extends to some existing claimants who have already repaired so that owners motivated to repair their homes by the Government’s announcement of the scheme did not delay the repair of their homes while the details of the package were agreed and the Amendment Act passed.
When Ministers decided on the contribution criteria relating to repaired properties, they agreed that a cut-off date was necessary to reflect the intent of the FAP to get more leaky homes fixed, not compensate those who have already repaired.
It was decided to use the date the building consent was issued as it is a clearly identifiable and recorded date.
It was important not to make the cut-off date the same day as the package was announced in My 2010, because some owners who obtained building consent earlier may have decided not to repair, but became motivated once the package became announced.
A cut-off date of 1 November 2009 is 6 months prior to the announcement of the package in May 2010, taking into account the fact that consents lapse 12 months after issue.
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