Housing insulation upgrade extension

By - , Build 192

MBIE has revised the date that some Building Code clause H1 insulation requirements for housing will take effect. Make sure you have the current H1 documents – 5th edition amendment 1, effective 4 August 2022.

In July, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) announced an extension period to the upgrade of insulation in houses.

Roof, wall and floor the same until 1 May 2023

Transition to the 5th edition H1/AS1 and H1/VM1 documents remains as 3 November 2022. From this date, the previous 4th edition H1 documents can no longer be used for building consent applications.

However, where building consent applications for housing are submitted and accepted before 1 May 2023, roof, wall and floor minimum construction R-values can be equivalent to the previous (4th edition) requirements (see Table 1).

Two-step increase for windows and doors

All window and door construction in new housing now has a two-step increase.

The first step is a minimum construction R-value of R0.37 for the whole country from 3 November 2022.

The date of the second step varies by climate zone:

  • From 1 May 2023, the minimum R-value in:
    • climate zones 3 and 4 rises to R0.46
    • climate zones 5 and 6 rises to R0.50.
  • From 2 November 2023, the minimum R-value for climate zones 1 and 2 rises to R0.46.

Skylights

For the extension period of 3 November 2022 to 1 May 2023, skylights will have the same minimum R0.37 requirement as windows and doors.

Starting on 1 May 2023, the minimum R-value for skylights will be:

  • R0.46 in climate zones 1 and 2
  • R0.54 in climate zones 3 and 4
  • R0.62 in climate zones 5 and 6.

Only applies to housing

The 5th editions of Acceptable Solution H1/AS1 and Verification Method H1/VM1 were amended in August 2022 to contain the R-values for housing that are deemed to comply until 30 April 2023.

While the new R-values have extended implementation dates, H1/AS1 and H1/VM1 5th edition include new methodologies for establishing the thermal resistance of windows, doors, skylights, curtain walling and slab-on-ground floors. From 3 November 2022, only the new methodologies can be used (with the exception of slab-on-ground floors).

There are no alterations to the timing or requirements for other buildings besides housing – either small or large buildings.

For more

See the building performance website, www.building.govt.nz.

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Articles are correct at the time of publication but may have since become outdated.

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