Page 20 - Build 153

What’s new?
Shorts
Leaky home support extended
Timber pole house construction
POLE HOUSE CONSTRUCTION is particularly suited to steep sites where minimal disruption to soil and vegetation is desirable.
Pole houses can be constructed as:
● pole frames where the poles extend the full height of the structure, providing support
and bracing to oors, walls and roof
● a pole platform upon which a conventional
framed house is built.
The structural elements and bracing of pole houses require speci c engineering design (SED).
Bulletin 597 Timber pole house construction updates Bulletin 459 of the same name. It covers:
● materials, including updated treatment
requirements for timber
● xings and fasteners, including durability
issues
● oorinsulation
● architectural design: design options, pole
platforms, pole frames
● engineering design: structural design
of poles and pole bracing, pole system bracing design, pole bracing systems, control of vibrations, building consent
● construction techniques: setting out, holes for poles, pole installation.
Details Available for $13.50 from the BRANZ Shopatwww.branz.co.nzorcall0800808085.
THREE CHANGES MADE to the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services Act ensure assistance is available for families a ected by leaky homes who otherwise would have been unfairly excluded.
The rst change extends the de nition of the ‘built’ date to align with a 2014 Supreme Court decision. The High Court and Court of Appeal had previously ruled that the ‘built’ date was the date of the last building inspection.
The Supreme Court, however, determined it was when the Code Compliance Certi cate was issued, a date that, in some cases, is many months and sometimes years later. This a ects who is eligible for assistance, given the 10-year limitation on claims. The change will enable about 70 homeowners previously deemed ineligible to be able to pursue their claim without the expense of individually taking each case through the courts.
The second change relates to the expiry of the Financial Assistance Package on 23 July 2016. It is possible that, by this date, some claims may still not have reached the ‘notice to proceed’ stage, which is the critical point of the claim process.
This change means that homeowners who are actively progressing claims in the system as of 23 July 2016 will be able to continue to do so.
The third change removes any doubt about the validity of the eligibility criteria for access to the Financial Assistance Package. Two of the criteria – 1B and 1C – are presently located in the Gazette notice by regulation, which the High Court has raised concerns about.
The change means they are moved into the Act to provide a greater deal of legal certainty so that their validity cannot be questioned. Previous decisions made on the basis of these two criteria will be validated.
News
ISSUE597
TIMBER POLE HOUSE CONSTRUCTION
Timber pole houses are suited to steep sites and generally disturb less ground.
The structural elements and bracing of pole houses require speci c engineering design (SED).
This bulletin replaces Bulletin 459 of the same name. Key changes cover treatment requirements for timber, durability issues for xings and fasteners and updated references to current standards.
Bushfire-proof plans
O -the-shelf plans for bush re-compliant homes are being designed by a Victorian state government architect.
THE MOVE COMES as homes close to the Great Ocean Road were destroyed by bush res last Christmas Day.
A one-stop shop is being set up for locals to get advice on rebuilding, as Victoria introduced strict rules
for building in bush res following the deadly Black Saturday res in 2009.
‘The government archi- tect will also be designing a few houses that people could take o the shelf, and a number of people indicatedtheywerereally
interested in that because they then didn’t need to use architects,’ said Environment Minister Lisa Neville.
‘This is about trying to o set some of the costs but importantly making it really simple.’
18 — April/May 2016 — Build 153
April 2016