As independent specialists and one of the few companies qualified to undertake weathertightness and façade peer reviews, we check other architects’ designs for Building Code compliance and weathertightness ‘best practice’.
Thanks to a combination of poor design, workmanship, inspection and material choices, many New Zealand buildings suffer from ‘leaky building syndrome’, or weathertightness failure. This is where water gets past the external cladding of a building and can’t easily escape. If left untreated, it can cause the building’s structure to decay.
As the company that first shone a light on the leaky buildings issue in New Zealand, we understand where things went wrong, and how to avoid it happening again. Conducting a weathertightness review (or façade review for a multi-storey building) is a key part of the quality assurance process. At the same time, we add value to the design and build process by offering practical advice, reducing complexity and managing risk – potentially saving our clients both time and money.
When do you need a weathertightness or façade review?
Client driven
Many New Zealand organisations require a peer review of new build designs against the NZ Building Code and their own internal standards. The Ministry of Education, for example, has a stringent ‘weathertightness and durability requirements policy’ that sits over and above the New Zealand building code. It details the standards that must be met when designing or altering school buildings.
- For new builds, the principal or board of trustees are responsible for ensuring the project manager and designer engage a suitably qualified person to review the design.
- For weathertightness remediation projects, designs must be sent to the MoE Weathertightness Review Panel (WRP), of which Prendos Director and Architect Natasha Cockerell is a member.
Council requirement
For buildings over 10m high, Council will usually request a PS2 Producer Statement from an approved Author. We can provide this for buildings up to six storeys in height. Likewise, if a building is less than 10m but the design scores 20 or more on the E2/AS1 risk matrix, council are unable to review the design and will ask the applicant to provide a ‘PS2 Peer Review Producer Statement’ from an independent reviewer.
Registered Building Surveyor and former Prendos Director, Philip O’Sullivan, is on the Auckland Council’s Register of Approved Peer Reviewers for buildings up to six storeys high.
Peace-of-mind
When you’re looking for reassurance that the design of your new building meets weathertightness requirements, and you won’t find yourself with problems down the line, you can get a ‘peace-of-mind' weathertightness or facade review.
Our experts can review your design against the requirements of the NZ Building Code and industry best practice. As part of this peer review, we'll work with your design and build team to reduce the weathertightness risk of the design wherever possible. We’ll also take a look at the lifecycle of the building to consider other long-term maintenance requirements.
Prendos also offers a follow-on Quality Assurance service. This involves on-site checks at different stages of construction to review the quality of build construction, giving you total peace of mind that your building will stand the test of time.
Specialist areas:
- Weathertightness peer reviews
- Façade peer reviews
- MoE approved weathertightness review
- Council approved reviews of high-risk buildings
- Peace-of-mind review
- On-site quality assurance services
As approved weathertightness and façade reviewers, we will:
- Review designs against weathertightness standards and offer advice to reduce long term maintenance costs
- Work with design and build teams, developing collaborative solutions to reduce complexity, risk and potentially cost
- Identify possible design issues and suggest solutions
- Give you confidence that your building will remain sound and watertight into the future
- Provide a PS2 Producer Statement and accompanying façade peer review report for Council where required.
