Investing in a new property is a significant milestone in anyone’s life. Whether it’s the perfect home for your family or a viable addition to your NZ investment portfolio, safeguarding your investment is an incredibly important step that can help you make the right choice. Leaky buildings and their associated issues can be incredibly expensive to fix, so it’s vital that you understand the benefit of leaky building inspections before you buy your new building.
If you don’t know much about leaky buildings, don’t worry; we’re here to help. Below is a summary of what leaky buildings are, their inherent risks and what you can do about them.
Understanding Leaky Buildings
A leaky building isn’t just a minor inconvenience – it can harbour significant structural problems, compromising the integrity of your property and posing potential health risks. Essentially, a leaky building is one where moisture is evident in the space between the exterior cladding and the interior walls. These buildings typically feature plaster-style monolithic cladding systems. However, buildings with timber weatherboards, concrete blockwork and metal composite panels can also leak if the construction methodology used is not in accordance with good trade practise.
There are many design elements that can lead to leaky buildings, such as recessed windows, flat roofs with narrow or no eaves, penetrations through the claddings (i.e. pergola beams, rafters) and more. These issues can be identified during leaky building inspections.
Unfortunately, leaky buildings come with many risks that could potentially compromise the internal living environment. Moisture might seem like a minor problem at first, but it can lead to dangerous mould and mildew growth. Additionally, weather tightness issues can sometimes lead to legal claims, which can be expensive and very stressful for everyone involved.
The Importance Of Professional Building Inspections
Building inspections, in general, hold great significance as they enable building owners and potential buyers to uncover concealed issues they might not have detected independently. Given the significant challenges posed by leaky buildings, the importance of thorough leaky building inspections is paramount.
Often due to the time it takes for water to cause damage to the internal finishes, homeowners are not aware that their home is suffering from leaks until their home has considerable damage – and at that point, the damages are likely to be very expensive to fix.
As a result, it’s crucial to take proactive measures to determine whether your building poses any potential risks as a leaky building, particularly if it has been constructed with a high risk cladding system. Collaborating with a Qualified Building Surveyor enables you to identify any issues with your building and address them promptly before they get worse.
It’s important to recognise that even buildings that seem perfectly fine could have issues you cannot see. Even if there are no visible signs of weather tightness issues, leaky building inspections can provide valuable insight into the true condition of your building.
The inspection process for leaky buildings will typically start with a visual inspection to identify potential problem areas, which in turn may require more invasive testing subject to the building owners requirements. Invasive testing can involve taking material samples, which will then be sent for analysis.
If you engage a Qualified Building Surveyor to carry out a building inspection on your property or potential investment, they will inform you of any discovered issues. If issues are detected during our site survey, we are also able to provide advice with regard to likely repairs.
The repair process may include repairs to the cladding or the underlying timber structure. This will likely involve creating a robust scope to repair, design plans and specifications, and building consent. Our team of skilled professionals can support you from the beginning stages of the process all the way through to the completion of the construction work.
Although the complete inspection and subsequent repair process may appear burdensome, it ensures that the value is retained in your property. Identifying, addressing, and resolving these issues promptly through repair services and building condition inspections can mitigate potential future damage.
Protecting Your Investments With Thorough Inspections
Purchasing a new property is a big commitment, thus it’s essential to safeguard your investment and ensure it’s a sound decision. Condition building inspections are pivotal in uncovering potential risks and issues. At Veron Building Consultants, we are committed to assisting our clients in identifying and addressing potential risks in their properties before they escalate into more serious and costly problems.
By proactively ensuring the weather tightness of your property, you safeguard your investment and ensure it achieves the longevity it’s intended for.
If you’d like to learn more, you can visit our website to read about our leaky building inspection services. Additionally, we offer various other services tailored for both residential and commercial buildings, aimed at maintaining the structural integrity and stability of your property.
To get started, we invite you to call us on 09 281 2334 or use our contact page.