Healthy Homes Standards – Heating & Ventilation

The next stage of the Healthy Homes Standards rollout is fast approaching. The healthy homes standards aim to make a significant change to the quality of New Zealand rental homes. Healthy Homes cover's 5 standards for improvements to:

1. Heating Standard
2. Insulation Standard
3. Ventilation Standard
4. Moisture Ingress and Drainage Standard
5. Draught Stopping Standard

The Healthy Homes Standards are a set of minimum requirements for the quality of rental properties in New Zealand. These became law on 1 July 2019, ensuring all tenants will have warm, dry homes to live in by 2024.

What do I need to do first?

Both tenants and landlords should make themselves aware of these key dates.

1. From 1 July 2019

• Ceiling and underfloor insulation became compulsory in all rental homes where it is reasonably practicable to install.
• Landlords must include a signed statement with any new, varied or renewed tenancy agreement that they will comply, or already do comply, with the healthy homes standards.
• This statement is in addition to the existing requirement since 1 July 2016 to include a signed insulation statement with all new tenancy agreements that covers what insulation a property has, where it is, what type and what condition.
• Landlords must keep records that demonstrate compliance with any healthy homes standards that apply or will apply during the tenancy.

2. From 1 December 2020

• Landlords must include a statement of their current level of compliance with the healthy homes standards in any new or renewed tenancy agreement.

3. From 1 July 2021

• Private landlords must ensure their rental properties comply with the healthy homes standards within 90 days of any new, or renewed, tenancy.
• All boarding houses except Kāinga Ora (formerly Housing New Zealand) and Community Housing Provider boarding house tenancies must comply with the healthy homes standards.

4. From 1 July 2023

• All Kāinga Ora (formerly Housing New Zealand) houses and registered Community Housing Provider houses must comply with the healthy homes standards.

5. From 1 July 2024

• All rental homes must comply with Teh Healthy Homes Standards.

Find out more about the Healthy Homes Standards on the Tenancy Services website.  https://www.tenancy.govt.nz/healthy-homes/about-the-healthy-homes-standards/

How can AB Electrical Help?

As an electrical company, AB Electrical can help Landlords comply with the Healthy Home Standards to cover:

1. Heating
2. Ventilation

We can work closely with property managers and private landlords to make sure you have a plan together sooner rather than later which can save you a lot of difficulty down the line. Understanding the scope of work required means you can budget better, spread the costs, and avoid the last-minute rush to avoid facing fines.

Heating Standard

Landlords must provide one or more fixed heaters that can directly heat the main living room. The heater(s) must be acceptable types, and must meet the minimum heating capacity required for your main living room.

The main living room is the largest room that is used for general, everyday living – for example a lounge, family room or dining room.

Heater(s) must be fixed (not portable), and must be at least 1.5 kW in heating capacity and meet the minimum heating capacity needed for the main living room. This capacity can be calculated using the Heating Assessment Tool or the formula outlined in the regulations.

Heater(s) must not be an open fire or an unflued combustion heater, e.g. portable LPG bottle heaters. If you use a heat pump or an electric heater as part of your solution to meet the healthy homes heating standard, it must have a thermostat. You can’t use an electric heater (except a heat pump) if the required heating capacity for the main living room is over 2.4 kW, unless you’re ‘topping up’ existing qualifying heating that was installed before 1 July 2019.

In most cases, the acceptable types of heater(s) will be a larger fixed heating device like a heat pump, wood burner, pellet burner or flued gas heater. In some cases, e.g. small apartments, a smaller fixed electric heater may be enough.

AB Electrical are happy to give you advice and guidance and install heating in your main living area to comply with the Heating Standard.

Find out more about the Heating Standard at Tenancy Services https://www.tenancy.govt.nz/healthy-homes/heating-standard/ 

Ventilation Standard

Rental homes must have openable windows in the living room, dining room, kitchen, and bedrooms. Kitchens and bathrooms must have extractor fans.

Mould and dampness caused by poor ventilation are harmful to tenants’ health as well as landlords’ property. The ventilation standard targets mould and dampness in rental homes.

All habitable rooms in a rental property must have at least one window, door, or skylight which opens to the outside and can be fixed in the open position.

In each room, the size of the openable windows, doors, and skylights together must be at least 5% of the floor area of that room.

Each window door, window, or skylight must be openable and must be able to remain fixed in an open position.

All kitchens and bathrooms must have an extractor fan vented to the outside.

• Kitchens – In any room with a cooktop, new fans or rangehoods installed after 1 July 2019 must have a minimum diameter (including ducting) of 150mm or an exhaust capacity of at least 50 litres per second.
• Bathrooms – In any room with a shower or bath, new fans installed after 1 July 2019 must have a minimum diameter (including ducting) of 120mm or an exhaust capacity of at least 25 litres per second.

Landlords should ask installers for the details of the fan diameters, ducting, and flowrate in writing, so they can show they are compliant with the healthy home’s ventilation standard.

AB Electrical is happy to give you advice and guidance and install extractor fans or range hoods in your bathroom(s) and kitchen area to comply with the Ventilation Standard.

Find out more about the Ventilation Standard at Tenancy Services https://www.tenancy.govt.nz/healthy-homes/ventilation-standard/