Five years ago you would have been hard pressed to find scaffolding on your average residential house build. You probably wouldn’t have seen safety nets or harnesses either. And fall arrest systems such as air bags were totally out of the question. But you might well have seen a painter using a fully extended ladder […]

By Jo Bailey New standards for height safety equipment are a work-in-progress, as new technology introduced over the last few years has significantly changed the industry. “Some of our current standards are now pretty old and haven’t been updated until now due to costs. At the moment the AS/NZ Standards Committee has started a new […]

If employers with staff working at heights can answer three questions about their projects with a definitive ‘yes’ they should be on the right track to providing a safe environment for their employees and meeting the new Health and Safety regulations, says industry expert Doug Carson. “The first question to answer is ‘do you have […]

By Jo Bailey Weathertightness of structures has been a hot topic in New Zealand since the leaky building crisis became public in 2002. New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors (NZIBS) executive member Nick Gaites says it is impossible to tell the exact numbers of homes affected. However, the weathertightness expert says after years immersed in […]

Weathertightness is not only an issue for New Zealand’s existing housing stock. Nick Gaites, director of Reveal Building Consultants and an executive member of NZIBS, says many builders concerned about “risky” designs for new homes they are being contracted to build, are turning to Registered Building Surveyors for advice. “We are seeing an increase in […]

The leaky building crisis is not the only issue facing the New Zealand construction industry. Poorly repaired homes in Christchurch post-earthquake and sub-standard construction in an overheated Auckland market are also having an impact on the sector, along with the substitution of cheaper, lower-quality building materials by some contractors. William Hursthouse, acting vice president of […]