Weighty rule book aims to fix leaky buildings

The book concerned, the Building Industry Association's guidelines on home building, is due to come into effect on February 1.

In the process of spelling out its new rules for designing and building houses to prevent leaking, the association has expanded the publication to 150 pages. This compares with the previous guideline's 12 pages.

Association chairman Barry Brown said that the changes would save New Zealanders $800 million over 25 years and they represented a major step forward in resolving the leaky building problem.

Bayley, however, predicted the building industry would reject the new rules for being far too complicated.

"The changes will introduce an Encyclopedia Britannica of details that no builder in their right mind will be able to carry around with them on the back of a ute with their dog and loud radio," he said.

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