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The primary concern for water supply design in a house will always be the health and safety of the occupants, but beyond that, there are opportunities to reduce consumption of reticulated water through efficient design.

This bulletin gives an overview of passive design options for reducing overheating. It does not consider active (mechanical) ventilation systems.

This module covers design and construction requirements for barriers, specifically in relation to stairways.

This module covers D1/AS1 design requirements for exterior stairs.

This module covers design and construction requirements for landings, including quarter and half landings.

This module covers D1/AS1 design requirements for curved and winder stairs.

This module provides an introduction to stairway design following D1/AS1 including specifications and features that are required for safety and ease of use.

This module focuses on stair handrails, including when and why they’re used, and specifications for handrail design in different situations.

Greenhouse gas emissions from new building work must be reduced for New Zealand to meet its commitment to a net-zero carbon economy. 

This bulletin gives an overview of the decisions that designers, builders and clients can take to reduce the carbon footprints of new houses.

This is the second of two bulletins on net-zero carbon building. It follows Bulletin 651 Climate change, net-zero carbon and the building industry.

This bulletin outlines considerations for installation, use and maintenance of solid fuel appliances. Solid fuel-burning appliances can be free standing or built in. Terms used for built-in appliances include inbuilt heaters, fireplace heaters, inset or insert fires, slow combustion solid fuel stoves and solid fuel space heaters, which may be installed in an existing fireplace and/or chimney or in a new construction.

Solid fuel appliances, including flue pipes and chimneys, must be regularly cleaned and maintained.

This bulletin replaces Bulletin 306 Inspection procedures for chimneys, fireplaces and solid fuel burning appliances.

Damp-proof membranes (DPMs) or concrete underlays are necessary under on-ground concrete floor slabs to prevent moisture from the ground passing through the slab and damaging the interior finishes, fittings and contents.

The use of a DPM is mandatory under slabs on ground for all habitable spaces and under slabs for garages or ancillary buildings that may be used as habitable spaces in the future.

This bulletin outlines the selection, design and installation requirements for DPMs. It updates and replaces Bulletin 469 of the same name.

Acceptable Solutions and Verification Methods provide a means of demonstrating compliance with the relevant clauses of the New Zealand Building Code (NZBC). It is not mandatory to use Acceptable Solutions and Verification Methods, but if used, building consent authorities (BCAs) and territorial authorities must accept them as providing compliance.

This bulletin highlights some of the key changes to New Zealand Building Code Acceptable Solutions and Verification Methods for clauses B1 Structure and E2 External moisture that have come into effect since 2012. It highlights the amendments introduced in 2019.

This bulletin replaces Bulletin 545 Key changes to B1/AS1 and E2/AS1.

Recent calculations suggest that the built environment accounts for up to 20% of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions. Both new and existing buildings will need to produce fewer emissions to help meet net-zero carbon targets set in law. 

This bulletin provides an introduction to the impacts of climate change and the move to a net-zero carbon economy on the New Zealand building industry.

The New Zealand Building Code sets out performance criteria that all building work must comply with. Minimum requirements in the Code, in Acceptable Solutions and referenced standards cover areas from thermal insulation to ventilation levels.

Many new houses are constructed to just meet the minimum requirements of the New Zealand Building Code. Better-performing houses may cost more to build but are much more comfortable to live in and have reduced running costs to offset the upfront cost.

Our houses will need to perform considerably better to help meet long-term national net-zero carbon targets.

This module focuses on the basic concepts of timber treatment.

Topics covered in this self-paced module: 

• Why do we treat timber?
• What types of timber treatment are there?
• What types of chemicals are there?
• Why do I need to know how the timber has been treated?
• Library of useful materials 

Gain 100% in the test at the end of the module, and you'll receive a record of your completion that can be submitted as part of your CPD activity log.

Moisture can make its way into a house in a range of ways - exterior, interior, ground and construction. This module focuses on the effects of moisture on houses and the people who live in them.

Topics covered in this self-paced module:

• Where does it come from?
• Why is it important?
• In the past
• Library of useful material

Gain 100% in the test at the end of the module, and you'll receive a record of your completion that can be submitted as part of your CPD activity log.

The structure and behaviour of moisture can help us understand why a house is having weathertightness issues and how to design to avoid those issues. Weathertightness issues in houses can lead to health problems, financial headaches and structural worries.

Topics covered in this self-paced module:

• Why is moisture important to understand?
• What form does H₂O take?
• How does it behave?
• Library of useful material

Gain 100% in the test at the end of the module, and you'll receive a record of your completion that can be submitted as part of your CPD activity log.

This is a lighter version of LCAQuick that allows you to sort and format your data correctly but does not contain the functionality to calculate environmental impacts. Once your data is in the correct format, you can copy and paste it into the full version of LCAQuickV3.4.3, which will then calculate the environmental impacts.

Please ensure that you are using Microsoft Excel from 2016 or later.

LCAQuick is a free tool developed by BRANZ that helps architects, designers and structural engineers make sustainable design decisions. It evaluates the carbon footprint and other environmental impacts of a building design. It can be used by anyone with an interest to understand the environmental impacts of buildings across the life cycle.

This module focuses on the concepts and features critical to the design of timber wall framing.

Topics covered in this self-paced module: 

• What loads impact on timber framing?
• How does a timber frame resist loads?
• What factors influence the impact of load on a frame?
• Library of useful material
• Did I understand all of this? 

Gain 100% in the test at the end of the module, and you'll receive a record of your completion that can be submitted as part of your CPD activity log.

The schedule method is the simplest, quickest and cheapest way to demonstrate compliance with Building Code clause H1 Energy efficiency but it is the most restrictive. You must meet minimum requirements for construction R-values for walls, floors, roofs and windows.

Topics covered in this self-paced module:

• What is the schedule method?
• How does it work?
• How could I go further?
• Library of useful materials

Gain 100% in the test at the end of the module, and you'll receive a record of your completion that can be submitted as part of your CPD activity log.