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Southern Response – the use of lighter cladding for rebuilds

If you have/had a brick house that is to be rebuilt it appears the Southern Response may substitute a lighter material for the external cladding. The news release is here and reads:

Lighter weight claddings for TC3 land

Published 13 August 2013

If your original home was built of brick and is now being rebuilt on a surface structure with shallow foundations, it will need to be rebuilt with a lighter weight cladding than the original brick.

Lighter weight cladding costs more than brick and there is now an allowance for this in your Build to Budget sum.

The allowance will cover the difference in cost between brick and the current equivalent lightweight cladding system.  We expect that the number of rebuilds on TC3 land will result in an increase in the range and a possible lowering of the price of lighter weight cladding materials – so we will regularly monitor the available products and the amount of the allowance we will make available for this upgrade.

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Southern Response – asbestos handling information

Southern Response have added the following information to their website (here), describing how properties with asbestos will be treated.

Before your repair work begins the main repair contractor will assess whether they need to test for the presence of asbestos in building materials in your home – based on the age, construction materials used and the nature and location of earthquake damage.  If asbestos testing is needed, the main contractor will arrange for inspection of the earthquake damaged areas; This will be done at our cost.

If asbestos is identified in earthquake damaged materials, a competent contractor will be engaged to remove that type of asbestos product that is earthquake damaged.

The main contractor is fully responsible for asbestos identification, testing, removal and disposal as per the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment rules and Health and Safety Act.

We will advise you if asbestos is identified in earthquake damaged areas of your home and can give you a copy of the test results if you request them. 

Further information on asbestos can be found on the Ministry of Health website: https://www.healthed.govt.nz/resource/all-about-asbestos

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Southern Response – foundation repair trials

From the Southern Response website (here):

Southern Response is partnering with Housing New Zealand to trial different methods of re-levelling earthquake damaged houses on TC2 and TC3 land. The trials are specifically for houses with concrete ring and concrete floor foundations. Housing New Zealand has produced two video clips – the first clip is an explanation of the project by structural and geotechnical engineers and the second clip is a demonstration of the jack and pack method of re-levelling. The website also includes a recorded presentation on foundation repairs from the CERA rebuild and recovery expo held in April 2013.

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