Description

Regarding the compliance of three types of schist wall cladding systems proposed for future houses located in the Queenstown and Arrowtown areas.

The application for this determination arose because:

• the authority had issued building consents and code compliance certificates for various existing houses that included wall cladding similar to the proposed schist wall claddings;
• the authority's proposed refusal to issue a building consent for construction of a house in 2013 which specified schist claddings because it was not satisfied that the claddings would comply with certain clauses of the Building Code (Schedule 1, Building Regulations 1992);
• although cladding details for the 2013 house were amended to incorporate a drained cavity, the designer has sought a determination on the compliance of the schist cladding systems as originally proposed.

The matter to be determined was therefore whether the proposed schist cladding systems would comply with Clause B1 Structure, Clause E2 External Moisture and Clause B2 Durability of the Building Code.

The schist cladding systems include the components of the systems (such as the schist stone, the mortar, the backing materials, the drainage layer and the waterproofing membrane), as well as the way the components were proposed to be installed and work together.