Still researching Environmental building Solutions - of all the types I've read about, I think an Earthen Building is the way to go. Build walls of recycled or renewable materials, then build the inner and outer layers up with Cob. Also makes it easier to integrate a rocket stove.
Earthen Building Standards.
Since 1999 New Zealand has had Earthen Building Standards within the Building Code. This means any buildings designed and built in accordance to the standards automatically meet many of the provisions in the NZ Building Code. Earth Buildings are still required to meet other standards such as External Moisture, Light and Heat efficiency. It is possible to construct your earth house without the need for structural design by an engineer by using NZS 4299 Earth Buildings Not Requiring Specific Design.
The Standards referred to are:
NZS 4297:1998 Engineering Design of Earth Buildings (Specific Design)
NZS 4298:1998 Incl Amendment#1 2000 Materials & Workmanship for Earth Buildings
NZS 4299:1998 Incl Amendment#1 1999 Earth Buildings Not Requiring specific Designs
These can be purchased from Standards New Zealand.
More information can be obtained from the Earth Building Association of New Zealand, and the Waitakere Council has this very informative booklet available on various types of Earthen Homes:
http://www.waitakere.govt.nz/abtcit/ec/bldsus/pdf/materials/earthbuilding.pdf.
We are a young couple with kids and the crazy idea of buying some empty land, living off the grid and building ourselves up till we have a functioning house and lifestyle block. This blog will document our adventures, discoveries, successes and failures as we try to do this. The land we are going to buy has nothing on it. No trees, no connection to electricity or phone, no water, no sewerage, no buildings. Nothing. We are starting from Scratch.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Building Consents - Waitaki District Council
Doing some research into the process for building a home. For obvious legal purposes I'm initially exploring regulated options - but the local and regional governments have made sure that almost all avenues of freedom have been shut to ensure they get their fair share of "every-damned-little-thing-they-can".
The following are relevant excerpts taken directly from the Waitaki District Council's website:
What is a Building Consent?
The following are relevant excerpts taken directly from the Waitaki District Council's website:
What is a Building Consent?
A Building Consent is approval to carry out building work and is issued by a Building Consent Authority (BCA) once detailed drawings and specifications have been checked to ensure that the proposal meets the requirements of the Building Code. A building consent is a legal document issued by a BCA in accordance with the Building Act 2004. At this stage there are no private Building Consent Authorities, so the consent must be approved and issued by the Council.
When Do I Need a Building Consent?
A Building Consent is required for all work involving construction, alteration, demolition and maintenance of new and existing buildings. This includes:
- Retaining walls higher than 1.5m
- Garages and carports
- Structural building: alterations, extensions, re-piling
- New buildings
- Decks, platforms or bridges more than 1.5m off the ground
- Fences (higher than 2.5m)
- Plumbing and drainage work (except repairs)
- Any building located within its height of the boundary
- Heating including fireplaces, ventilation and some air conditioning systems
- Relocation of a building
- Change of use of a building
- Sheds greater than 10 square metres in floor area
- Shade Sail over 50 square metres
- Install a container on your property as a permanent or temporary fixture if to be used as a building
A Building Consent allows you to carry out building work in accordance with the consent and associated plans and specifications, provided all other requirements have been met.
Can I build without a Consent?
Changes to the Building Act 2004, Schedule 1 allows for some small buildings to be exempt from building consent provided is not a spa or swimming pool enclosure/fence.
Even if consent is not required, all building work must comply with the Building Code.
The Schedule 1 (paragraph i) states a building consent is not required for if a building not exceed 1 storey, does not exceed 10 square metres in floor area, and does not contain sanitary facilities or facilities for the storage of potable water, but may contain sleeping accommodation (without cooking facilities) if the detached building is used in connection with a dwelling:
(Schedule 1, paragraph jb) The construction, alteration, or removal of a pergola.
Even if a building consent is not required, the construction still needs to comply with the NZ Building Code. This includes spouting/stormwater control.
What happens if you do not have a consent?
If you carry out building work without a building consent you are liable for a fine and may also have trouble selling the building or obtaining insurance. If the building is damaged or destroyed because of a fault occurring in the unauthorized work, an insurance company could legally refuse to pay you.
The Building Act 2004 allows for any person to apply for a "Certificate of Acceptance" for any work that has been completed without a building consent. This however is only applicable to work carried out after the inception of the Building Act 1991 (1 July 1992). A “Certificate of Acceptance" must be applied for on the appropriate form.
Council is bound by the Building Act 2004 and has a role to ensure the health and safety of the public, with regard to buildings, is always maintained. If you are aware of a situation that you believe compromises the health and safety of building users then you need to refer the matter to Council at the earliest date.
Friday, December 13, 2013
The Plan in Brief.
The real challenge is to find exemptions in the regulations you can exploit so you don't have to pay apply and pay for hundreds of building consents. Even though Oamaru and it's surrounds are governed by the Otago Regional Council, it is the Waitaki District Council that sets the bylaws for building.
Effectively, you can only build a 3m x 3m "shed or sleepout" that is more than it's own height from any boundary AND the 'associated residential dwelling' (does this mean you can only build a "sleepout" under the exemptions if you already have a 'permament dwelling' on site?), and does not contain any cooking or sanitary facilities or a potable water supply.
This means we have can put these things into consideration: A separate toilet/laundry amenities block from the main living quarters. This is fine - our plan is to build a compostable toilet system and avoid the massive haemmoragging of potable water into the water treatment system, so we were going to have a seperate W/C.
As for our amenities, we are currently investigating the option of building a hand-agitated washing machine (or perhaps a solar or wind powered mechanical washer) that can be kept in a sheltered outside area, sort of like a carport, for washing, drying etc and be gravity-fed from a rain water storage tank.
Making Preparations
Right now we are in the preparation stage. We have read blogs and magazines and articles, we have watched instructional videos and documentaries. We have daydreamed and talked for months upon months on end. And now, here we are.
The first challenge for us, is to let go of our dependence on material possessions.
We uncluttered the house Six months prior, selling a large amount of items on TradeMe and donating many others to charity shops, and now we are doing the same again. Our goal is two-fold - less items to have to move with us, and less items to have to put into storage.
My office is crammed with boxes of unwanted books, ornaments, clothes and even antiques.
We shall keep the things that are not up for negotiation: Our beds, for example, or the armchairs, dining table and chairs etc etc. Specifically, we wish to bring our possessions right back to the fundamentals and, again, start from scratch.
Eliminating shelves and cupboards has been liberating. Once they were gone, we were left with a plethora of items with nowhere to go. The purpose of shelves is to put stuff on them - just like cupboards exist to be filled. Reduce your storage space and you will find you reduce your stuff too. Shelves and cupboards only justify the existence of material posessions.
At this stage we can fit everything we own now into a 20m3 rental truck and make the move in one trip!
The cost of moving shall be, at this point, about $600 all up (thats including bond and insurance on rental truck). Same price as making four car trips, but much more convenient. Let's see what tomorrow brings.
The first challenge for us, is to let go of our dependence on material possessions.
We uncluttered the house Six months prior, selling a large amount of items on TradeMe and donating many others to charity shops, and now we are doing the same again. Our goal is two-fold - less items to have to move with us, and less items to have to put into storage.
My office is crammed with boxes of unwanted books, ornaments, clothes and even antiques.
We shall keep the things that are not up for negotiation: Our beds, for example, or the armchairs, dining table and chairs etc etc. Specifically, we wish to bring our possessions right back to the fundamentals and, again, start from scratch.
Eliminating shelves and cupboards has been liberating. Once they were gone, we were left with a plethora of items with nowhere to go. The purpose of shelves is to put stuff on them - just like cupboards exist to be filled. Reduce your storage space and you will find you reduce your stuff too. Shelves and cupboards only justify the existence of material posessions.
At this stage we can fit everything we own now into a 20m3 rental truck and make the move in one trip!
The cost of moving shall be, at this point, about $600 all up (thats including bond and insurance on rental truck). Same price as making four car trips, but much more convenient. Let's see what tomorrow brings.
Introduction
My name is Adrian (29), my wife is Amy (29), our son is Caleb (2), and Amy is pregnant with an unknown arriving August/September. I am an Assistant Manager in one of the fastest growing Retail Butcheries in New Zealand, and Amy was an award winning Dog Groomer, now she's a wonderful full-time Mum. Caleb is an endless source of energy and entertainment
The Plan We live in Dunedin (population 120,000) and are moving to Oamaru (population 14,000). This is where both my parents live and my Mother-in-law and sister-in-law live. We are going from a dense urban city-environment to a small, coastal tourist town (or, rather, approximately 15km south of the town).
Before we can move we need to find a date for when I start my new job in Oamaru as Manager of another Retail Butchery, put an offer onto the land we want (Closes Christmas Eve), sell our house and then move north about 120km. We will live like Gypsies or modern Hippies - initially live with my parents in Maheno, a large rural region with a population of 3,600, until we have paid of our credit cards. Once we are free of debt, we will move into several large tents on the property - each tent serving as a different "room" of our home. Here, we will live power, phone, water and sewerage free as we build up our resource collection and processing abilities and then make our land functional. At some point, we will start building a house.
The Plan We live in Dunedin (population 120,000) and are moving to Oamaru (population 14,000). This is where both my parents live and my Mother-in-law and sister-in-law live. We are going from a dense urban city-environment to a small, coastal tourist town (or, rather, approximately 15km south of the town).
Before we can move we need to find a date for when I start my new job in Oamaru as Manager of another Retail Butchery, put an offer onto the land we want (Closes Christmas Eve), sell our house and then move north about 120km. We will live like Gypsies or modern Hippies - initially live with my parents in Maheno, a large rural region with a population of 3,600, until we have paid of our credit cards. Once we are free of debt, we will move into several large tents on the property - each tent serving as a different "room" of our home. Here, we will live power, phone, water and sewerage free as we build up our resource collection and processing abilities and then make our land functional. At some point, we will start building a house.
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