Healthy Homes - Insulation

Insulation

[10 Feb 2020]

Insulation Top-ups

Essentially the Govt has moved us from the 2000 standard to 2008 standard. If you installed new insulation to meet the 2016 insulation requirements you are going to be ok. If you have a 2000 to 2008 home or prior to 2016 had retrofitted insulation you may well need to top-up. Top-up sounds like a little but in reality is more like a new installation. “If a home has less than 120mm of ceiling insulation, then this must be topped up, or new insulation installed in order to meet the healthy homes minimum R-value requirements, which are consistent with the 2008 building code”. So as part of our HHL assessment we have to measure 12 cm of insulation or have some proof it is over R2.9. If it is thinner in places it would be possible to just cover these spots and meet requirements.

True story... one landlord had an exemption from putting in underfloor insulation as he had no access. Upon pressure from the tenants the landlord had a hole knocked through a brick wall in order to get access and then did the underfloor insulation. The tenant then took them to the Tribunal who awarded damages against the landlord for not insulating before July 1st as the making of the hole showed access could in fact be gained.

Foil Underfloor insulation

If you have foil underfloor insulation it can stay as long as it is in good condition. Once it get ripped it needs to come out and new underfloor insulation installed. The minimum standard is R1.3 and all underfloor insulation on the market meets this minimum. This is not too expensive, and if a tenant complains to the Tribunal about a rip, it is likely they would just say replace the insulation. Current cost is around $14 per m2 including installation.

Internal Garages

The Tribunal has already put out some shonky decisions about insulating these. In practise this means that if you have a garage or carport space below your house you do need to insulate the ceiling. However, if the ceiling of the garage in already lined, then we think you have a good case for an exception as this would cause damage to the premises in order to insulate, which is one of the accepted exemptions.