Latest Rooflink News

What's news in the latest issue - Autumn 2010?

Published March 2010

• Education - LBP education semianrs coming to a town near you soon!
• Technical - What components are in a warm roof?  Learn from Brendon Sutton (Sales & Marketing Manager, Viking Roofspec) on insulation for a low-slope roof where it is installed on top of the roof structure.
• Technical - Stuart Thomson emphasises the significance of insulation, ventilation and condensation when re-roofing as he explains in Thomo's Tips.
• Licensing - Streamlined LBP application process now for those holding a National Certificate in Roofing.
• Roof feature - Manukau's new hypermarket with insulated panel roof.
• Roof feature - Otara's Tongan Church and its new green shingle roof.
• Contract works insurance - never assume on a big job that you'll be covered by the head contractor's policy!
• If you're involved in roof maintenance have you thought about storm water pollution?  If you pollute under the RMA 1991 you could face a hefty fine or even imprisonment.
• Steel & Tube opens new factory.
• Metalcraft restructured.

PREVIOUS ISSUES

 Summer 2009

• Thomo's Tips - How does water really work?  In Part 2 Stuart considers internal water vapour and what can happen if it has no change to escape!  To illustrate the problems of water vapour Thomo includes a case study of a house in the Deep South with double glazed windows where lack of ventilation was causing all sorts of problems.
• Roof feature - St Kentigern School:  The western wall of the new sports centre at a Remuera school features a complex arrangement of concave and convex diamond shapes in zinc which are very pleasing to the eye.  The facade has been expertly made and manufactured by Metal Design Solutions Ltd - a company specialising in premium products for roofing and wall cladding.  In excess of 1000 panels were made by MDS for the 600 sq/m facade using VM Zinc and involving many complicated junctions and the waterproofing of the six converging diamond shaped panels.
• Conditions of Contract SA-2009 launched:  A new subcontract agreement has been published jointly by the Registered Master Builders Federation and the NZ Specialist Trade Contractors Federation following lengthy collaborative effort by a working group of both builders and representatives of the specialist trades.  SA-2009 will eventually replace RMBF's current SC1 and is intended to be a best practice document, demanding proper performance and consequences for poor performance.
• If you're doing a re-roof don't forget the digital camera!  According to independent consultant Frank Thomas, 90% of the time when he is asked to view homes where re-roofing has taken place, the contractor will not have taken out an internal inspection of the home prior to doing the re-roof.  Not a good idea, says Frank, because you need the photographic evidence of prior damage in case the roofer is challenged later about damage that already existed.
• Licensing:  Nine new Roofing LBPs are announced as the licensing scheme starts to have some real momentum ahead of it becoming mandatory in 2012.
• RANZ gets behind Mitre 10 with licensing education initiative:  Next year RANZ is getting behind Mitre 10 and their initiative to run trade training events throughout the country to provide those working in the building sector (including roofers) with education on licensing, the application process and how to meet their skills maintenance requirements.
• ARC changes guidance on zinc run-off:  While it earlier claimed that zinc-based roofs were responsible for higher levels of zinc in harbour sediment, Auckland Regional Council has now acknowledged that the use of prepainted steel and Zincalume® have actually contributed to falling zinc levels.  Unfortunately many regional councils and TAs followed the ARC's lead and may not have caught up with the latest research.  RANZ members are advised that if they have issues with resource consent relating to water run-off, they should contact the NZ Metal Roofing Manufacturers' Inc (MRM) Sustainability Sub-committee to ensure that councils and designers have the correct and updated information from the ARC. 

Spring 2009

• Start date for mandatory licensing - The government has announced that from 1 March 2012 all restricted work on houses or apartments - which include roofing and wall cladding - must be carried out by or supervised by licensed building practitioners.   Rooflink covers details of the policy announcement.
• Wellington Supreme Court - A Wellington member is working on some of the key roofing and cladding features of New Zealand's new Supreme Court complex, which is due for completion later this year.  A feature of the contract is the elliptical orb for the Supreme Courtroom, with more than 2200 diamond shaped copper shingles.
• 2009 Conference - Bay of Islands - The theme this year was Survival Tools for Smarter Business Management.  Attended by 200 delegates and guests, grabbing the chance to get business advice from various experts on a theme of steering their contracting businesses through the tough economic times.  Rooflink covers the advisory sessions in this issue. 
• New Life Members and New appointments on the RANZ Executive - Trev Ashman and Roger Martin were made Life Members of RANZ and two new faces appointed to the RANZ Executive - Mark Tinning and Andy Stevens.
• How does water really work?  Thomo's Tips takes a look at how water works and explains some of the science behind the weathertightness of buildings - discussing principles like gravity, pressure moderation and surface tension.
• Keynote conference speaker - Christine Rankin - To wind up conference, the newly appointed Families Commissioner, Christine Rankin, fired up members by saying that Kiwis needed to get far more passionate about their country and that there was huge untapped leadership potential that is largely untapped due to the culture of New Zealanders.
• Successful launch of the new RANZ Training DVD - We look at the background to producing the first RANZ Good Practice training DVD to assist employers and trainees with on-the-job training and help demonstrate some of the more difficult bits that often are the cause of problems in the industry.