What is a weathertightness claim?

The leaky building crisis produced so many disputes that a dedicated resolution path was built for them. The Weathertight Homes Resolution Services give owners of leaky homes a route that is intended to be faster and cheaper than suing through the courts: a technical assessment of the home, then mediation or adjudication before a specialist tribunal. Owners can still choose the courts instead, which is a decision to make with a lawyer.

The owner applies to MBIE, which checks the claim meets the eligibility criteria. An assessor then inspects the home and produces a report setting out the damage, what caused it, the likely repair scope and the parties involved in the original work. With an eligible claim and a report in hand, the owner can pursue mediation with those parties or take the claim to the Weathertight Homes Tribunal, which hears evidence and decides who, if anyone, is liable and for how much. Tribunal determinations are enforceable like court judgments.

A claim must be brought within 10 years of the building work it concerns, whether that was the original construction or a later alteration. This longstop is the single fact that decides most enquiries. Homes built during the leaky era itself are now well past it for their original construction, so for most of those owners this scheme is no longer available, however clear the damage. The same 10 year longstop applies to building work claims in the courts, so changing forum does not usually revive an expired claim.

More recent work resets the clock for that work only. A reclad or major repair done within the last 10 years can found a claim about that work if it has itself failed.

If your home or its repairs are less than 10 years old and it is leaking, the scheme remains a live option and an assessment is the sensible first step. If the relevant work is older than that, options narrow sharply, and what remains depends on facts a generalist page cannot judge: insurance positions, more recent trades work, contractual warranties. Talk to a lawyer experienced in weathertightness matters before spending serious money in either direction.