Ref: DOIA 2021-2127
24 May 2021
Edward Grove
[FYI request #15246 email]
Dear Edward
Thank you for your email of 22 April 2021 to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (the
Ministry), requesting following information under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act):
Please provide copies of all analysis, records, research, policy papers and the like generated or
received by you or your predecessor from 1990 onwards as to:
(a) the practical and economic feasibility and ramifications of requiring external building
elements including cladding to have a fifty, as opposed to fifteen, year durability requirement;
(b) whether the current fifteen year durability requirement represented a departure from prior
New Zealand (or prior an current international) building practice and/or standards, and/or the
expectations of the New Zealand public; and
(c) any discussions as to any practical difficulties in achieving a longer than fifteen-year
durability requirement arising materially out of the functional (physical and chemical) qualities
of radiata pine and/or juvenile sapwood materials compared with traditional (mature and
heartwood) external construction woods.
The Ministry contacted you on 19 May 2021, asking you to refine your request, as the current scope
would likely be refused under s 18(f) of the Act: that the information requested cannot be made
available without substantial collation or research. A subsequent decision was made on 21 May 2021,
that requested a response by Monday, 24 May 2021, that your request would be refused.
As we have not heard from you, we are refusing your request under section 18(f) of the Act. You are
welcome to resubmit a refined version of your request.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision, in
accordance with section 28(3) of the Act. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely
Anna Cook
Acting Manager Building, Performance and Engineering
Building, Resources and Markets