The Healthy Homes standards: a working checklist

The Healthy Homes standards read like legislation because they are legislation. But checking a house against them is mostly practical work: walk the property with a phone camera and a notebook, room by room, and collect evidence as you go. This checklist turns the five standards into that walk. (For the letter of the law, always come back to tenancy.govt.nz — this is general guidance, not legal advice.)

Start in the main living room: heating

The heating standard cares about one room — the main living room — and asks whether its fixed heating can realistically bring it to a healthy temperature in winter. Portable plug-in heaters don't count. Stand in the room and answer three questions: what is the fixed heater, what is its capacity, and was that capacity chosen for this room's size or inherited from whatever was on special that year?

• Photograph the heater and its rating plate or model number.
• Dig out the installation invoice — it usually states the kW capacity.
• If you've had a heating assessment done, file the calculation with the invoice.

Up and under: insulation

Ceiling and underfloor insulation is required wherever it can reasonably be installed, and it has to meet minimum standards — insulation that was fine when installed can compact and fall below them. If you can safely see into the ceiling space, a photo with a tape measure beside the insulation is simple, persuasive evidence. If a professional installed or topped it up, their statement is the document that matters most.

The wet rooms: ventilation

Kitchens and bathrooms are where a house makes its moisture, so they need extractor fans that vent outside — not into the roof cavity. Habitable rooms need windows or doors that open. Run each fan and check the flap outside actually moves; a fan that spins but vents nowhere is a common inspection surprise.

Underneath: moisture and drainage

Walk the outside of the house in the rain if you can. Gutters, downpipes and drains should be moving water away from the house, not decorating it. If the house has an enclosed subfloor, a ground moisture barrier is generally required where it's practicable to install one — and a photo taken before the access hatch closes is worth more than a receipt alone.

The gaps: draught stopping

This is the cheapest standard to meet and the easiest to prove. Unreasonable gaps around windows, doors, floors and ceilings need blocking, and unused open fireplaces need closing off. A dated before-and-after photo pair per fix is all the evidence this standard ever needs.

File it once, find it in years

The pattern in every standard above: the work is ordinary, and the value is in the record. Statements, invoices, photos with dates. Wherever you keep them — a drawer, a drive, or a tool like Landy that gives each standard its own slot on the property's file — the test is the same: could you put your hand on the document two years from now, the week someone asks?