Healthy Homes Certificate NZ: Do You Actually Need One?

The "Certificate" That Does Not Exist in Law

There is no such thing as a statutory healthy homes certificate in New Zealand. The Residential Tenancies Act 1986 does not require landlords to buy a certificate from a third-party inspection company. What the law requires is a landlord-signed Healthy Homes Compliance Statement attached to each new, renewed, or varied tenancy agreement, and documentary evidence held by you.

The confusion comes from commercial inspection companies marketing a "Healthy Homes Certificate" — a branded report based on a site visit. A single-property assessment typically costs $200 to $300 plus GST, while comprehensive inspection packages can reach $600 plus GST. The report might be useful, but it does not replace the compliance statement that you, the landlord, must sign.

What the Law Actually Requires

Under sections 13A(1A) and 13A(1CA) of the Residential Tenancies Act, every new, renewed, or varied tenancy agreement must include a completed Healthy Homes Compliance Statement. The official template is Form HHS-8113 from Tenancy Services.

The statement covers all five standards — heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture ingress and drainage, and draught stopping. You fill in the specifics for your property: the type and kilowatt capacity of the fixed heater, insulation R-values and condition, extractor fan diameters and flow rates, drainage status, and any exemptions you are claiming.

You sign it. Not a third party. Not an inspector. The legal duty is yours.

Failing to include the required signed statement is an unlawful act under section 13A(1F)(a) of the RTA and carries exemplary damages of up to $750. A statement the landlord knows is false or misleading is an unlawful act under section 13A(1F)(b) and carries exemplary damages of up to $900.

Certificate vs Compliance Statement — The Real Difference

A commercial certificate is a snapshot of your property's condition at one point in time, produced by a private company for a fee. It has no statutory standing under the RTA, and it does not discharge your legal obligation to provide a compliance statement.

A compliance statement is a statutory document signed by you, the landlord, declaring how your property meets each of the five standards. It is legally required for each new, renewed, or varied tenancy agreement and must be supported by your own evidence file — heating tool reports, insulation receipts, fan specs, barrier photos.

You can use a commercial assessment to help you gather the data you need, but the compliance statement and the evidence file are separate obligations that the landlord fulfils directly.

When a Paid Assessment Makes Sense

A professional assessment can be worthwhile if you genuinely cannot measure room dimensions, identify insulation types, or check fan airflow yourself. Assessors who visit and measure can give you the heating capacity figure, confirm insulation R-values, and test fan extraction rates — data you then use to complete your own compliance statement.

Where it becomes wasteful is when landlords pay for annual re-inspections marketed as mandatory recertification. The law requires ongoing maintenance and compliance, not annual third-party certification. Your obligation is to keep systems working and records current between tenancies.

How to Complete Your Own Compliance Statement

1. Measure your main living room and run the official MBIE Heating Assessment Tool to confirm your heater meets the required kilowatt output
2. Check ceiling and underfloor insulation depth, type, and condition against your climate zone's R-value requirements
3. Measure the openable window area in each liveable room (must be at least 5% of floor area)
4. Confirm kitchen and bathroom fans vent directly outdoors and meet minimum diameter and flow requirements
5. Check gutters, downpipes, and subfloor ground moisture barrier
6. Seal any unreasonable gaps and block or fit draught stoppers on open fireplaces
7. Fill in Form HHS-8113 with your property-specific data and sign it

Keep every piece of supporting evidence — tool reports, invoices, photos, trade certificates — for the duration of the tenancy plus 12 months.

The NZ Healthy Homes compliance guide includes a structured filing system for organising this evidence and step-by-step instructions for each field on the compliance statement.

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