Healthy Homes Maintenance Obligations NZ: Ongoing Compliance After the Initial Setup

Compliance Is Not a One-Time Event

Getting your rental up to the Healthy Homes Standards was the hard part. Keeping it there is the ongoing obligation that section 45(1)(b) of the Residential Tenancies Act and Regulation 10 impose on every NZ landlord: you must maintain all installed systems, fixtures, and appliances in full working order throughout the tenancy.

A heat pump that no longer provides the required heating doesn't meet the standard. An extractor fan with crushed ducting doesn't meet the standard. Ceiling insulation that a possum colony has shredded doesn't meet the standard. The Tenancy Tribunal doesn't care that you complied at the start of the tenancy — it cares whether the property complies now.

Heat Pump and Fixed Heater Servicing

Heat pumps lose efficiency over time. Filters clog, refrigerant levels drop, and outdoor units accumulate debris. A unit rated at 5.0 kW when new can deliver significantly less after years without servicing.

The regulations do not set a fixed annual third-party service schedule. These are practical maintenance checks:

• Every 3–4 months: check and clean or replace indoor unit filters. Tenants can report problems, but the landlord remains responsible for keeping the fixed heater in working order
• Annually: professional service check — refrigerant levels, coil cleaning, electrical connections, thermostat calibration
• Between tenancies: full operational test confirming the unit reaches rated output; check that the outdoor unit is clear of vegetation and debris

For wood burners and flued gas heaters, annual chimney sweeping and flue inspection are standard practice. If the flue develops a crack or blockage, the heater is non-compliant and potentially dangerous.

Keep every service invoice. The date, technician name, work performed, and any parts replaced should be in your evidence file.

Extractor Fan Checks

Bathroom and kitchen extractor fans take a beating from moisture and cooking grease. The mechanical ventilation standard requires that fans remain operational and that ducting stays intact — no tears, no disconnections, no crushing from stored items in the ceiling space.

What to check:

• Fan operation: does it actually spin at full speed when switched on? A humming fan with a seized motor doesn't comply
• Ducting integrity: rigid or flexible ducting must run uninterrupted from the fan to the exterior vent. Any collapse, kink, or disconnection in the duct path voids the standard
• External vent: the outlet must be clear and the flap must open freely. Bird nests, paint overspray, and insect screens that restrict airflow are common blockers
• Airflow rate: fans installed after 1 July 2019 must deliver at least 50 L/s for kitchens and 25 L/s for bathrooms. If a fan runs but feels weak, the airflow may have dropped below the threshold

Recirculating rangehoods — the ones that filter air and blow it back into the kitchen — do not satisfy the ventilation standard. They never did. If one was installed as a compliance measure, it needs to be replaced with a ducted unit.

Insulation Between Tenancies

Insulation doesn't need annual servicing the way a heat pump does, but it does need inspection between tenancies:

• Ceiling insulation: check for disturbance from tradespeople who accessed the ceiling space, compression from stored items, moisture damage from roof leaks, and pest contamination (rats and possums tear through batts)
• Underfloor insulation: check that bulk insulation remains properly secured and hasn't sagged, fallen, or absorbed moisture
• Ground moisture barrier: confirm the polythene sheeting is still anchored, overlapped, and free of standing water

If insulation has degraded below the minimum R-value for your climate zone (R 2.9 ceiling / R 1.3 underfloor for Zones 1–2; R 3.3 ceiling for Zone 3), it must be replaced or topped up before the next tenancy begins.

Draught Stopping and Drainage

These are the two standards landlords most often forget to maintain:

• Draught stopping: weather-stripping degrades, door seals compress, and windows develop new gaps as timber frames shift seasonally. Walk the property between tenancies and check every external door seal, window catch, and any previously blocked fireplace
• Drainage: clear gutters and downpipes at least annually (more often if the property has overhanging trees). Confirm that downpipe connections haven't come loose and that stormwater drains aren't blocked

Logging Maintenance for the Compliance File

Every maintenance action should be recorded with:

• The date
• What was checked or repaired
• Who performed the work (tradesperson name and registration number for licensed work)
• The outcome (pass, repair completed, part replaced)

This log serves double duty: it proves ongoing compliance if a tenant files a Tribunal application, and it tells you when the next service is due so nothing lapses.

The NZ Healthy Homes Compliance Guide includes a dated compliance maintenance log template designed for exactly this — tracking inspections, repairs, and between-tenancy checks across all five standards.

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