Auckland · Recladding and weathertightness
Recladding is the one renovation where getting the diagnosis wrong costs more than the work.
New Zealand has already run this experiment at national scale, and the results were published. The cost was counted in billions, the dwellings in tens of thousands, and the split by cladding type was not marginal — it was the whole finding. None of that is a prediction about your house. All of it is a reason to investigate before you spend.
$11.3 billion
Estimated total cost of New Zealand’s weathertightness failures. A national estimate for the 1992–2005 build period, published in 2009. It is context for a decision, not a forecast for any one house.
PwC for the Department of Building and Housing, “Weathertightness — Estimating the Cost” · 2009
Photography commissioned — plate reserved · July 2026
The evidence
Cladding type, not house age, was the finding.
When the cost of New Zealand’s weathertightness failures was estimated for the Department of Building and Housing, the failure rate split by cladding type carried the result. Read the numbers carefully: they are national estimates for a build period, and they describe a population, not a property.
A monolithic or stucco-clad house is not necessarily failing, and a weatherboard house is not necessarily sound. What the figures establish is which group failed most often, and therefore where an invasive investigation is worth the cost before any other money is spent.
The practical consequence is a sequence, and it only runs one way. Investigate, then diagnose, then scope, then price. Not price, then investigate. If you have been quoted for a repaint on a plaster or monolithic exterior, that quote may be for the wrong job — the question below on telling a repaint from a reclad is where to start.
PwC for the Department of Building and Housing, “Weathertightness — Estimating the Cost” · 2009
Photography commissioned — plate reserved · July 2026
The model
What can be modelled, and the line that cannot.
The labour to strip, repair, re-wrap, re-clad and finish a single-storey house of about 140 m² floor area can be modelled from published pay rates. The structural repair cannot, because its extent is unknown until the cladding is off. That is not a gap in this page. It is the actual condition of the job.
| Trade | Median hourly pay | Assumed hours (judgement) | Wage cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carpenter | $31.25 | 420 | $13,125 |
| Plasterer | $30.77 | 120 | $3,692 |
| Painter and decorator | $29.81 | 120 | $3,577 |
| Construction manager | $59.13 | 80 | $4,730 |
| Glazier | $32.21 | 60 | $1,933 |
| Roofer | $31.73 | 40 | $1,269 |
Pay rates are the published median for each trade. The hours are this site’s judgement for the scope described above, not a measured figure — change the hours and the answer changes, which is exactly why no one can quote a renovation from a floor area.
Tertiary Education Commission — Tahatū Career Navigator · retrieved 2026-07-30
From a wage to a price
The table above totals $28,327 of wages across 840 labour hours for a single-storey reclad of about 140 m² floor area. That is not what the work costs you. A charge-out rate also has to cover ACC levies, annual and sick leave, vehicles, tools, insurance, supervision, quoting time that never converts, office overhead and margin.
Across New Zealand trades a charge-out rate of 1.8× to 2.6× the wage is the ordinary range. That multiplier is judgement — no official source publishes it — so it is stated here rather than buried, and you can substitute your own. Applying it gives a modelled labour component of $50,988 – $73,650.
Materials, fittings, appliances, consent and inspection fees, scaffolding, skips, temporary works and the builder’s margin all sit on top of that. The labour component is usually the largest single line in a renovation, which is why a decade of labour cost rises has moved renovation prices far more than any material has.
Modelled on this site from Tahatū Career Navigator pay bands — labour only, not a quote · July 2026
What to do
The order that protects you.
- 01
Commission an invasive moisture investigation
From someone whose income does not depend on the answer. Targeted testing at junctions, with a written report and photographs.
- 02
Get the report before you get quotes
A reclad priced without a report is priced on assumptions, and every assumption becomes a variation later.
- 03
Take legal advice on your position early
The Weathertight Homes Resolution Service window closed on 31 December 2021. Whether anything else remains open is a legal question with dates attached.
- 04
Treat scaffolding as a reason to do more at once
Access is a large fixed cost. Joinery, roof edge work and painting are cheapest while the scaffold is already up.
- 05
Insist on a Licensed Building Practitioner and a consent
Recladding is restricted building work and needs a building consent. Keep the consent, inspection records and producer statements — they are the asset you are buying.
Questions people actually ask
Does a monolithic-clad house mean I have a leaky home?
No. The 95% figure on this page is an estimated failure rate by cladding type across the 1992–2005 build period, published nationally in 2009. It says that of the dwellings that failed, monolithic and stucco cladding dominated. It does not say that 95% of monolithic houses are failing, and it says nothing at all about your address. What it does say is that a monolithic-clad house of that era deserves a moisture investigation before anyone spends money on its appearance.
How do I tell a repaint from a reclad?
An invasive moisture investigation, not a look. Non-invasive readings and a visual inspection can raise the question; only targeted invasive testing at the junctions — window heads and sills, penetrations, deck junctions, inter-storey joints — can answer it. If the timber behind the cladding is wet or decayed, painting over it spends money on the symptom and hides the evidence. That is the situation where a repainting quote is the wrong quote, and where the trades you need are structural rather than decorative. If you have been told your plaster house needs a repaint, read what a monolithic exterior actually needs first.
Can I still make a leaky-home claim?
Not through the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service. Applications to the service closed on 31 December 2021, and no new claims can be lodged with it. That does not necessarily extinguish every avenue — ordinary limitation rules, contractual claims and any relevant guarantee product may still apply — but those are legal questions, and this site is not the place for legal advice. Get advice from a lawyer who does weathertightness work before you spend money on the building.
Is recladding restricted building work?
Yes. The external moisture-management system of a house is expressly within the definition of restricted building work, and so is the primary structure that recladding usually exposes and repairs. It must be carried out or supervised by a Licensed Building Practitioner, and it needs a building consent. This is not a grey area and it is not a job to give to whoever is cheapest.
Should I reclad the whole house or just the failing wall?
Both are done, and the choice is genuinely difficult. Targeted replacement is cheaper today and leaves you with two cladding ages, two details and a junction between them. Full recladding costs more, resolves the system rather than the symptom, and gives you one consent, one scaffold and one set of records. Scaffolding and access are a large fixed cost that you pay largely once either way, which pushes the arithmetic toward doing more while it is up. That reasoning is judgement — the investigation findings decide it.
What does a reclad cost?
This site will not put a single number on it, and no official source supports one. The modelled labour component for a single-storey 140 m² house is $50,988–$73,650 before any materials, scaffolding, joinery replacement, structural repair or margin — and the structural repair is the line that varies most, because it is unknown until the cladding comes off. Anyone giving you a firm reclad price before an invasive investigation is guessing with your money.
Consent and zoning information on this page describes the published rules and the Auckland Unitary Plan zoning map. It is not a determination about your property, and only Auckland Council can confirm what applies to your address. Much of the work described here is restricted building work under the Building Act 2004, which must be carried out or supervised by a Licensed Building Practitioner. This site does not yet name the trade partner who would do the work, and until it does it claims no licence, guarantee or membership.
One route from here
If you suspect this is your house, start with the investigation.
Tell us the cladding type, the build era, and what you have already been told. The most useful reply is often "get an investigation first, and here is what it should cover" — and if that is the answer, you will get it in writing rather than a booking.
The other side of this question
If the investigation finds sound framing and tired paint, it is a coatings job — and that is the other site.
Paintwork Auckland