Hi Folks
Some guidance would be greatly appreciated....
We built a new house last year in Perth. As you know, most houses in Perth are double brick (with a suspended slab for two storey houses). However, for approximately one third of our upstairs area, we specified Hardiplank external cladding for aesthetic reasons (ie. to break up the expanses of render). As the house was being built, I noted there was no insulation between the internal leaf of bricks and the external frame & cladding, nor for that matter any sisilation or waterproof membrane.
I asked the builder (I remember I called him while standing on the scaffolding!) if his chippies had forgotten to insulate, and he replied it wasn't required. I took some photos of the cavity before it was sealed up.........
I was given access to part of the BCA standards, particularly section 3.12.1.4 which requires both insulation and waterproof membrane for Brick Venerr construction. In addtion JHI specifies that the product (their cladding) should be used with a waterproof membrane. I forwared these details to the builder who said it's not required. I pushed back on this and they commissioned an environmental report which shows we have a 5 and a half star environmental rating, so he said therefore no additional insulation is required.
Is suspect the wrong question was asked of the enviro guy. That is, based on the plans, what is the rating of this house. I imagine the envro consulatant would assume the building was built to BCA standards when forming his view (ie looking at the plans, he would assume the RBV was insulated, much in the same way it would be assumed the roof cavity was insulated to BCA spec)?
My questions to the experts:
Would an overall envro rating override the need for BCA standards?
Would the consulatant have assumed BCA standards have been complied with?
Has anyone ever heard of Reverse Brick Veneer not being insulated or waterproofed?
Where do I go from here?
I can see why the builder is reluctant to insulate now. It's on a second storey and would require full removal, replacement, and repainting of all the cladding, together with associated costs of scaffolding.
ANY advice is very much appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Gus
Any help