Healthy Homes Window Compliance in Wellington

Since 1 July 2025 every private rental in New Zealand has had to comply with all five Healthy Homes standards, with no phase in left to run. The ventilation standard is the one that lands on windows: each habitable room needs at least one window, door or skylight that opens to the outside and can be fixed open, with the combined openable area totalling at least 5 percent of that room's floor area. Kitchens and bathrooms also need extractor fans ducted to the outside.

What the ventilation standard really requires

Every habitable room, so living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens and bedrooms, needs openable windows, doors or skylights totalling at least 5 percent of the floor area of that room. Each one has to open to the outside and be able to be fixed in the open position.

Kitchens need an extractor fan or rangehood venting outside, with a minimum duct diameter of 150mm or an exhaust capacity of at least 50 litres per second where it was installed after 1 July 2019. Bathrooms need a fan venting outside with a minimum 120mm duct or 25 litres per second on the same basis.

Most failures are repairs, not replacements

The common finding is not that a window is too small. It is that the sash is painted shut, the stay has corroded so it will not hold open, or the catch has failed so it cannot be fixed in position. All three are repairs measured in minutes, not new joinery.

We free sashes, replace stays and catches, and confirm each window can be fixed open. Replacement only comes into it where the openable area falls short, which is rare outside of small ensuites and awkward internal rooms.

Documentation for your compliance statement

Landlords have to record how the property meets each standard, including confirmation of openable windows and the fan diameters or exhaust capacities. Penalties for breaching a standard run up to $7,200 per breach.

We give you a room by room record: floor area, openable area, the percentage, and what we did to each window. That drops straight into your compliance statement.

Doing the calculation properly

Measuring openable area, not window area

The standard counts the area that actually opens, not the size of the window. A large fixed pane with a small awning sash above it contributes only the awning sash.

We measure the openable area of every window in each habitable room, divide by the floor area of that room and record the percentage. Anything at or above 5 percent passes, and we note the figure rather than a tick.

The paperwork a landlord actually needs

Compliance statements have to record how the property meets each standard. For ventilation that means the openable area, the floor area and confirmation that each window can be fixed open, plus the fan duct diameters or exhaust capacities.

You get all of that room by room in a form you can attach, rather than an invoice that says windows serviced.

Healthy Homes Window Compliance at a glance

Requirement

Openable area at least 5 percent of floor area, per habitable room

Fixable open

Every openable window must hold in the open position

Kitchen extraction

Ducted outside, 150mm minimum or 50 litres per second

Bathroom extraction

Ducted outside, 120mm minimum or 25 litres per second

Deadline

All private rentals since 1 July 2025, no grace period remaining

Our output

Room by room measurements and a written record of the work