Rottenomics : the story of New Zealand's leaky buildings disaster / Peter Dyer.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preface -- Introduction -- 1. Sarah -- 2. Blamefest -- 3.
Timber treatment: the fight and the resolution -- 4. The
strange story of untreated timber -- 5. Monolithic design
and materials -- 6. Building controls: discontent,
research, reports and a solution -- 7. Building Act 1991:
problems with the solution -- 8. At the coalface -- 9.
Milton and Jean Pedley: stranger than fiction -- 10. Lost
training, lost skills -- 11. Private building certifiers:
set up to fail -- 12. What's a clerk of works? -- 13. Who
took our money? -- 14. Confidentiality: information is
everything -- 15. The last man standing -- 16. Building
Performance Guarantee Act repeal -- 17. Local Government
Amendment Acts 1989 -- 18. Josie O'Donnell: under the
radar -- 19. Two reports and $47 billion -- 20. Leaky
buildings today -- Appendix: Estimating the watertightness
cost as reported in Data on residential weathertightness
failures using Price WaterhouseCoopers methodology.

"For over a quarter century our building industry, economy
and Government have failed to provide this basic guarantee
: new buildings will not rot. Leaky buildings are the
result of an unfortunate confluence of industrial,
legislative, historical and cultural factors. Collectively,
these elements stubbornly continue to defy a full and
final resolution. Featuring personal stories of homeowners
faced with insurmountable repair costs of hundreds of
thousands to their 'dream home', often leading to sickness,
depression and financial loss. And revealed for the first
time, withheld Government reports that estimate the total
cost of leaky dwellings at $47 billion. Rottenomics is an
engaging exposé into a national crisis that refuses to go
away."--Back cover.