Software for healthy homes assessors

Since 1 July 2025, every private rental in New Zealand has had to comply with all five healthy homes standards at all times, whatever the tenancy's start date. There is no government-issued certificate: Tenancy Services is clear that landlords self-assess and sign the compliance statement themselves, and non-compliance risks a penalty of up to $7,200 per breach. That combination makes the assessment document the entire product of your visit. It is what the landlord relies on, and what stands behind them if compliance is ever questioned. Ducksoup turns your on-site capture into that document.

Why does the report matter more here than in most inspection work?

Because the record is the only evidence that exists. A pre-purchase inspection informs a decision; a healthy homes assessment substantiates a signed legal statement. When your capture shows the heater's stated capacity against the living room, the insulation where it could be sighted, the extraction in the kitchen and bathroom, each with a photo and a dated note, the landlord has something to stand on. "Checked, all fine" has no weight at all.

What are the five standards being assessed?

Heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture ingress and drainage, and draught stopping. The detail lives with Tenancy Services, and it is detail: heating capacity is calculated for the specific living room, and insulation minimums differ by climate zone. An assessment template worth using mirrors that structure so nothing gets skipped between properties.

How does ducksoup fit this work?

Bring the assessment template you already use, or an old completed assessment, and ducksoup rebuilds it as a living checklist: the five standards, your sub-checks, your standard wording for common failures. On site you photograph and dictate; the report drafts itself in your format with your phrasing. Compliance reminders are advisory, so a missing check nudges you before you finish rather than blocking you.

Is compliance a one-off job?

No, and this is worth telling your clients. Compliance is continuous: a failed heat pump or a degraded extractor fan takes a property out of compliance regardless of what an old statement says. That makes periodic reassessment a legitimate recurring service, and it makes a dated, photographed record of each visit the thing that separates a professional assessment from a drive-by.