BPIR Ready has an outline of impacted products including exceptions, from MBIE's Guide to complying with the Building (Building Product Information Requirements) Regulations 2022.
Some manufacturers and importers may feel uncertain with interpreting the criteria for impacted products regarding it "may affect whether building work complies with the building code". MBIE are encouraging manufacturers and importers to reach their own conclusions about their products, but if you require further affirmation, you can try contacting MBIE via products@mbie.govt.nz
It is your responsibility as a manufacturer or importer of designated building products to decide whether the products you supply are Class 1 or Class 2 products for the purpose of information disclosure requirements. Class definitions and examples are outlined in the regulations section of BPIR Ready.
Note that there is no requirement to disclose to users of BPIR information whether a product is a class 1 or 2 product. In areas of uncertainty you could thus provide one disclosure information for a product that could fit in both classes.
MBIE clarifies the main difference between classes:
The requirements themselves for Class 1 and Class 2 products are the same, the main difference is when you disclose the information. For Class 1 products, you need to disclose either before or when the product is offered for supply by a wholesaler, retailer, or other distributor of the product; and with Class 2 products you need to disclose the product information before the product is ordered by the client.
MBIE are encouraging manufacturers and importers to reach their own conclusions about their products, but if you require further affirmation, you can try contacting MBIE via products@mbie.govt.nz
MBIE have outlined that the reasons for the disclosure of manufacturer details include:
MBIE clarifies:
Transparency of origin can help support homeowners, product specifiers, and building consent authorities make informed decisions about building products. Knowing who manufactures a building product may support confidence or a person’s decision about whether they wish to use a building product. Some consumers may wish to select a product where the manufacturer is closer to home to reduce the emissions involved in transporting the product for example.
Disclosure of the name and contact details of the overseas manufacturer can also assist MBIE where there is a potential product failure. It is challenging to gather information and carry out an investigation without information about the overseas manufacturer, particularly where an Aotearoa New Zealand-based importer has gone out of business.
Improving the quality of building product information is also part of the Government’s response to the Commerce Commission’s recent market study into residential building supplies.
This information can also be found on MBIE’s Building Performance website.
MBIE clarifies:
The regulations do not apply to bespoke building products. A bespoke building product is a product that is not part of a line of products but are a "one-off" product that is designed and specifically engineered for a particular building or building project in question and it is not likely to ever be designed and produced like that again.
MBIE clarifies:
If the spare part is a building product which is available for purchase and in its own right, when used in building work, may affect whether the building work complies with the building code, then it may be covered by the regulations. You could consider whether these parts form part of a system.
MBIE clarifies:
If, for example, a product is intended only to be used in rural work and are not intended to be used in building work, your products will not be captured by the regulations. If you decide that your products are not intended to be used in building work, you may still choose to make some of the BPIR information available to your customers.
MBIE responds:
It will be a case-by-case basis, but there are a number of products which are made up of products or components which are imported into NZ and then assembled or manufactured to make a unique product or system prior to sale or supply.
If in doubt, you could consider yourself the importer and list manufacturer contact details.
Gas and electrical appliances/fittings are excepted from BPIR because they have an existing regulatory regime.
MBIE clarifies:
Stakeholders indicated that the additional benefits of including gas and electrical appliances and fittings were not sufficient to justify the additional costs, particularly as gas and electrical appliances are already well regulated under the Gas Act 1992 and Electricity Act 1992 and their associated regulations. These products will still be required to contribute to building code requirements where relevant, but will not need to comply with BPIR. (Wood and bio ethanol fires are not exempted like gas and electrical appliances are because they don’t have their own regulatory regime.)
For example, hot water cylinders are considered either a gas appliance under the Gas Act 1992 or an electric appliance under the Electricity Act 1992.
When assessing gas appliances and gas fittings under the exemption in regulation 7, you will need to assess whether the gas piping systems are gas fittings under the Gas Act 1992.
Where a product is an electrical appliance but also includes, say, water dispensing via a tap, MBIE have clarified:
The appliance itself is exempt but the tap would need to be assessed to see if it is a designated building product, most likely as a Class 1 product.
MBIE clarifies:
The regulations do not require the information to be presented in any particular format or file type as long as it is on a website that can be accessed from a clear link, available free of charge and without preconditions. MBIE has published two example building product information disclosures on the website – one for a Class 1 product and one for Class 2 product; and a blank template. These are in a PDF format, but you may choose to provide the information in HTML on your website, or in a Word document (which you could consider locking so it’s unable to be edited).
It's up to you how you publish and host your BPIR disclosure information. For some this may be via dynamic HTML content on a company website or PDF, for others this may be on product libraries like EBOSS. We recommend the home page of your website at least provides a pathway for users to find BPIR disclosure information for your products — as merchants will likely be pointing customers there at point of sale (per their requirements under BPIR regulations).
MBIE clarifies:
Manufacturers and importers may consider having one set of information for multiple products, if the information and parameters of use are the same. This may occur for cosmetic differences, such as colour, but may also apply to products that are physically different, such as a product that is available in different thicknesses or lengths.
An example is a product line of windows, where the manufacturer has a suite of windows from which the designer can select the type or configuration, and then customise the size, pane thickness, window openings or latches and so on. The manufacturer may decide to have one set of product information for the product line, so long as they meet the same performance standards. This type of product as described here would likely be a class 2 designated building product, as each unit is customised to the specification of an individual client.
Other examples may include timber cladding or structural timber available in different lengths, plumbing product lines where the options have similar properties or perform in a similar way, and mechanical fixings of different dimensions.
Cautionary note – some building products will require specific testing to meet the performance requirements of the Building Code, which may mean that subsequent changes to how the product is manufactured may put the validity of such testing in question. Manufacturers should therefore consider the parameters of the initial testing and whether a product requires new or additional testing following any substantive changes. This may include a change in composition of materials, or changes to any dimensions that may be significant enough to impact performance of the product.
Manufacturers should consider having arrangements in place with their importers, wholesalers, retailers, and distributors, so that any applicable changes are passed on as they are made.
Another use case is a product that has different application methods. For example, paint that has a different application method to weatherboard vs cement sheet.
MBIE clarifies that for this example:
You could have one product information disclosure and link to different application methods for each cladding type. Ensure that the information disclosure clearly distinguishes between the two application types so it is clear and useful for people.
John Gardiner of Building Confidence Ltd has put together a blog post that details guidance for those preparing BPIR summaries by product families/ranges.
If your product needs to be installed as part of a system to contribute to compliance with the building code then, per MBIE:
In this case it is sufficient for the system as a whole to have its own product information/disclosure as required by the regulations, rather than every individual product needing its own separate product information/disclosure. The individual products that make up the system should be listed in the description of the product. Responsibility sits with the manufacturer or importer of the system to provide the required information, rather than the individual manufacturer of the product component.
However, if the manufacturer’s intention is that in addition to being used in a system, that the product can also be sold or used separately (eg when retrofitting windows, or replacing sprinkler head), then it will also need its own product information.
MBIE clarifies:
If a product is superseded or taken off the market, then the manufacturer or importer of the product should consider how they communicate this and manage the information in future, for example, considering maintaining the information, including an accessible version change (date history) archive, for a period of at least 10 years. This timeframe aligns with the implied warranties outlined in the Building Act 2004 but is a recommendation only and is not set in the regulations.
An archive tab or section on the manufacturer or importer's website may be useful for consumers. An option may be to include a separate tab or section on the website where all old product information is archived, so that it is still provided in case consumers are still using them. An alternative may be to have the archived information on the old version of the product at the bottom of the webpage where the current version of the product is located. A clear distinction should be made between information on the old vs the updated or new version of the product.
MBIE clarifies:
Wholesalers, retailers, and distributors (merchants) have their own responsibilities as per the regulations, which are different from manufacturers and importers. Merchants need to ensure that the product information is disclosed and available to the consumer when the product is sold. If the information is not available to the consumer, then the merchant cannot sell the product.
For example, if a manufacturer has their website information on the product’s packaging, and if a merchant takes the individual product out of the packaging, it is ultimately the merchant’s responsibility to make sure the consumer can access/find the information in some way (e.g. put the website information next to the product). The merchant may have their own unique requirements or dependencies which mean they need to remove the product from the packaging. As a manufacturer or importer, you should confirm with your merchants how the information will be disclosed/made available to the consumer.
In most cases, where the website information is on the product’s packaging, it will make it easier for the merchant as they will not need to provide any further labeling or signs which direct consumers to the website with the product information.
Disclosure information can take many forms and does not need to be one official document.
MBIE clarifies:
If you already publish installation instructions and maintenance manuals, you can provide a link in your product disclose document out to the installation instructions and maintenance manual that are published on other areas of your website. This may be useful and appropriate where the installation instructions are a lengthy document and it wouldn’t be practical to provide all the installation information in the BPIR.
BPIR Ready allows users to link to existing supporting documentation that is hosted online.
MBIE clarifies:
You could make a comment in the disclosure information [e.g. Conditions of use] that the product can only be installed by the manufacturer. The regulations state that installation requirements must be disclosed where there are "Any" installation requirements. If you are always the only parties to install the products that you manufacture, you could choose to make that statement in the installation area of your product disclose.
One of the reasons that installation requirements have been included as part of the building product information requirements is that it supports products being installed correctly and can avoid later claims that products have been poorly installed.
MBIE clarifies:
It is the responsibility of manufacturers and importers of designated building products to update their product information to address any relevant material changes to the building code or compliance pathways.
Upcoming changes to lead in plumbing products—that set a new requirement for inclusion in Acceptable Solution G12/AS—is a good example of an amendment to a compliance pathway which would require manufacturers and importers of plumbing products to review their product information and make amendments where your product information is impacted by the changes.
MBIE will be assisting with education in this example. Per MBIE:
MBIE will be providing information around identifying products that comply with the lead in plumbing product provisions. This information will look to clarify that the building product information requirements (BPIR) disclosure statements being produced by manufacturers and importers of designated plumbing products must include information around how these products comply with the lead in plumbing product provisions, once they come into effect.
MBIE clarifies:
A reference to the building code itself would not be useful to users of building products as a source of installation instructions, as the building code only describes the required performance of the building and not the means of constructing it.
In relation to information contained in Acceptable Solutions and Verification Methods as a way of providing installation instructions for your product, most Acceptable Solutions and all Verification Methods do not provide enough detail to show how to install the products used to achieve compliance (for example, a particular type of fire alarm may be required by C/AS2, but neither C/AS2 nor F7/AS1 describe in detail how to attach heat detectors to a ceiling nor how to connect their wiring – the manufacturer or importer would normally have an instruction sheet for this).
However, a few Acceptable Solutions may provide this level of detail for some specific situations (e.g. E2/AS1 has detailed instruction requirements for some cladding components). Any reference to an Acceptable Solution would only be relevant where the scope of use of the product matched the scope of the relevant part(s) of the Acceptable Solution, and would need to be specific on which Paragraphs, Figures, and Tables of which Acceptable Solution describe the manufacturer’s or importer’s recommended method(s) of installing the product in question.
Generally, product manufacturers and installers will already have installation instructions available for their products, so are unlikely to be creating them from scratch and trying to find appropriate references. A reference to an existing installation sheet/instruction/webpage would often be more useful than a reference to an Acceptable Solution, a standard, or to a Code of Practice. While a Code of Practice may contain useful information on the installation of a product, Codes of Practice are, by their nature, generic documents capable of being applied to multiple products from multiple suppliers. Codes of Practice are therefore not usually as detailed as a manufacturer’s or supplier’s installation instructions, which often contain drawings and content specific to the particular product. However, there may be some content within a Code of Practice which could form a useful part of the content of a product’s installation requirements.
The regulations require the installation information to be provided on a website for which a clear link can be provided, where it is available free of charge and without pre-conditions, and which continues to meet these requirements at least until the product is no longer available. Unless the manufacturer or importer can ensure the Code of Practice is available in this manner, then it cannot be referenced for any critical part of the installation requirements of a product, as the product manufacturer or importer may have no control over the publishing and availability of the Code of Practice.
Generally, product manufacturers and installers will already have installation instructions available for their products, so are unlikely to be creating them from scratch and trying to find appropriate references. A reference to an existing installation sheet/brochure/webpage would often be more useful than a reference to an Acceptable Solution, a standard, or to a Code of Practice.
View a list of professional consultants that provide assurance and technical documentation for suppliers of building products.
It will be helpful to have an understanding of your product’s features, as well as its performance and how it contributes to compliance with the building code. You will also need hyperlinks to key technical documents hosted online.
The output of this tool is a summary of information for your product per the requirements of BPIR regulations. You can then utilise that summary for your own needs (e.g. for an internal review or for a draft that you can re-purpose into an official product disclosure document per your own branding and publishing preferences). You can copy the text from it or export to DOCX.
No. Whilst we store BPIR summaries that product manufacturers/importers have created (for editing and collaboration), they are ultimately intended as internal documents that the manufacturer/importer refines for their own publishing requirements elsewhere (such as the manufacturer/importer's website).
Unfinished BPIR summaries can only be accessed with your login. Any finished summaries can be accessed by others — but only via the share URL or exported DOCX you provide them.
BPIR Ready is self-funded by EBOSS and covers a limited selection of product types. We recommend using the 'Other (custom)' category which will allow you to build a BPIR summary with generic tips, albeit without our wizard-generated NZBC code clauses. You can add your own clauses when you copy your summary into a desktop publishing software like MS Word.
If you require help with clause identification, please review our list of professional consultants.
Our categories are built from shared code clause obligations and product commonality. If your product spans multiple categories we recommend creating two separate summaries. You could then synthesise these in your own document publishing software if desired.
Whoops! Please get in touch and let us know. BPIR Ready is self-funded by EBOSS and there is a limit on dedicated resource for it but we will attempt to review and adjust our category data where necessary.
EBOSS has self-funded BPIR Ready and are unable to create categories for every product type. Where relevant we may update a category to improve it. This could also include replacing it with new categories (making the existing category deprecated). Changes will be documented in our Changelog.
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