Nick Gaites
B.Eng (Hons) MNZIBS
Nick, a graduate Manufacturing Systems Engineer is a New Zealand Registered Building Surveyor, Certified Passive House Consultant, Registered Air Tightness Tester and has over 13 years’ experience in the New Zealand Construction sector. Prior to becoming a Registered Building Surveyor, he was director of an Auckland residential building company which latterly specialised in leaky building remediation. Nick also has UK building experience and a multidiscipline expertise with a mixture of engineering, construction, building surveying and energy consultancy experience.
Nick Gaites
Nick has carried out a wide range of investigations on standalone residential dwellings, multi-storey residential and commercial buildings. His areas of expertise are in building defect identification, weathertightness, building remediation, building code and contract compliance.
Nick is a construction / weathertightness expert and provides services including forensic diagnostic investigations and reporting, expert witness representation, weathertightness remedial design (including design peer review) and remediation contract administration. Nick is sought after for his excellent interpersonal and communication skills and ethical approach.
Nick is passionate about sustainable building practices, ‘green’ building and designing homes that are energy-efficient, thermally comfortable and provide a healthy indoor environment. In line with this, Nick has qualified as a Certified Passive House Consultant, with the international passive house association and now provides consultancy services related to energy-efficient and sustainable design and construction.
Qualifications and Affiliations
- Bachelor of Engineering with Honours (University of Hertfordshire, UK)
- Former Executive committee member of the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors
- Registered Building Surveyor (MNZIBS)
- Certified Weathertightness Surveyor
- MBIE Forensic Specialist (WHRS Assessor)
- Certified Passive House (Passivhaus) Consultant
- ATTMA Level 1 Registered Air Tightness Tester
- Founding member of Air Permeability Testing New Zealand (APTNZ)
- NZQA Qualified internal auditor (business/quality systems)
Key Skills
- Experienced construction expert witness for Plaintiffs and Defendants
- Stand alone, multi-unit and multi storey residential and commercial building investigation.
- Building and High Court weathertightness defect and failure investigation and reporting (expert witness reports)
- Mediation attendance for plaintiff and defendants
- Cladding weathertightness assessment surveys and reporting
- Timber remediation inspection and reporting Building code and contract compliance investigation and reporting
- Building condition survey and maintenance scheduling
- Weathertightness remediation contract administration
- WHRS assessments
- Investigation and reporting experience includes EIFS, Texture Coated Fibre Cement, Stucco, Aluminium Composite Panel, Plywood, Weatherboard (timber and PVC), brick veneer cladding systems and concrete / concrete masonry
- Passive House (Passivhaus) design and consultancy
- Energy consultancy and thermal modelling using PHPP, DesignPH and THERM software
- Air Permeability (blower door) Testing
Selected Project experience
- Cayman Apartments, Mt Maunganui, investigation, expert witness (plaintiff)
- Botany Town Centre, investigation
- Sylvia Park, investigation, expert witness (plaintiff)
- Perspective apartments, investigation, expert witness (defence)
- Chancery, Auckland City, refurbishment, remedial design detailing, timber remediation, directing remedial contractor
- Kohimarama Rd, weathertight investigation, remedial scope, design peer review, timber remediation, Engineer to NZS3910
- Mt Wellington police station, condition assessment
- Waimauku kindergarten, investigation and repair
- Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate, peer review
- St Pauls Apartments, expert report peer review
- Lewis Lane, weathertight investigation, remedial scope, design peer review, timber remediation, construction quality observation
- Crown Lynn, design peer review
- Oceanblue Gymnasium, Papamoa, remedial scope investigation and design peer review
- Normanby Mews, expert report peer review and insurance date of damage
- Arawa Ave, investigation and insurance date of damage
- Ronaki Rd, expert report peer review and insurance date of damage
Dave Firth
Dave is a Chartered and Registered building Surveyor, Registered Clerk of Works, Chartered Construction Manager, Licensed Designer and has a total of over 40 years construction experience in Europe and NZ including as a contractor for 20 years carrying out property repairs and additions in the UK and three years as a council building inspector and consent processing officer for the Auckland Council Reclad Team.
Angus Pengelly
Angus is a qualified builder and construction manager, with over 13 years of experience in the NZ construction industry. More recently Angus has three years of experience as a building consent processing officer. The combination of hands-on experience across multiple disciplines has given Angus a unique and broad knowledge base of the NZ Building Code and construction techniques and technology in New Zealand.
Diego Ariel Zirlinger
Diego is an Argentinian Architect, graduated from University of Buenos Aires. During his studies he designed houses, schools, public museums and sports centres. He worked as an Architect assistant for a local studio for four years.
There, he developed several projects, from bars and hotels to residential buildings, where gained most of his experience.
Julieta Lucila Meyer
Julieta is an Argentinian Architect, graduated from the University of Buenos Aires in 2017. Julieta is very responsible and committed, loves to learn, and get fully involved in the projects that she participates in. Above all, she always tries to find a sustainable solution to the project, because it is in her belief that it is very important to include sustainability in construction.
Claudia Morales Mirabal
Claudia is a Chilean Architect who graduated from the University of Buenos Aires in 2018. She is methodical and disciplined in her work and eagerly accepts new challenges.
Tristan Henson
Tristan graduated from Sheffield Hallam University in the UK with honours in Building Surveying. Since moving to New Zealand in 2016 he has gained over 8 years’ experience working within the Building Control environment in both residential and commercial capacities across multiple Councils in both the North and South Islands. Prior to this, he worked in Australia within the private sector as a building certifier gaining exposure to a wide variety of construction and legislative practices.