FAQs

We take the ‘eco’ in our name to stand for both economical and ecological thanks to our Kaizen manufacturing process which eliminates waste, and at Ecopod, we -

• choose local NZ-sourced timber where possible • consciously minimise and recycle wasted materials • exceed national insulation standards • only use renewable energy for our electricity • plant at least 10 native trees for every pod we make and • according to an independent lifecycle analysis, of three different methods used for on site building, ours emits the lowest amount of GHG emissions over a 50-year lifetime. Read more. 

For all ecopods which have a Building Consent ex-factory we provide a 10-year Builder’s Warranty as per the implied warranties in the Building Act. For buildings which are fixed to the land and have received onsite Building Consent from the appropriate Authority, we offer a 50-year structural warranty. With all ecopod projects, we provide a Home User Guide, or HUG, which includes all individual product warranties, maintenance procedures and key contacts for your specific ecopod. 

All ecopods are plumbed and wired by certified professionals and come with the appropriate certifications. Our standard is to provide a 32 amp hardwire lead, waste through floor and standard freshwater connection point. it is the landowner's responsibility to ensure the onsite connection points are appropriate. We work with a range of specialists to provide practical options to get connected. For temporary installations, we supply a caravan plug, hose inlet and a macerator pump. For consented dwellings, it depends on the site conditions and requirements which we can discuss with you upon enquiry. Before we start work, we will have the proposed plumbing and electrical services plan approved by our customer.  

We have a rigorous Preliminary Site Assessment procedure which will confirm what form of consent is needed, if any, for your site. If your single-storey building is less than 30 sq m and has no plumbing, it just needs to comply with regulations (read more). Outside of that, a building fixed to the land requires Consent. The landowner has ultimate legal responsibility to ensure compliance. With prefab building it's possible to get a Building Consent ex-factory, with onsite consents arranged separately (or not at all). 

We use timber or steel pile foundations which can go on most terrain. The main considerations are height-to-boundary restrictions, soil stability and type, and flood zone, for we ensure foundations meet engineered requirements prior to installation.

Yes, it’s common for us to customise layouts and fixtures according to requirements. However, having collectively built hundreds of pods, we have a set of standard plans that we know work for most cases. 

Lead times vary depending on the project. Our standard build time for a 20-40sqm pod is about 5-6 weeks. For a simple ex-factory building consent it should only take an additional 5-6 weeks from concept to approval. Onsite building consents and resource consent timeframes vary depending on what investigations need to take place and we can advise you on timeframes when you enquire. 

We don’t currently offer this but sometimes our pods are installed in separate modules and joined onsite. If you have a specific need for a kitset or onsite build talk to us and we’ll see if there’s something we can do.

We can recommend third-party banks and finance brokers who will offer you options to finance your ecopod project. Talk to our team to find out more or Read more here. 

In certain cases, we arrange with iPromise to provide a third-party trust account for deposits. Read more.