Village Membership

Full year subscription fees: We will invoice you once the membership form is completed and received by the RVA. Subscription rates are based on a full year membership 1 April – 31 March. Part-year membership will be adjusted accordingly.

DEFINITIONS

Residential Unit, Villa, Flat or Cottage

Residential dwellings that are either stand alone or grouped together. They will have their own individual entrances. They may be one, two or three bedrooms and they have full bathroom, kitchen and laundry facilities.

Apartment

Residential dwellings that are grouped together with entrances that open to a shared corridor or enclosed walk way. They may be one, two or three bedrooms and they have full bathroom, kitchen and laundry facilities.

Dwellings with limited kitchen and/ or laundry facilities

These might be called studios, bed-sit or serviced apartments. These dwellings do not have full kitchen and/ or laundry facilities. They also include ORAs in a rest home or residential care facility.

Serviced apartments

Please include all serviced apartments in your total (i.e. residential aged care rooms that are occupied under an ORA and therefore covered by the Retirement Villages Act and Code of Practice).

RVA Accreditation Audits

It is important to the RVA that retirement villages are operated in a professional manner and that high standards of excellence are maintained in the industry. This is the key marketing advantage that sets all RVA branded villages apart from the rest – our audited compliance regime ensures that all our operators meet the standards as required in the Retirement Villages Act 2003 and the Retirement Villages Code of Practice 2008 (and amendments). Such standards are designed to protect the wellbeing and interests of our residents and in turn, yours as our member.

To ensure this, new member villages are “Provisional Members” of the RVA for:

1. Villages under development and yet to have their residential dwellings occupied, provisional membership will be provided and subject to review as development progresses.
2. Operational villages joining the RVA must attend to an accreditation audit within 6 months of joining date.
3. When villages who are already accredited members of the RVA experience a change in Ownership, the village sale is effected under a ‘going concern’ basis and the audit measures, process and control remains in effect until the next audit due date is reached. The village will be required to book an audit prior to this date to ensure the ongoing accreditation standards are achieved, as measured by the audit outcomes.
   
   

To become an “Accredited Member”, the village must undergo an RVA Accreditation audit. This usually takes place as detailed above.

The RVA Accreditation audits are measured against the Retirement Villages Code of Practice 2008, amended October 2013.

Designated audit agencies (Dept of Health DAAs) are able to perform the RVA audits providing they have gone through the RVA training (RVA approved). We strongly recommend that villages with a residential care facility arrange their RVA audit in conjunction with their residential care audit, provided the auditor is accredited to provide the RVA audit. This will save costs associated with the RVA audit if they’re both undertaken at the same time.

The RVA approved audit agencies for 2022/23 are:

• DAA Group

• Health and Disability Audit New Zealand (HDANZ)
• TAS Central Region

Audit Process – once accredited and in the year of expiry of your Accreditation Certificate,

Up to six months before the village audit is due, the RVA’s Association Manager (AM) or the Audit Agency previously used by the Village notifies the village of a forthcoming audit. The village will be advised of:

• Village’s accreditation audit due date – but you should know this from your Accreditation Certificate
• Information about the audit

   

  The audit consists of:

  a desktop audit by the auditor

  • Checking policies and procedures
  • Occupation Right Agreement & Disclosure Statement for CoP requirements

   

  a site visit by the auditor to verify implementation of above – about four hours and includes:

  • interview with manager
  • interview with staff (where appropriate) – CoP knowledge where appropriate, maintenance, hazards/ incidents and accident reporting
  • interviews with residents (max 3) – verify communication process as stated in policy, notices, consultation processes, AGM process, minutes distribution, complaints process, maintenance requests, evacuation procedures, option of having residents’ committee, any appropriate issues
  • sight – where appropriate
    • Building WoF – community facilities and any other buildings as required
    • alarm testing schedule (if have call system)
    • schedule fire alarm checks – appropriate to building type and Fire Regs requirements
    • evacuation procedures – where appropriate
    • maintenance requests register - some are combined with complaints
    • complaints register
    • hazards – incidents and accidents register – checking follow-up
    • staff records – verify job descriptions, contracts in place, ongoing supervision and/or training where required
    • staff wearing identification
    • insurance policy
    • re-sale process – evidence of consultation and reporting

Annually the AM notifies the relevant audit agency of audits due. The audit agency then contacts the village to fix the date and time of audit, which must fall before the expiry date of the current certificate. Typically, the Village must allow 6 weeks for the audit report publication and approval process. This to be completed before the expiry of the current certificate.

After the audit is complete and all criteria are met, the auditor will furnish a report to the village and the AM and RVA Accreditation sub-committee recommending approval for accreditation.

This recommendation then will go to the next RVA Executive Committee meeting for discussion and final approval. An RVA Certificate of Accreditation is issued with an expiry date of three years from the meeting date.

Two and a half years later the process starts again.

For villages in development and yet to have an audit, the Operator must advise the RVA when the first units are available for marketing purposes. An audit date will then be agreed, and the Operator will need to contract the Audit Agency of choice to undertake the audit. Once this is complete the above three-year cycle of audits will commence.

If you have any questions about the RVA or the membership form, please contact:

Ethan Rodgers– Membership Engagement and Administration or John Collyns - Executive Director

Phone: Ethan on 021 782 771 or John on 04 499 0449

Email: [email protected]

Postal: P.O. Box 25 022, Wellington 6146