Monolithic cladding from late 90s

I just spent $200k recladding a 3-bed house, only minor rot in the framing.
Council BS increases the cost of everything, I could rant on for hours about that.

You don't have to change to double glazing when doing a reclad.

I think you do,as well as replacing any faulty framing, and increasing the bracing elements and insulation if they are not up to code standard.

You don't need to replace windows. You may practically want to as the simplest option if there are difficulties meeting code, particularly waterproofing / sealing around the windows etc.
Replacing windows, strictly speaking you may need to double-glaze if the new window is larger than the old one (but there are ways to get around that yet still meet code). I replaced a window with double french doors of same width. If that had been a stand-alone job, then it wouldn't have needed consent. As it was part of a reclad and on the plans, then not putting double-glazing in would have been an issue, as the total glass area was larger than the glass area of the window being replaced. The work-around would have been to calculate overall thermal performance to show that ie increasing floor/wall/ceiling insulation improved performance more than the extra loss from the extra glass area. Much easier just to use double-glazing than argue this out with council who'd no doubt want expert reports etc = $$$.
It's a practical issue when people may want to install new decorative / stained glass feature windows etc.

As for adding insulation for a reclad, then not "required" but it would be nuts not to, as it costs so little and is the only chance you'll get to do it easily. I doubt increased bracing would be "required" unless replacing entire elements framing walls etc. I added extra bracing before reclad though - it seemed nuts not to given that the reason for re-clad was EQ damage. Ecoply sheets screwed over the entire framing.

You do have to remove all the windows and get them refurbished by an authorised manufacturer. New jambs, replace seals and fittings.
That is over half the cost of new double glazed joinery, and there is a good market for the old ones on TM.
It makes sense to replace them for the cost and work involved.

I was commenting on the two we have done and replaced all the windows with new double glazed.The bracing units were required to bring them up to standard as well.The house was 20 years old,mayby thats why they didn't meet the code as to increase the bracing elements.

Yes i have installed one window [double glazed] from Canterbury into a single room addition and it was required to be inspected and resealed by a qualified certifier prior to installing.

Was this with identified leaky homes when some framing damage had or may have had occurred?

In a normal reclad, work to the framing itself to bring it up to code (bracing) shouldn't be required.

No the total reclad had perfect framing,it was only reclad to improve the aesthetics and resale value from solid plaster to W/bds.The bracing didn't meet the code as it is today that's why we modified them with sheet bracing to improve the units required. Another small deck replacement over a basement garage required a surveyers report on the garage framing because of the leaky deck above which wasn't known at the time of consent. 3 inspections later for the surveyer @ $180 PH and untold reports to everyone including ins,council, govt depts etc etc before we could continue.It finished up with the complete frame and existing joists being painted with frameguard before we could continue.