How Can I Stop Rising Damp?

Golly, there must be some good registered builders who can give you a quote. Bricks and blocks can become porous, so all I've seen is that bitumen paint put on the outside as a membrane. Whats your drainage like?

I am by no means an expert on this, but would think that putting in field drains to take away the excess moisture would help a great deal.
We had this problem in our last house, which was built in the fifties without any drainage; this was allowed then, as crazy as it seams.
The house was always damp from all the moisture, so when field drains were put in our problem was solved.
A bloody good dehumidifier is also a must; our is an Oasis by Mitsubishi Electric.

Cantabman has good points. A lot of mitigating factors involved. Depending on where water is coming from depends on plan of action. As a builder myself, I'd need to see house and/or pics. 9 times out of ten, raising damp is a due result of no membrane under the slab. Secondly, if its coming through wall, the water proof membrane on exterior walls has failed and needs reapplying. The secret to stopping moisture ingress is exterior envelope. Coming through walls, means you probably have it coming through from behind same. Dig out and remove all earth against walls, waterproof, protect membrane with polystyrene and hardiboard, then drainage chip, place field drain 200mm lower than bottom of slab, divert to approved storm water sump, then back into approved storm water drain. If you need more advice, I am normally found over on politics and opinion. I am a Certified Builder 30 years experience.

In essence what Skylab is saying is correct,I saw this issue in Australia in older brick dwellings,salt leaching from bricks due to excess moisture.Digging a drain beside the effected area certainly helps,you need to get below the slab,paint a suitable membrane over the slab,plenty out there,just get one that suits your requirements,put in a socked novaflo pipe which will take away the excess moisture,this needs to be covered with a suitable drainage material eg stone chips/gravel.In order to drain it make sure it drains to a low point.If that is difficult,a series of sumps (plastic boxes)will work,they are available from most hardware outlets everdure is one brand (they make those black plastic grates that run across the front of garage openings).
Run the water into that & as each fills it runs into the next one gradually moving away from the dwelling.I did something similar to a backyard that was constantly waterlogged,it worked.Good luck

I didn't have much luck when I asked this question in Real Estate but I'm hoping to find the answer here. What treatment is recommended for rising damp in brick or concrete walls which is causing the paint and plaster to peel off? The floor is concrete and not below external ground level. In the UK there were several large firms which successfully cured rising damp by drilling holes along the base of the wall and injecting liquid silicon but in NZ it seems to be more common to apply a waterproof membrane or coating to the wall. Any suggestions as to products or specialist firms, and do they provide guarantees?