As a regulator and Building Consent Authority Council has the responsibility to confirm compliance with the Building Act 2004 and other relevant legislation with respect to dangerous and insanitary buildings. This includes ensuring existing buildings are safe and hazards are dealt with. The Dangerous and Insanitary Buildings policy helps provide clarity for members of the community on the approach to dangerous and insanitary buildings and ensures Council meets legislative requirements. The policy also clarifies how this applies to heritage buildings in the district.

The policy applies to all types of buildings within the district – residential, commercial, industrial etc. It does not include any reference to earthquake-prone buildings because, as of 2018, these are covered by sections 133AG - 133AY of the Building Act 2004.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) informed Council that we have to update the Dangerous and Insanitary Building policy 2022 by including the reference to ‘affected’ buildings, to reflect the changes to the Building Act 2004. Apart from this required change, the Ministry also recommended a few further changes to the policy. Officers have reviewed the policy and assessed MBIE’s recommendations, leading to the proposed updated policy.

The key change is to account for ‘affected buildings’ in the policy. This is a requirement following an amendment to the Building Act in 2013. In the draft policy we have added this in all the relevant sections.

Affected buildings are buildings that could pose a risk to people’s safety or to nearby properties because of their proximity to dangerous buildings. The Building Act states a building is an affected building if it is adjacent to, adjoining, or nearby to a dangerous building or a dangerous dam (Building Act 2004, Section 121A).

Another proposed change is to clarify that Councils approach to the identification of dangerous, affected or insanitary buildings is partially reactive, meaning it will not actively inspect but will act following complaints from the community, advice from Council officers or from other agencies (e.g. local health providers, New Zealand Police, Fire and Emergency NZ, tradespersons etc).