Safe and Sanitary - Building Condition Assessment Reports

In some circumstances there are limited records that Council holds on its property file.

This does not always mean that your building does not have a building permit or building consent or that it must have one, there is simply no known record of it.

Building Reports

If considering a building report, a sensible option is to ensure that there is some robustness to the process, therefore, it is recommended that the report should be completed to a suitable standard such as the Residential Property Inspection Standard NZS 4306 the latest edition. 

This standard sets out the minimum requirements for the visual inspection of residential buildings and for the preparation of the appropriate property inspection report. 

Current practice

Council's policy is not to accept building information unless it directly relates to building work undertaken after 1 July 1992, with or without permission. 

Council has some scope for "regularising" this work within the legislation, but has no scope for work conducted before this date. 

If the building work was "unconsented" and conducted after 1 July 1992 the work may be able to be "regularised" by demonstrating compliance with the building code.

The main method of achieving this will be by applying for a certificate of acceptance.

Certificate of Acceptance

If your building dates before 1 July 1992 Council has no obligation to consider applications for certificates of acceptance. 

You can have your building surveyed, inspected or assessed but this should be considered a private requirement, it cannot form part of Council's record.

The report, assessment or survey has no recognised standing under the current Building Act as there is no retrospective ability to regularise, legalise or legitimise this building work.

However, if your report identifies building work is required, you will need to check whether this work is "repairs and maintenance" and, therefore, covered under Schedule 1 of the Building Act 2004, i.e. exempt from the requirement for building consent, or whether consent is required for the work.

Building Consent exemptions