Building Newsletter: February 2025

If a shed is 2.4m high, it can be no closer that 2.4m to the boundary (noting fences aren’t typically a good guide to where a boundary might be). Popping your head over the fence and having a chat to your neighbour can sometimes head off any potential complaints. Despite the Exemption you must still comply with the District Plan.

Useful guidance:

• MBIE guidance on exempt building work
• Can I Build It? Tool

 

Covenants on Land and Subdivisions

We’ve seen an increase in enquiries about land covenants. Some people find themselves in breach of covenants they weren’t aware of, while others feel covenants are unreasonable. Council is not a party to covenants, nor do we consider them in Resource or Building Consent approvals. If you have concerns, we recommend speaking with a legal advisor.

 

Residential Hose Taps

With the recent changes to acceptable solutions relating to G12/as1, the need for backflow prevention devices on residential hose taps have been introduced. MBIE continue to review, consult and change acceptable solutions to better align with overseas jurisdictions. They call this Building Code review. Given the change, you will need to demonstrate in your building consent applications that devices such as a vacuum breaker will be installed on hose taps.

Water Temperatures

We are finding that people are including the old acceptable solution details for hot water cylinder installations that show 55 degrees. Given the recent changes lowering this to 50 degrees, the acceptable solution detail has been changed. We suggest you check and update your templates for these details to avoid frustrating questions.

 

The requirements associated with smoke alarms changed late last year. We are still seeing some applications being presented referring to the old F7/as1. In some cases we have been asked to approve the old acceptable solution as an alternative solution. In particular when renovating existing houses.

Where someone is altering an existing building, we must first consider section 112 of the Building Act. This requires us, in the case of a house, to assess means of escape from fire and make sure the building is no less compliant than before the alteration. Means of escape includes the consideration of F7 Warning systems. Recent changes to acceptable solutions saw the warning systems acceptable solution moved to the C code clauses. There is no longer an acceptable solution to F7 in F7 it seems.

When looking at the alternative solutions we must consider:

1. The level of safety that the acceptable solutions provide – an interconnected fire alarm that alerts in all relevant spaces in the house and
2. Whether it is reasonably practicable to install the interconnected devices.

A house wide alarm will provide earlier warning than a stand-alone detector in a hallway. The earlier the detection the more time people have to get out. A higher level off safety is achieved through earlier warning in the current acceptable solution.

Obviously, part 2 – reasonable to do the upgrade – is straight forward, it’s easy to screw detectors to the ceiling or wall (staying away from the dead zones in the corners). Given this is a life safety issue, Councils will always seek to achieve as near as reasonably practicable with current requirements. I do note that recent determinations issued by MBIE show that MBIE are willing to accept a far lesser level of life safety upgrade than Councils typically would. It appears that MBIE take a “better something than nothing” approach to upgrade provisions.

If you disagree with the level of upgrade that council are expecting, you should apply for a Determination.

There’s a good chance they will accept a far less onerous requirement than Council. Just don’t expect you determination within 60 working days.

 

MBIE Workstreams

You may be aware that MBIE have a number of workstreams they are looking at:

1. Whether Building Control could be done better by moving from the current number of councils to a smaller number or a national body consenting authority.
2. Granny flat exemptions up to 60m2.
3. Winding back the acceptable solutions for H1 to the old requirements.
4. Self-certification by builders/building companies.

If you have a particular view on where government are heading with the industry, please ensure you take the time and provide feedback. Remember you can’t moan about it if you didn’t do anything in the first place.

This is a link to sign up for MBIE updates: https://confirmsubscription.com/h/r/7BC65D75D18899C62540EF23F30FEDED

This is a link that will take you to MBIEs current and past consultation: https://www.mbie.govt.nz/have-your-say

If you have any suggestions to improve the Building Code compliance documents outside of the consultation period, email MBIE: buildingfeedback@mbie.govt.nz

 

Objective Corporation Fees

From 1 July 2025, Objective Corporation who supply “goget” and the Objective Build portal are changing their fee structures. They are changing from a flat fee to a value-based fee model. When quoting work etc you should ensure that you make your clients aware of the fee increases coming [in most cases]. Unfortunately, this is a cost increase that is outside of our control. Closer to the time, we will confirm new pricing schedules. You may be aware that goget is coming to the end of its life. This means that we need to look for an alternative product. Given Governments suggestion that they may take building control out of councils, once we understand what government are up to, we will be better placed to make a decision as to which system we will use. We will keep you informed.

 

Compliance Schedules

Compliance schedules have come up again in our accreditation assessment. When submitting consents or applications for CCC’s you will need to ensure that what you submit is correct, as we will not accept poor information from the start. MBIE have produced an exemplar compliance schedule which was a great document, however they are suggesting we can’t rely on it anymore as a guide.

That said, it’s a useful document that you can use when creating Performance Standards, inspection maintenance and reporting procedures for specified systems. Where your building contains specified system, at the time of the CCC application you will need to supply information from the likes of accredited inspection bodies for fire alarms and sprinkler systems. You must also provide makes and model numbers of any fitting such as backflow preventors, emergency lighting fittings etc. Once we have compiled the compliance schedule, we will forward it to you to check it is complete and correct. The CCC will not be issued until the compliance schedule is finalised.

 

Applying for a CCC

When applying for a CCC please ensure you complete the application properly. Council will not fill the forms out for you. You should read your building consent and make sure that you have provided the required documentation before you book the final inspection or have it available for the inspector when they arrive to do the final inspection. To all our trades people out there we suggest that you discuss the CCC with the owner and agree on who will apply for a CCC before you finish the job. This will avoid the uncomfortable conversations 2 years down the track when Councils follow up outstanding CCC’s.

 

Lapsing of Consents

As many people choose to delay their projects given the current financial situation, please be aware that if the work doesn’t start within one year of the issuing of the consent, the consent will lapse. If a consent lapses you will need to apply for a new consent. The lapse is not something that Council can undo as it is a function of the Act not a function of Council. You can apply for an extension of time, but you need to do this before the consent lapses not after.