The information below is designed to help building owners and managers understand their responsibilities under the Building Act 2004. It is particularly important if you are the owner of a commercial, industrial or communal building.
The Building Act 2004 also outlines what Council does to enforce provisions (laws) to protect public health and safety.
Council's principle aim is to educate/monitor and work with owners/managers to ensure aims of the Building Act 2004 are maintained before enforcing penalties.
Common abbreviations
- BCA: Building Consent Authority
- BWOF: Building Warrant of Fitness
- CCC: Code Compliance Certificate
- CS: Compliance Schedule
- CSS: Compliance Schedule Statement
- IQP: Independent Qualified Person
- LBP: Licensed Building Practitioner
- MBIE: Ministry of Building, Innovation & Employment
- NTF: Notice to Fix
- NZBC: New Zealand Building Code or Building Code or Code
- TA: Territorial Authority
A Compliance Schedule is an inventory of a building’s specified systems issued by the Council. The Schedule specifies:
- Inspection, maintenance and reporting procedures; and
- the frequency of inspections and who should perform those inspections.
A Building Warrant of Fitness (BWOF) must be renewed annually.
A BWOF verifies the inspection, maintenance and reporting procedures for all the specified systems within a building have been carried out in accordance with the Compliance Schedule for the previous 12 months. It is the owner’s responsibility to have the BWOF completed annually.
The owner must then display a copy of the BWOF in a place in the building where it can be seen and the public have access.
The Council requires a copy of the BWOF and any Form 12A certificates.
IQP (independent qualified person) are system specialists.
An IQP is a person approved by the Council to inspect certain Compliance Schedule items and ensure they meet performance standards. ‘Independent’ means the person (or firm) has no financial interest in the building they are auditing.
A list of approved IQP's is available by searching the South Island approved IQP register.
You cannot issue a BWOF without getting the annual IQP checks completed and a certificate (known as a Form 12A ) signed off.
An IQP firm or Compliance Company can act as your agent to help out with the paper work. They will co-ordinate all the specialist IQPs, collect the paper work and issue the BWOF, as well as deal with Council for you.
Form 12A is a form issued by an IQP annually to verify the inspection, maintenance and reporting procedures on a Compliance Schedule for a specified system have been carried out during the previous 12 months - enabling the BWOF to be reissued by owner/owner’s agent.
The building owner must:
- Engage IQPs registered with Waitaki District Council. (All registered South Island Independent Qualified Persons (IQP's) personnel are recorded on the IQP Register administered by Timaru District Council.)
- Make sure any owner inspections are done by tenants, staff or yourself. Specialist inspections must be done by an IQP.
- If your building is vacant, all inspections as per the Compliance Schedule are still required.
- Keep the Compliance Schedule and all records in the place assigned by Council.
- Keep all records for at least two years.
- For the first year, you must display the Compliance Schedule Statement in a public place in the building. Every year after that you must issue a BWOF and display a copy of the BWOF.
- Further information can be obtained through the MBIE website
Please send BWOF and IQP Certificates (Form 12A) to Council either by emailing a copy to building@waitaki.govt.nz or sending a hardcopy to:
Waitaki District Council, 20 Thames Street, Private Bag 50058, Oamaru, Otago 9444.
The building owner’s responsibilities are clear, whether or not the building is tenanted by others. The owner, however, can delegate those responsibilities to an employee of the owner or to someone else under a contract or a lease. Tenants could also be liable if they breach the Act.
An owner, and anyone acting on the owner’s behalf in signing a BWOF, is liable for making any false statement in the warrant.
Building owners should be aware Council will undertake random audits of a building for which a Compliance Schedule has been issued, and the specified systems in the building under Section 111 of the Building Act 2004, and will charge a fee for an inspection under this section.
Installation, alteration or removal of a specified system requires a Building consent.
If the system is you, your agent or the IQP needs to complete an application to amend your compliance schedule (Form 11) - further information can be found here.
The Building Act 2004 contains a number of provisions to protect public health and safety that are important for building owners and managers. There are a range of penalties for failing to comply with these provisions, including Notices to Fix and or Infringement as detailed at www.building.govt.nz.
Systems listed under the Building Act 2004 include:
SS1
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Automatic systems for fire suppression
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SS2
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Automatic or manual emergency warning systems
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SS3
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Electromagnetic or automatic doors or windows
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SS3/1
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Automatic doors
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SS3/2
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Access controlled doors
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SS3/3
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Interfaced fire or smoke doors or windows
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SS4
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Emergency lighting systems
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SS5
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Escape route pressurisation systems
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SS6
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Riser mains for use by fire services
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SS7
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Automatic back-flow preventers
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SS8
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Lifts, escalators, travelators, or other systems for moving people or goods within buildings
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SS8/1
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Passenger carrying lifts
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SS8/2
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Service lifts
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SS8/3
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Escalators & moving walkways
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SS9
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Mechanical ventilation or air conditioning systems
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SS10
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Building maintenance units
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SS11
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Laboratory fume cupboards
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SS12
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Audio loops or other assistive listening systems
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SS12/1
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Audio Loops
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SS12/2
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FM radio frequency systems & infrared beam transmission systems
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SS13
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Smoke control systems
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SS13/1
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Mechanical smoke control
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SS13/2
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Natural smoke control
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SS13/3
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Smoke curtains
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SS14
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Emergency power systems or signs relating to a system of feature specified in any of clauses 1-13
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SS14/1
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Emergency power systems relating to a system of feature specified in any of clauses 1-13
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SS14/2
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Signs relating to a system of feature specified in any of clauses 1-13
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SS15
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Other fire safety systems or features
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SS15/1
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Systems to communicate spoken information intended to facilitate evacuation
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SS15/2
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Final exits
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SS15/3
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Fire separations
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SS15/4
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Signs for communicating information to facilitate evacuation
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SS15/5
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Smoke separations
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SS16
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Cable Cars
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Please see the Building Act 2004, or Building (Specified Systems, Change the Use, and Earthquake-prone Buildings) Regulations 2005 and the Compliance Schedule Handbook 2014 for more information.