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
What is a Compliance Schedule?
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.
What is a Building Warrant of Fitness?
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 (PDF, 220.5KB) certificates.
What is an IQP?
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 contacting our Customer Services Team on 03 433 0300.
How IQPs and Compliance Firms can help you
You cannot issue a BWOF without getting the annual IQP checks completed and a certificate (known as a Form 12A PDF, 220.5KB) 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.
What is a Form 12A?
Form 12A (PDF, 220.5KB) 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 owner’s responsibility
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.
Please send BWOF and IQP Certificates (Form 12A PDF, 220.5KB) to Council either by emailing a copy to Building_group@waitaki.govt.nz or sending a hardcopy to:
Waitaki District Council, 20 Thames Street, Private Bag 50058, Oamaru, Otago 9444.
Tenants and the owner
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.
Council audits
Building owners should be aware Council may 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 may charge a fee for an inspection under this section.
Applying for, or amending a Compliance Schedule
Installation, alteration or removal of a specified system requires a Building consent. If the system is existing please talk to a Council Building Officer.
Penalties
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.
Specified systems under the Building Act 2004
Systems listed under the Building Act 2004 include:
SS1 Automatic systems for fire suppression
SS2 Automatic or manual emergency warning systems
SS3 Electromagnetic or automatic doors or windows
SS3/1 Automatic doors
SS3/2 Access controlled doors
SS3/3 Interfaced fire or smoke doors or windows
SS4 Emergency lighting systems
SS5 Escape route pressurisation systems
SS6 Riser mains for use by fire services
SS7 Automatic back-flow preventers
SS8 Lifts, escalators, travelators, or other systems for moving people or goods within buildings
SS8/1 Passenger carrying lifts
SS8/2 Service lifts
SS8/3 Escalators & moving walkways
SS9 Mechanical ventilation or air conditioning systems
SS10 Building maintenance units
SS11 Laboratory fume cupboards
SS12 Audio loops or other assistive listening systems
SS12/1 Audio Loops
SS12/2 FM radio frequency systems & infrared beam transmission systems
SS13 Smoke control systems
SS13/1 Mechanical smoke control
SS13/2 Natural smoke control
SS13/3 Smoke curtains
SS14 Emergency power systems or signs relating to a system of feature specified in any of clauses 1-13
SS14/1 Emergency power systems relating to a system of feature specified in any of clauses 1-13
SS14/2 Signs relating to a system of feature specified in any of clauses 1-13
SS15 Other fire safety systems or features
SS15/1 Systems to communicate spoken information intended to facilitate evacuation
SS15/2 Final exits
SS15/3 Fire separations
SS15/4 Signs for communicating information to facilitate evacuation
SS15/5 Smoke separations
SS16 Cable Cars
Please see the Building Act 2004, or Building (Specified Systems, Change the Use, and Earthquake-prone Buildings) Regulations 2005 for more information.