Installing, replacing or relocating a domestic heating appliance
If you are planning to install, replace or relocate a domestic heating appliance, you must
obtain a building consent.
If you have a domestic heating appliance that was installed after 1 September 2005, it must meet the
National Environmental Standards (NES).
Heating appliances installed after 1 June 2017 must also meet the standard in clause 7 of Auckland's
Air Quality Bylaw for Indoor Domestic Fires 2017 (AQB).
Types of domestic heating appliances you can install
The kind of indoor fireplace you can install depends on:
- the size of your property
- where you live
- the particle emission rate of the fireplace.
Rules and standards
| Rural |
Greater than or equal to 2ha |
Domestic fire permitted. |
| Less than 2ha |
Enclosed woodburners must meet a particle emission rate of <1.5g/kg and a thermal efficiency rate of >65 per cent (NES).
Other domestic fires permitted.
|
Urban, coastal or industrial
|
Greater than or equal to 2ha |
All domestic
solid fuel fires must meet a particle emission rate of <4g/kg (clause 7 of the AQB). |
| Less than 2ha |
Enclosed woodburners must meet a particle emission rate of <1.5g/kg and a thermal efficiency rate of >65 per cent(NES).
All domestic solid fuel fires must meet a particle emission rate of <4g/kg (clause 7 of the AQB).
|
Enclosed wood burners
Enclosed wood burners installed in a property smaller than two hectares must comply with the NES design standard.
For a list of complying wood burners, see the
Ministry for Environment website.
Solid fuel fires
In Auckland’s urban areas, new solid fuel indoor fires must meet the emission standard in Clause 7 of the AQB.
Solid fuel open fires
Most solid fuel open fires do not meet the emission standard in Clause 7 of the AQB. Property owners should consider installing an alternative type of fireplace with lower emissions, such as an enclosed wood burner or gas fire.
Gas and liquid fossil fuel fires
Indoor fires that burn gas or liquid fossil fuel can be installed anywhere in Auckland, as they have low emissions of small particulates. This includes open gas fires.
What's not included in the NES
The NES do not include these burners as wood burners:
- open fires
- pellet burners
- multi-fuel burners
- wood-burning cooking stoves
- coal-burning heaters.
However, these burners must still comply with the standard in clause 7 of the
Air Quality Bylaw for Indoor Domestic Fires 2017.
Further advice for installing a fireplace
Before you purchase a fireplace, ask a retailer find about the technical design standards of the model you are interested.
For more information about the type of indoor fireplace you can install in your area,
contact us.
Further information
For rules and guidelines about using a domestic heating appliance see:
For more information about using a domestic heating appliance,
email the Air quality team.
For rules on outdoor burning, see:
