When you apply for consent for a new building, or a major alteration to an existing building, consider how the building could be affected by natural hazards, or how the work could accelerate or worsen a natural hazard.
The Building Act requires us to decline a building consent for work or major alterations to a building if:
This would not apply if we are satisfied that adequate provisions have been made to protect land, building and other property or restore any damage to that land or other property.
If the building consent is approved, a condition would require a notice to be registered on the property title to ensure future owners of the land know about the potential hazard.
The Building Act defines a natural hazard as land subjected to:
Hazards such as tsunamis or earthquakes are not regarded as natural hazards under the Building Act.
Occasionally natural hazards may not be identified in Project Information Memorandums (PIMs) associated with your building consents, and there may be a need for the BCA to determine whether or not natural hazard provisions apply.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) have recently produced a "Natural Hazards Decision Tree" associated with Determination 2017/048, which provides useful information in determining Natural Hazards responsibilities. Refer to Appendix B, Determination 2017/048 (PDF 330KB).
Building work may take place if:
