Building Legislation

The Building Act 2004, Building Regulations, and Building Code are the primary building controls in New Zealand.

All building in New Zealand is controlled by the Building Act 2004, which applies not only to the construction of new buildings but also to the alteration, demolition and maintenance of existing buildings.

The main reason for having building controls is to ensure buildings are safe and healthy to live in.

There is a three-part framework for setting out these controls:

• The Building Act 2004 sets out the law on building work and replaces the Building Act 1991. Some clauses of the new Act are effective now and others are to be progressively introduced over the next few years. The Building Act 2004 aims to improve control of, and encourage better practices in, building design and construction. 
• The Building Regulations  contain the mandatory New Zealand Building Code, and also the rules about building consents and building inspections. The Building Code sets out performance standards that all building work must meet, and covers aspects such as fire safety, access, moisture control, durability, services and facilities, etc.
• Compliance Documents contain requirements for design and construction. Each document contains step-by-step building methods called 'Acceptable Solutions' that comply with requirements of the Building Code, and 'Verification Methods' (calculations, tests) that can be used to demonstrate compliance with the Building Code. The Compliance documents are not mandatory, but designs based on them must be accepted by Local authorities

New Zealand Building Code

Originally established under Part VI of the Building Act 1991, and set out in the First Schedule to The Building Regulations 1992. It is a mandatory performance-based code in which each technical clause has three criteria.

• Level 1. Objective - The social objectives which the building must achieve.
• Level 2. Functional requirement - Describes what the building must do to satisfy the social objective.
• Level 3. Performance - Qualitative or quantitative criteria which the building must meet in order to comply.

 These cover aspects such as durability, fire safety, energy efficiency and access

 

Compliance Documents

Non mandatory Compliance Documents (previously known as Approved Documents) are published by the Department of Building and Housing. They provide a prescriptive means of complying with the clauses of the Building Code, that is, buildings built to the method described in a Compliance Document are automatically deemed to comply with the Code  They contain:

• Level 4. Verification Methods - Tests and calculation methods by which an alternative solution may be evaluated for compliance.
• Level 5. Acceptable Solutions - Examples of prescriptive solutions which provide a means of compliance.

Compliance Documents do not have the same mandatory status as the Building Code. They are always described either generally as the Compliance Documents, or referred to specifically by their unique identification numbers

The relevant code compliance documents involving plastic pipes to specific standards for Acceptable Solutions are:

 

E1 – Surface Water                         uPVC, HDPE, ABS

G10 - Piped Services                       HDPE

G12 – Water Supplies                     uPVC, HDPE (Cold ), Polybutylene (Hot and Cold)

G13 – Foul Water                              uPVC, Polyethylene, ABS

G14 – Industrial Liquid Waste       ABS Polyethylene, polypropylene copolymer, uPVC

Acceptable Solutions

For compliance documents for G12, G13 and G14 the verification methods allow alternative design methods based on AS/NZ 3500.1 and AS/NZ3500.2 Standards this in turn extends the range of plastic pipes and fittings permissible to include the following materials :

• Cross linked poly ethylene (PE-X), Macrocomposite( PE/AL/PE or PEX/AL/PEX),cPVC for cold and heated water.
• mPVC and oPVC for cold water only
• For heated water only random polymer polypropylene is also permitted.

The Standard requires that all pipes and fittings also must comply with AS/NZS 4020and must have rated pressures for of 1.2MPaat 20deg C and 1.0MPa at 60deg C for cold water and heated water applications respectively

Alternative Solutions

You can use other alternative ways of building provided these also come up to the required performance standards stipulated in the Building Code. These other methods are known as Alternative Solutions. Compliance Documents may reference other publications such as New Zealand Standards  in respect to alternative solutions

If you use an alternative solution when you apply for a building consent, your Building Consent Authority will look at the alternative solution and decide whether it will meet the requirements of the Building Code. You will need to provide sufficient information to show how your alternative solution will meet the requirements.

Building Product Certification

Is a system currently being developed by the Department of Building and Housing that confirms building products, systems or methods comply with the Building Code. The Key features of the system include:

• Accreditation will be by independent third parties

• It will be joint scheme with Australia

• Product certificates will be supported by detailed information as to how the product must be used to ensure proper installation   

For detailed information on the Building Act and related documents refer to the Department of Building and Housing website