Regulations
1 Title
These regulations are the Building (Specified Systems, Change the Use, and Earthquake-prone Buildings) Regulations 2005.
2 Commencement
These regulations come into force on 31 March 2005.
3 Interpretation
(2)
Terms or expressions used and not defined in these regulations but defined in the Act have, in these regulations, the same meanings as they have in the Act.
3A Transitional, savings, and related provisions
The transitional, savings, and related provisions set out in Schedule 1AA have effect according to their terms.
Regulation 3A: inserted, on 16 December 2019, by regulation 4 of the Building (Specified Systems, Change the Use, and Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Regulations 2019 (LI 2019/267).
Specified systems
Heading: inserted, on 1 July 2017, by regulation 4 of the Building (Specified Systems, Change the Use, and Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Regulations 2017 (LI 2017/136).
4 Systems or features prescribed as specified systems
The systems or features specified in Schedule 1 are specified systems for the purposes of the Act.
Change the use
Heading: inserted, on 1 July 2017, by regulation 5 of the Building (Specified Systems, Change the Use, and Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Regulations 2017 (LI 2017/136).
5 Change the use: what it means
For the purposes of sections 114 and 115 of the Act, change the use, in relation to a building, means to change the use (determined in accordance with regulation 6) of all or a part of the building from one use (the old use) to another (the new use) and with the result that the requirements for compliance with the building code in relation to the new use are additional to, or more onerous than, the requirements for compliance with the building code in relation to the old use.
6 Uses of buildings for purposes of regulation 5
(1)
For the purposes of regulation 5, every building or part of a building has a use specified in the table in Schedule 2.
(2)
A building or part of a building has a use in column 1 of the table if (taking into account the primary group for whom it was constructed, and no other users of the building or part) the building or part is only or mainly a space, or it is a dwelling, of the kind described opposite that use in column 2 of the table.
Earthquake-prone buildings: general
Heading: inserted, on 1 July 2017, by regulation 6 of the Building (Specified Systems, Change the Use, and Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Regulations 2017 (LI 2017/136).
7 Moderate earthquake and ultimate capacity defined
For the purposes of section 133AB of the Act (meaning of earthquake-prone building),—
moderate earthquake means, in relation to a building, an earthquake that would generate shaking at the site of the building that is of the same duration as, but that is one-third as strong as, the earthquake shaking (determined by normal measures of acceleration, velocity, and displacement) that would be used to design a new building at that site if it were designed on 1 July 2017
ultimate capacity means the probable capacity to withstand earthquake actions and maintain gravity load support assessed by reference to the building as a whole and its individual elements or parts.
Regulation 7: replaced, on 1 July 2017, by regulation 7 of the Building (Specified Systems, Change the Use, and Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Regulations 2017 (LI 2017/136).
Regulation 7: replaced, on 1 July 2017, by regulation 45 of the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 22).
8 Categories of earthquake ratings
For the purpose of section 133AL of the Act, the categories of earthquake ratings are—
| Category |
| 0% to less than 20% |
| 20% to less than 34% |
Examples
A territorial authority determines that an earthquake-prone building (B1) has an earthquake rating of 10%. B1’s earthquake rating category is 0% to less than 20%.
The territorial authority determines that another earthquake-prone building (B2) has an earthquake rating of 25%. B2’s earthquake rating category is 20% to less than 34%.
The territorial authority determines that a third earthquake-prone building (B3) has an earthquake rating of between 19% and 22%. B3’s earthquake rating category is 0% to less than 20% (see section 133AL(3) of the Act).
Regulation 8: inserted, on 1 July 2017, by regulation 8 of the Building (Specified Systems, Change the Use, and Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Regulations 2017 (LI 2017/136).
9 Forms of EPB notice
(1)
This regulation prescribes, for the purpose of section 133AL of the Act, the forms of EPB notice to be issued for earthquake-prone buildings.
(2)
For each earthquake-prone building described in the first column of the following table, the EPB notice must—
(a)
be in the form set out in Schedule 3 (black text on white); and
(b)
have a border (with a uniform width of between 12.5 mm and 15 mm (uniform width)) that uses the colour and design set out opposite to it in the second column; and
(c)
be international standard size A4.
| Description of earthquake-prone building | | EPB notice (border) |
| Building or part in earthquake rating category of 0% to less than 20% | | Orange and black diagonal lines (each line of uniform width and running bottom left to top right) |
| Building or part in earthquake rating category of 20% to less than 34% | | Black and white diagonal lines (each line of uniform width and running bottom left to top right) |
| Building or part to which clause 2 of Schedule 1AA of the Act (which is a transitional provision) applies (earthquake rating unknown) | | Solid orange |
Examples
See examples under regulation 8. For each building, the territorial authority issues an EPB notice that is in the form set out in Schedule 3 and,—
for B1 and B3, has a border of orange and black diagonal lines:
for B2, has a border of black and white diagonal lines.
For a fourth building (B4), the territorial authority is proceeding under section 133AK(4) of the Act as if it had determined B4 to be earthquake prone (because the owner of B4 has not provided an engineering assessment). No previous notice under section 124 of the Act has been given in relation to B4. The territorial authority issues an EPB notice in the form set out in Schedule 3 with a border of orange and black diagonal lines (see section 133AL(4) of the Act).
The owner of another building (B5) was given a notice before 1 July 2017, under section 124 of the Act, requiring work to be carried out on B5 to remove the danger associated with B5 being earthquake prone. B5 is a building to which subpart 6A of Part 2 of the Act applies. The territorial authority has not determined the earthquake rating of B5. The territorial authority issues an EPB notice in the form set out in Schedule 3 with a solid orange border.
After a time, the owner of B5 chooses to send the territorial authority an engineering assessment of the building (see section 133AQ of the Act). The territorial authority considers the engineering assessment and determines that B5 is still earthquake prone and has an earthquake rating of 20%. The earthquake rating category is now known: 20% to less than 34%. The territorial authority reissues the EPB notice in the form set out in Schedule 3 with a border of black and white diagonal lines.
Regulation 9: inserted, on 1 July 2017, by regulation 8 of the Building (Specified Systems, Change the Use, and Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Regulations 2017 (LI 2017/136).
Earthquake-prone buildings subject to EPB notices
Heading: inserted, on 1 July 2017, by regulation 8 of the Building (Specified Systems, Change the Use, and Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Regulations 2017 (LI 2017/136).
10 Exemption from requirement to carry out seismic work: required building characteristics
(1)
This regulation sets out the characteristics that a building or a part of a building must have for a territorial authority to grant an exemption, under section 133AN of the Act, from the requirement to carry out seismic work on the building or part.
(2)
The territorial authority must be satisfied that the building or the part of the building has all of the following characteristics:
Intensity of occupation and passage: nil to low or low to moderate (current)
(a)
the intensity of occupation and passage in and near the building or part meets the definition in Schedule 4 of—
(ii)
low to moderate intensity; and
Intensity of occupation and passage: nil to low or low to moderate (expected)
(b)
the intensity of occupation and passage in and near the building or part is likely, for the foreseeable future, to meet the definition in Schedule 4 of—
(ii)
low to moderate intensity; and
Collapse of building or part in moderate earthquake unlikely to have certain impacts
(c)
either—
(i)
the collapse of the building or part in a moderate earthquake is unlikely to result in the death of, or injury to, more than a low number of persons in or near the building or on any other property because of the way in which the building or part is expected to collapse in a moderate earthquake; or
(ii)
the following is true in respect of the building or part:
(A)
paragraphs (a)(i) and (b)(i) apply to it (which means that the intensity of occupation and passage in and near the building or part is, and for the foreseeable future is likely to be, nil to low intensity); and
(B)
if the building or part is adjacent to, adjoining, or nearby any other building or property, it is likely that the intensity of occupation and passage in and near the other building, or in, on, or near the other property is, and in the foreseeable future will be, nil to low intensity (in the case of property, with all necessary amendments); and
(d)
either—
(i)
the collapse of the building or part in a moderate earthquake is unlikely to result in more than minor damage to any other property because of the way in which the building or part is expected to collapse in a moderate earthquake; or
(ii)
the building or part is not, and is not likely in the foreseeable future to be, adjacent to, adjoining, or nearby any other building or property (excluding land); and
(e)
no strategic transport route would be impeded if the building or part collapsed in a moderate earthquake—
(i)
because of the way in which the building or part is expected to collapse in a moderate earthquake; or
(ii)
because of the building’s or part’s lack of proximity to strategic transport routes; and
Not needed for use in emergency
(f)
the building or part is not likely to be needed for use for emergency services.
(3)
In this regulation,—
emergency services means the provision of any of the following in an emergency:
(c)
emergency medical services:
(d)
emergency response services (for example, policing, fire, ambulance, and rescue services)
nil to low intensity and low to moderate intensity are defined in Schedule 4
strategic transport routes means all transport routes of strategic importance (in terms of an emergency response), if any, that the territorial authority has identified by the special consultative procedure in section 83 of the Local Government Act 2002 if initiated for the purpose of section 133AE(1)(f) of the Act.
Regulation 10: inserted, on 1 July 2017, by regulation 8 of the Building (Specified Systems, Change the Use, and Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Regulations 2017 (LI 2017/136).
11 Alteration of building: what amounts to substantial alteration
(1)
For the purposes of section 133AT(2)(c) of the Act, an alteration of a building or a part of a building that is subject to an EPB notice is a substantial alteration if the territorial authority is satisfied that—
(x + y) > (z ÷ 4)
and
(x + y) > $150,000
- x
is the estimated value of the building work to which the current application relates, other than work that the territorial authority is satisfied is seismic work
- y
is the aggregate of the estimated value of the building work to which all recent building consents relate, other than work that the territorial authority is satisfied is seismic work
- z
is the total building value of the building.
(2)
In variable z, the total building value of the building is,—
(a)
if—
(i)
the building is on land comprised in 1 rating unit; and
(ii)
all of the improvements on the land comprise or relate to the building; and
(iii)
the value of improvements can be ascertained from the last calculated rateable value,—
the value of the improvements referred to in subparagraph (iii); or
(b)
if paragraph (a) does not apply, and if—
(i)
the owner, with supporting evidence, proposes an amount as a reasonable estimate of the added value that the building gives to the land on which it is built; and
(ii)
the territorial authority accepts that amount, for the purpose of this regulation, as a reasonable estimate of that added value,—
the amount proposed and accepted; or
(c)
if neither paragraph (a) nor (b) applies, the number 4.
(3)
In this regulation,—
current application means the application referred to in section 133AT(1) of the Act
estimated value means,—
(a)
in variable x, the estimated value (as defined in section 7 of the Act) at the date on which the current application is made; and
(b)
in variable y, in respect of each recent building consent,—
(i)
the estimated value (as defined in section 7 of the Act) at the time that the consent was applied for; or
(ii)
if the applicant notified the territorial authority of any change in the estimated value of the building work, the changed estimated value
improvements has the meaning set out in section 2 of the Rating Valuations Act 1998
rateable value means the rateable value of land under section 13(3) of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002
recent building consent means a building consent—
(a)
for building work to or in connection with the building; and
(b)
granted in the 2 years immediately before the date on which the current application is made; but
(c)
excluding a building consent that has lapsed at the date on which the current application is made
value of improvements has the meaning set out in section 2 of the Rating Valuations Act 1998.
Regulation 11: inserted, on 1 July 2017, by regulation 8 of the Building (Specified Systems, Change the Use, and Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Regulations 2017 (LI 2017/136).
Regulation 11(1): amended, on 16 December 2019, by regulation 5 of the Building (Specified Systems, Change the Use, and Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Regulations 2019 (LI 2019/267).