These regulations are made under the Building Act 2004 (the Act) and come into force on 16 December 2019.

The regulations relate to any building, or part of a building, for which—

• an earthquake-prone building notice has been issued; and

• a building consent application is made to carry out a substantial alteration.

The Act requires the building consent authority to refuse the application unless the alteration includes the necessary seismic work to make the building or part no longer earthquake-prone.

Previously, an alteration counted as substantial whenever the territorial authority was satisfied that the combined estimated value of the following building work (the relevant building work) was greater than a quarter of the building’s value:

• the building work (except seismic work) to which the application relates; and

• any other building work (except seismic work), to or in connection with the building, for which a building consent was granted and did not lapse during the 2 years before the application.

The regulations extend the circumstances in which a building consent may be granted. They do this by narrowing the definition of substantial alteration to exclude cases falling below a $150,000 threshold. Under the amended definition, an alteration does not count as substantial unless the territorial authority is satisfied that the combined estimated value of the relevant building work is greater than—

• a quarter of the building’s value; and

• $150,000.