Dangerous, Affected and Insanitary Buildings Policy Review
Updated policy adopted
Submissions on the proposed Dangerous, Affected and Insanitary Buildings Policy closed on Thursday 1 May 2025. Thank you for all of the feedback received.
The updated Dangerous, Affected and Insanitary Buildings Policy was adopted by Council on 27 May 2025.
Introduction
Taupō District Council has an existing Dangerous and Insanitary Buildings Policy. The purpose of this policy is to ensure that all people in the Taupō District can expect to be in a building that is safe and sanitary.
About the policy
Dangerous, Affected and Insanitary Buildings Polices are implemented in accordance with the Building Act 2004. Local authorities are required to have these policies. They set out if a local authority will take an active or passive role in identifying buildings in the three categories and what actions they will take once a building has been identified as dangerous, affected, or insanitary. This includes Council’s approach to managing immediate risks to public health and safety.
Our current policy is out of date and due for review, since the last policy was implemented, the legislation has changed and we need to update our policy to ensure it meets the requirements of the act.
While we have been updating the policy to meet the legislative requirements, we have also made some editorial changes to improve the document. The list of changes is outlined below.
This statement of proposal has been prepared in accordance with the requirements set out in section 83 of the Local Government Act 2002.
Proposed changes
Council are proposing the following six changes to the Dangerous, Affected and Insanitary Buildings Policy:
Proposed change 1
- Reformatting the document
Rationale
- The previous document style was outdated and did not match Council’s other public facing documents.
Proposed change 2
- Removed duplicate clauses
Rationale
- Duplicate clauses across the categories of dangerous and insanitary buildings added to the length of the document. These have been combined into single clauses.
Proposed change 3
- Inserted a definitions section
Rationale
- The current policy lacks clear definitions, these definitions were scattered through the document. They have been placed into a single definitions section.
Proposed change 4
- Corrected references to outdated sections of the Building Act and organisations that have changed their names.
Rationale
- Council’s current policy does not reflect the changes made to the act as well as changes to organisation names such as Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) which was formerly the New Zealand Fire Service. These references are corrected.
Proposed change 5
- Added clauses that outlines how Council will treat affected buildings.
Rationale
- The current policy does not outline how Council will deal with affected buildings as this category did not exist when the policy was drafted.
- Since then, the legislation has been changed and we are required to outline how we will deal with these buildings.
- Affected buildings are those that are impacted by a nearby dangerous building. This means access to them may need to be restricted until the nearby dangerous building status is resolved to protect the public.
Proposed change 6
- Added a clause that gives affect to section 40 of the Building Act.
Rationale
- The current policy only discusses section 41 matters and does not outline the interaction between sections 40 and 41. We have added a clause to make it clear how council will deal with both clauses of the Building Act.
- These clauses outline when a consent is or isn’t required to conduct emergency works to correct a buildings dangerous status.
Submissions closed
The consultation period for the policy review started on Tuesday 1 April and concluded at 4.30pm Thursday 1 May 2025.
If you have any questions about this proposal, please contact us via email at bylawreview@taupo.govt.nz.
Hearings and next steps
Please tell us if you would like to attend a hearing to speak to Council in support of your submission, and include a telephone number and email address to ensure we can contact you to arrange a time for your presentation.
If required, hearings will be held on Tuesday 13 May 2025 in the Council Chambers.
After the hearings, Council will consider all the submissions received and make decisions on any amendments to the policy as a result. As a submitter you will be notified of Council's decision.
Council will consider a final Dangerous, Affected and Insanitary Buildings Policy for adoption on 27 May 2025.
