Find underground pipes

Digging on council land

If you're looking to dig anywhere on Council land, including the road corridor (roads, footpaths or berms), you need approval first. Learn more and submit a Corridor Access Request (CAR).

Know what's below before you dig

There's a huge unseen network of water, wastewater and stormwater pipes, and other utiliities, running underground. For your safety and the safety of those around you, it's important to know exactly where these pipes are before you start any digging, staking, fencing or excavation work.

To help you locate and avoid damaging underground water pipes, you can search for or request this information.

Search for or request water pipes information

use Mapi (our interactive online mapping tool) to search by address and establish the approximate location of water infrastructure.
email info@taupo.govt.nz with details of where you're planning to dig and we’ll send you the information we have about our water pipes at this location.

All underground services information provided is indicative only and may be incomplete or inaccurate. Physical verification of underground services must be carried out prior to any excavation work.

Also see: Mapi conditions of use.

Find water pipes on Mapi

Other pipes, cables and utilities

Council does not keep records for the location of underground telecommunications, electricity cables or gas pipes, or any other non-council owned services.

To get this information you will need to contact the relevant provider/s directly.

Legal requirements and guidance

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, any person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) digging, staking, fencing or excavation work must:

Identify underground service hazards before work begins
Eliminate risks so far as reasonably practicable, or minimise where elimination is not possible
Ensure no harm to workers, road users, or the public
Confirm asset locations using appropriate methods

For more information and guidelines around managing the health and safety risks associated with excavation work, visit the Worksafe website.

Building over or near a public pipe

Building over pipelines is not a recommended practice and will only be considered by council in exceptional circumstances, where no suitable alternative exists.

Find out more

Mapi conditions of use

To use Taupō District Council Mapi, we require you to read and accept the following Conditions of Use. You will be asked to agree to these Conditions of Use when you open Mapi.

Liability

Access to the Taupō District Council online maps (Mapi) is a free service offered by the Taupō District Council. Your use of Mapi is conditional upon your explicit acceptance of the terms and conditions set out in these Conditions of Use and is entirely at your own risk. The Council does not accept any responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions on Mapi or any liability for any damage or loss caused by your reliance on or use of the information contained on Mapi. Consequently, the Council excludes all liability for any injury, death, loss, damages, costs or expenses resulting directly or indirectly from the use of the GIS (Geographic Information System) data contained on Mapi and any maps or information derived from it.

Accuracy statement

The GIS data on Mapi has been compiled from several sources and may not be an accurate, complete or correct representation of the actual property boundary locations or characteristics, buildings, structures, amenities, or any other information shown. This data is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied to the fullest extent permitted by law. While due care has been taken in providing this website, all information should be considered as being illustrative and indicative only. Your use of information from this website is entirely at your own risk.

The Council does not warrant that Mapi will be uninterrupted or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that this site or the server that makes it available is free of any virus. The Council recommends that you independently verify the accuracy, currency and reliability of any information made available via this service and upon which you intend to rely i.e. the actual locations of any pipes or services shown on a plan should be physically verified on site prior to any design, construction or other works taking place, property boundaries should be verified by a qualified surveyor. The GIS data on this site may be amended and updated by the Council without notification. There may be significant delays before data is updated to reflect changes in an area.

Intellectual property

Content on Mapi comes from a variety of sources and some is the intellectual property of third parties. Unless stated otherwise, all intellectual property rights in, to and in respect of the information, data and materials appearing on the site (including copyright, trademarks, trade names and logos) are and remain the property of either the Taupō District Council or the third parties who have licensed their intellectual property to the Council. Information may only be used as permitted under the Copyright Act 1994.

Water, drainage and pipe information

The water, drainage and pipe data on this site is provided to assist in planning works that are in proximity to current and historic water and drainage infrastructure. The Council supplies water and drainage data in good faith, however site surveys and inspections appropriate to the work proposed should be carried out as part of the investigation, design or construction process. Council recommends using non-mechanical excavation to positively identify service depth and position before commencing with excavations.

Important note: Other utility owners (gas, telecom, and power etc.) need to be contacted for their respective service locations and requirements.

Title information (not ratepayer information)

The title information is a copy of the public information received monthly from Land Information New Zealand. Personal ownership information is not displayed. It can be obtained from the Land Information NZ website. Ratepayer names and contact addresses are held in the Rating Information Database and this personal information is not available from this site.

Waiver

You waive and release Taupō District Council from any claims arising from your use of this website or the information provided by it.

Indemnity

You indemnify Taupō District Council against all claims, loss or damages arising in connection with your use of this website or the information provided by it.