The Building Act 2004 requires us to have a policy on dangerous and insanitary buildings. The Policy must also consider any buildings that may be affected by a dangerous building, e.g. adjacent to, adjoining, or nearby. We are required to review this policy every five years.

The Dangerous and Insanitary Buildings Policy ensures that buildings in the district do not compromise people’s health and safety, and sets out how the Council will undertake its responsibilities under the Building Act 2004 that relate to dangerous, affected and insanitary buildings. 

What's included in the policy?

We have made a number of changes to the layout of this Policy and added some further content to assist in readability and clarity. This includes the following:

• How a building may become a dangerous, affected or insanitary building.
• More information relating to our district and how the Policy has been developed to reflect this.
• Adding further information on how buildings may be identified as requiring an inspection
• We have moved all information relating to heritage buildings to the ‘application of Policy to Heritage Buildings’ section.
• We've made minor updates to the definitions contained in the Policy and these have been moved to the back of the Policy.

Are we proposing any changes to the Policy?

We are not proposing any major changes to this Policy and have only made minor amendments. These changes are indicated in the draft Policy in red text with proposed deletions struck through. We want to know from you if you think any changes are required to meet the needs of the community.

Council decision 

We received 11 submissions on the draft Dangerous, Affected and Insanitary Buildings Policy. Of these submissions, 3 agreed with the proposed option to adopt the updated policy, 1 did not agree with the proposal, and 7 did not have an opinion, or did not select an option.

Submissions noted concerns about people living in commercial buildings and the general state of the buildings causing health and safety issues. Queries were raised about particular buildings that were regarded as unsafe. Additionally, a submitter requested a correction to the definition of ‘dangerous building’.

At its meeting held on 22 May 2024, Council decided to adopt the policy with the following amendments:

• Update to the definition of ‘Dangerous Building’ to reflect the Building Act 2004.
• Update section 6.4.3 to amend ‘New Zealand Historic Places Trust’ to ‘Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga’ to reflect the correct name of the organisation.

Council directed staff to follow up on any issues raised by submitters as appropriate. We also note that concerns can be raised by calling our customer services team on 07 884 0060 or through the Antenno app so that they can be looked into.

You can view the final Dangerous, Affected and Insanitary Buildings Policy by clicking the button below. This policy will apply from 1 July 2023 and will be available to view on our website (under Policies and Bylaws).

Dangerous, Affected and Insanitary Buildings Policy

Get involved

Submissions have now closed. 

Draft Dangerous, Affected and Insanitary Buildings Policy 2024

Statement of Proposal

Draft Dangerous, Affected and Insanitary Buildings Policy 2024

Draft Dangerous, Affected and Insanitray Buildings Policy 2024 (tracked changes)

• Dangerous, Affected and Insanitary Buildings Policy 2019

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