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Resource Management Act 1991

Miscellaneous provisions

352: Service of documents

You could also call this:

"How to give people official documents"

Illustration for Resource Management Act 1991

You can serve documents to people in several ways. You can deliver it to them, leave it at their home or work, or send it by post. You can also email it to them or use a method set out in regulations made under section 360. If you are serving documents to start or as part of a court case, the court may have its own rules for serving documents. Nothing in this section overrides the Electronic Courts and Tribunals Act 2016. When serving documents to a Minister of the Crown, you can serve the chief executive of their department instead. You can serve documents to a body, like a company, by serving an officer of the body or its registered office. For a partnership, you can serve any one of the partners. If you send a document by post, it is assumed to be received by the person when it would normally be delivered. There are special rules for serving documents to a Crown organisation, like delivering it to their head office or sending it to their fax number or electronic address.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM239099.

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Part 14Miscellaneous provisions

352Service of documents

  1. A notice or any other document required or authorised to be served on or given to a person for the purposes of this Act may be served or given by—

  2. delivering it to the person (other than a Minister of the Crown); or
    1. leaving it at the person’s usual or last known place of residence or business or at the address specified by the person in any notice, application, or other document given under this Act; or
      1. sending it by post to the person’s usual or last known place of residence or business or to the address specified by the person in any notice, application, or other document given under this Act; or
        1. emailing it to the person at an email address that is used by the person; or
          1. complying with a means of service prescribed in regulations made under section 360.

            1. However, if the document is to be served on a person to commence, or in the course of, court proceedings, subsection (1) does not apply if the court, whether expressly or in its rules or practices, requires a different method of service.

            2. Nothing in subsection (1) overrides the provisions of the Electronic Courts and Tribunals Act 2016.

            3. Where a notice or other document is to be served on a Minister of the Crown for the purposes of this Act, service on the chief executive of the appropriate department of the public service in accordance with subsection (1) shall be deemed to be service on the Minister.

            4. Where a notice or other document is to be served on a body (whether incorporated or not) for the purposes of this Act, service on an officer of the body, or on the registered office of the body, in accordance with subsection (1) shall be deemed to be service on the body.

            5. Where a notice or other document is to be served on a partnership for the purposes of this Act, service on any one of the partners in accordance with subsections (1) and (3) shall be deemed to be service on the partnership.

            6. Despite subsection (1), if a notice or other document is to be served on a Crown organisation for the purposes of this Act, it may be served—

            7. by delivering it at the organisation's head office or principal place of business; or
              1. by sending it to the fax number or electronic address that the organisation has specified for its head office or principal place of business; or
                1. by a method agreed between the organisation and the person serving the notice or document.

                  1. Where a notice or other document is sent by post to a person in accordance with subsection (1)(b)(iii) or (iv), it shall be deemed, in the absence of proof to the contrary, to be received by the person at the time at which the letter would have been delivered in the ordinary course of the post.

                  Notes
                  • Section 352(1): replaced, on , by section 83 of the Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 41).
                  • Section 352(1AA): inserted, on , by section 165(1) of the Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 15).
                  • Section 352(1A): inserted, on , by section 36(2) of the Electronic Courts and Tribunals Act 2016 (2016 No 52).
                  • Section 352(2): amended, on , by section 135 of the Public Service Act 2020 (2020 No 40).
                  • Section 352(4A): inserted, on , by section 141(3) of the Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 31).
                  • Section 352(4A)(b): amended, on , by section 165(2) of the Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 15).
                  • Section 352(5): amended, on , by section 165(3) of the Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 15).