Building Act 2004

Building - Code compliance certificates, certificates of acceptance, and compliance schedules - Annual building warrant of fitness

108: Annual building warrant of fitness

You could also call this:

"A yearly certificate to prove your building's safety systems are working correctly"

If you own a building with a compliance schedule, you must give the territorial authority a building warrant of fitness every year. This warrant is to ensure the building's systems are working properly and will keep working properly. You get the warrant by following the rules in the compliance schedule.

You must give the territorial authority the warrant on the anniversary of when the compliance schedule was issued. The warrant must say that you followed the schedule's rules for the last 12 months. It must also have certificates from an independently qualified person to prove you followed the rules. The warrant must be in a special form and have the right information.

You must display the warrant in the building where people can see it. If you do not give the territorial authority the warrant, or if you do not display it, you can get in trouble. You can also get in trouble if you display a false warrant or do not display it correctly.

If you get in trouble, you might have to pay a fine of up to $50,000 if you are an individual, or up to $150,000 if you are a company. In subsection (3)(d) and section 108A, an independently qualified person is someone who checked or supervised the building's systems in the last 12 months.

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This page was last updated on 19 May 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM306870.

Topics:

Housing and property > Home safety and repairsBusiness > Industry rulesCrime and justice > Criminal law

107: Territorial authority may amend compliance schedule on own initiative, or

"The city council can change a building's safety check list by itself if it thinks it's needed to keep things working properly, but it must tell the owner first."

108A: Duties of independently qualified person, or

"What an independently qualified person must do to honestly check and maintain building systems"

Part 2Building
Code compliance certificates, certificates of acceptance, and compliance schedules: Annual building warrant of fitness

108Annual building warrant of fitness

An owner of a building for which a compliance schedule has been issued must supply to the territorial authority a building warrant of fitness in accordance with subsection (3).
The purpose of a building warrant of fitness is to ensure that the specified systems stated in the compliance schedule are performing, and will continue to perform, to the performance standards for those systems that are set out in the relevant building consent.
The building warrant of fitness must—
be supplied on each anniversary of the issue of the compliance schedule; and
state that the inspection, maintenance, and reporting procedures of the compliance schedule have been fully complied with during the previous 12 months; and
have attached to it all certificates, in the prescribed form, issued by an independently qualified person that, when those certificates are considered together, certify that the inspection, maintenance, and reporting procedures stated in the compliance schedule have been fully complied with during the previous 12 months; and
have attached to it any recommendation made by an independently qualified person that the compliance schedule should be amended to ensure that the specified systems stated in the compliance schedule are performing, and will continue to perform, to the performance standards for those systems; and
be in the prescribed form; and
contain the prescribed information.

The owner must publicly display a copy of the building warrant of fitness in a place in the building to which users of the building have ready access or, if the compliance schedule relates only to a cable car, publicly display the copy of the building warrant of fitness in or near the cable car.
A person commits an offence if the person—
fails to supply to the territorial authority the building warrant of fitness in accordance with subsection (1); or
fails to display a building warrant of fitness that is required to be displayed under this section; or
displays a false or misleading building warrant of fitness; or
displays a building warrant of fitness otherwise than in accordance with this section.

A person who commits an offence under this section is liable on conviction,—
in the case of an individual, to a fine not exceeding $50,000:
in the case of a body corporate, to a fine not exceeding $150,000.

In subsection (3)(d) and section 108A, a reference to an independently qualified person is a reference to the independently qualified person or independently qualified persons who carried out or supervised the inspection, maintenance, and reporting procedures stated in the compliance schedule during the previous 12 months.

Notes

Section 108(3)(c): amended, on 13 March 2012, by section 47(1) of the Building Amendment Act 2012 (2012 No 23).
Section 108(3)(d): amended, on 13 March 2012, by section 47(1) of the Building Amendment Act 2012 (2012 No 23).
Section 108(4): amended, on 13 March 2012, by section 47(2) of the Building Amendment Act 2012 (2012 No 23).
Section 108(5)(aa): inserted, on 15 March 2008, by section 24 of the Building Amendment Act 2008 (2008 No 4).
Section 108(6): replaced, on 8 June 2021, by section 33 of the Building (Building Products and Methods, Modular Components, and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2021 (2021 No 21).
Section 108(7): replaced, on 13 March 2012, by section 47(3) of the Building Amendment Act 2012 (2012 No 23).
Section 108(7): amended, on 26 November 2024, by section 11 of the Building (Earthquake-prone Building Deadlines and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2024 (2024 No 49).