Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Building Act 2004

Building - Code compliance certificates, certificates of acceptance, and compliance schedules - Change of use, extension of life, and subdivision of buildings

114: Owner must give notice of change of use, extension of life, or subdivision of buildings

You could also call this:

“You must tell the council if you want to change how you use a building, make it last longer, or split up the land it's on.”

If you own a building, you need to tell your local council in writing if you want to do certain things. This includes changing how you use the building, making a building with a set lifespan last longer, or dividing up your land in a way that affects a building. The law says that changing how you use a building means changing it in ways that are described in the rules.

If you don’t tell the council about these changes, you’re breaking the law. This means you could get in trouble and have to pay a fine. If you’re just one person, you might have to pay up to $5,000. If you’re a company, you might have to pay up to $25,000.

To understand more about what happens after you tell the council about these changes, you can look at section 115 of this law.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM306879.

Topics:
Housing and property > Home safety and repairs
Government and voting > Local councils
Environment and resources > Town planning
Previous

113: Buildings with specified intended lives, or

“Rules for buildings meant to last less than 50 years and what you need to do with them when their time is up”

Next

115: Code compliance requirements: change of use, or

“Rules for changing how a building is used to make sure it's safe and follows the building code”

Part 2 Building
Code compliance certificates, certificates of acceptance, and compliance schedules: Change of use, extension of life, and subdivision of buildings

114Owner must give notice of change of use, extension of life, or subdivision of buildings

  1. In this section and section 115, change the use, in relation to a building, means to change the use of the building in a manner described in the regulations.

  2. An owner of a building must give written notice to the territorial authority if the owner proposes—

  3. to change the use of a building; or
    1. to extend the life of a building that has a specified intended life; or
      1. to subdivide land in a manner that affects a building.

        1. A person who fails to comply with subsection (2)—

        2. commits an offence; and
          1. is liable on conviction,—
            1. in the case of an individual, to a fine not exceeding $5,000:
              1. in the case of a body corporate, to a fine not exceeding $25,000.

              2. Repealed
              Compare
                Notes
                • Section 114(3): replaced, on , by section 34 of the Building (Building Products and Methods, Modular Components, and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2021 (2021 No 21).
                • Section 114(4): repealed, on , by section 34 of the Building (Building Products and Methods, Modular Components, and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2021 (2021 No 21).