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116: Code compliance requirements: extension of life
or “Rules for making a building last longer than originally planned”
You could also call this:

“Rules for making sure buildings are safe and accessible when dividing up land”

When you want to split a property into smaller parts, you need to follow some rules about the buildings on that property. The local council can’t approve the split unless they’re sure the buildings meet certain safety standards.

The council needs to be confident that the buildings will meet the rules for fire escapes, access for people with disabilities (if required), and protecting other properties nearby. They want the buildings to follow these rules as closely as possible.

For all other building rules, the council needs to make sure that if the building followed the rules before the split was requested, it will keep following them after. If the building didn’t quite meet all the rules before, it should at least stay as good as it was and not get worse.

These rules help make sure that when properties are divided up, the buildings on them stay safe and usable for everyone.

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Next up: 116B: Offence to use building for use for which it is not safe or not sanitary, or if it has inadequate means of escape from fire

or “You can get in big trouble if you use a building that isn't safe, clean, or easy to escape from if there's a fire.”
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Part 2 Building
Code compliance certificates, certificates of acceptance, and compliance schedules: Change of use, extension of life, and subdivision of buildings

116ACode compliance requirements: subdivision

  1. A territorial authority must not issue a certificate under section 224(f) of the Resource Management Act 1991 for the purpose of giving effect to a subdivision affecting a building or part of a building unless satisfied, on reasonable grounds, that the building—

  2. will comply, as nearly as is reasonably practicable, with every provision of the building code that relates to the following matters:
    1. means of escape from fire:
      1. access and facilities for persons with disabilities (if this is a requirement under section 118):
        1. protection of other property; and
        2. will,—
          1. if it complied with the other provisions of the building code immediately before the application for a subdivision was made, continue to comply with those provisions; or
            1. if it did not comply with the other provisions of the building code immediately before the application for a subdivision was made, continue to comply at least to the same extent as it did then comply.

            Notes
            • Section 116A: inserted, on , by section 14(1) of the Building Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 31).
            • Section 116A: amended, on , by section 6 of the Resource Management (Natural and Built Environment and Spatial Planning Repeal and Interim Fast-track Consenting) Act 2023 (2023 No 68).
            • Section 116A(a): amended, on , by section 25(1) of the Building Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 100).
            • Section 116A(b): replaced, on , by section 25(2) of the Building Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 100).