Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Building Act 2004

Regulatory responsibilities and accreditation - Responsibilities of territorial authorities - Powers of territorial authority to carry out inspections and enter land

226: Restriction on entry to household unit

You could also call this:

“You need special permission to enter someone's home for inspections, except in emergencies.”

You need to know about when someone can enter your home for building inspections. An authorised officer cannot come into your house without your permission. If you don’t give permission, they need to get a special order from the District Court. This rule is in section 222.

There is one exception to this rule. In an emergency, local authorities can enter your home without asking first. This is allowed by section 173 of the Local Government Act 2002.

If the authorised officer wants to enter your house and you don’t agree, they can ask the District Court for permission. The court can give them an order to enter your house. This is explained in section 227.

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 It might be out of date or be missing some parts.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=DLM307875.

Topics:
Housing and property > Home safety and repairs
Government and voting > Local councils
Previous

225: Offence to impersonate authorised officer, or

“It's against the law to pretend you're a special inspector when you're not, and you can get in big trouble if you do.”

Next

227: District Court may authorise entry to household unit, or

“A judge can allow an inspector to enter someone's home if it's really needed and they've tried asking nicely first.”

Part 3 Regulatory responsibilities and accreditation
Responsibilities of territorial authorities: Powers of territorial authority to carry out inspections and enter land

226Restriction on entry to household unit

  1. Despite section 222, an authorised officer may not enter a household unit that is being used as a household unit without—

  2. the consent of the occupier of the household unit; or
    1. an order of the District Court made under section 227.

      1. Subsection (1) does not limit the power conferred by section 173 of the Local Government Act 2002 (which allows a local authority entry into occupied land or buildings without prior notice in cases of emergency).

      Compare
        Notes
        • Section 226(1)(b): amended, on , by section 261 of the District Court Act 2016 (2016 No 49).