Building Act 2004

Miscellaneous provisions - Civil proceedings and defences

391: Civil proceedings against building consent authorities

You could also call this:

"This law says people can only sue building authorities for mistakes in special ways, not for breaking promises."

If you want to take legal action against a building consent authority for how they performed their official duties when issuing a building consent or a code compliance certificate, you need to know that this kind of legal action is handled in a specific way. You can't sue them based on a contract. Instead, you have to sue them for a 'tort', which is a type of civil wrong. This means the legal case would focus on whether the authority did something wrong in carrying out their duties, rather than on breaking a contract.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM309044.

Topics:

Housing and property > Home safety and repairsCrime and justice > Courts and legal help

390: Civil proceedings may not be brought against chief executive, employees, etc, or

"People doing their job under the Building Act 2004 can't be sued if they act in good faith."

392: Building consent authority not liable, or

"The council can't be sued if they make a genuine mistake with a building consent."

Part 5Miscellaneous provisions
Civil proceedings and defences

391Civil proceedings against building consent authorities

Any civil proceedings against a building consent authority in respect of the performance of its statutory function in issuing a building consent or a code compliance certificate must be brought in tort and not in contract.

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Notes

Section 391 heading: amended, on 14 April 2005, by section 16(2)(r) of the Building Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 31).
Section 391: amended, on 14 April 2005, by section 16(2)(o) of the Building Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 31).