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399: Person may not give away benefit of warranties
or “You can't give up your right to have things fixed if they go wrong.”

You could also call this:

“Rules for how buildings should work and be safe, made by important people in the government”

The Governor-General can make rules called the building code. These rules say what buildings need to do and how well they need to work. The Minister suggests these rules to the Governor-General.

The building code can say what jobs buildings need to do. It can also say how well buildings need to do these jobs when people use them.

These rules can apply to all of New Zealand or just some parts. They can also apply all the time or only in certain situations.

The building code is a type of law called secondary legislation. This means it follows special rules about how it’s shared with everyone. You can find out more about this in Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019.

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Next up: 401: Regulations: acceptable solutions, verifications, etc, that must be complied with in order to comply with building code

or “Rules about how to build things properly and safely that everyone must follow.”

Part 5 Miscellaneous provisions
Miscellaneous: Regulations

400Regulations: building code

  1. The Governor-General may, by Order in Council made on the recommendation of the Minister, make regulations, to be called the building code, that prescribe—

  2. functional requirements for buildings; and
    1. the performance criteria that buildings must comply with in their intended use.
      1. Any regulations made under subsection (1) may prescribe that the functional requirements for buildings and the performance criteria with which buildings must comply in their intended use apply—

      2. generally throughout New Zealand or in particular regions of New Zealand only; and
        1. generally over a range of circumstances or in particular circumstances only.
          1. Regulations under this section are secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

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            Notes
            • Section 400(3): inserted, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).