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133AK: Territorial authority must determine whether building is earthquake prone
or “The local council must check if a building is safe during earthquakes”
You could also call this:

“Local council must give an official notice to owners of buildings at risk during earthquakes”

When a local council decides a building is earthquake-prone, they must quickly give the building owner an official notice. This notice tells you important information about your building’s safety in earthquakes.

The notice will say which part of your building is earthquake-prone and how strong it is against earthquakes. It will also say if your building is a priority, which means it needs to be fixed sooner.

The notice will tell you that you need to do work to make your building safer in earthquakes. It will give you a deadline for when this work needs to be finished.

You can ask for special permission not to do the work, or for more time if your building is historic. The notice will explain how to do this.

If you can show that your building is actually safe in earthquakes, you won’t need to do the work. The notice will say this too.

The council will also give copies of this notice to other people who have an interest in your building, like your bank or Heritage New Zealand if it’s a historic building.

Even if the council forgets to give the notice to someone, it’s still a valid notice.

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 It might be out of date or be missing some parts.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

Next up: 133AM: Deadline for completing seismic work

or “This law tells building owners when they need to fix or knock down unsafe buildings that might fall in an earthquake.”
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Part 2 Building
Special provisions for earthquake-prone buildings: Remediation of earthquake-prone buildings

133ALTerritorial authority must issue EPB notice for earthquake-prone buildings

  1. This section applies if a territorial authority makes any of the following decisions:

  2. determining under section 133AK or 133AY or clause 2 of Schedule 1AA that a building or a part of a building is earthquake prone; or
    1. revoking an exemption under section 133AN; or
      1. revoking an extension under section 133AO; or
        1. determining under section 133AQ or 133AY that the earthquake rating of a building or a part of a building that is subject to an EPB notice is different from the earthquake rating (if any) of the building or part that is stated in the notice or the EPB register.

          1. The territorial authority must promptly issue an EPB notice for the building or the part of the building, which must—

          2. be dated; and
            1. be in the prescribed form; and
              1. identify the building or the part of a building determined to be earthquake prone; and
                1. specify whether the building or part is a priority building; and
                  1. specify the earthquake rating of the building or part (unless this has not been determined: see section 133AK(4) and clause 2 of Schedule 1AA); and
                    1. state that the owner of the building or part is required to carry out building work to ensure that the building or part is no longer earthquake prone (seismic work); and
                      1. state the deadline for completing seismic work (see section 133AM); and
                        1. state that the owner of the building or part may apply under section 133AN for an exemption from the requirement to carry out seismic work; and
                          1. if the building is a heritage building to which section 133AO applies, state that the owner of the building or part may apply under that section for an extension of time to complete seismic work; and
                            1. state that the owner is not required to complete seismic work if the territorial authority determines or is satisfied, in accordance with section 133AQ, that the building or part is not earthquake prone.

                              1. If the earthquake rating of a building or a part of a building is a percentage range that spans more than 1 prescribed category of earthquake ratings, the notice issued for the building or part must be in the form prescribed for the category that includes the lowest point in the percentage range.

                              2. If the territorial authority is proceeding under section 133AK(4) as if it had determined a building or a part of a building to be earthquake prone (because the owner has not provided an engineering assessment),—

                              3. the notice must be in the form prescribed for the category of earthquake ratings that includes the lowest earthquake ratings (see section 401C(a)); and
                                1. the notice must state—
                                  1. that the territorial authority has not determined whether the building or part is earthquake prone, but is proceeding as if it had; and
                                    1. that the earthquake rating of the building or part has not been determined.

                                    2. The territorial authority must give a copy of the notice to—

                                    3. the owner of the building or the part of the building; and
                                      1. every person who has an interest in the land on which the building is situated under a mortgage or other encumbrance registered under the Land Transfer Act 2017; and
                                        1. every person claiming an interest in the land that is protected by a caveat lodged and in force under section 138 of the Land Transfer Act 2017; and
                                          1. every statutory authority that has exercised a statutory power to classify or register, for any purpose, the building or the land on which the building is situated; and
                                            1. Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, if the building is a heritage building.

                                              1. However, the notice is not invalid because a copy of it has not been given to any or all of the persons referred to in subsection (5).

                                              Notes
                                              • Section 133AL: inserted, on , by section 24 of the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 22).
                                              • Section 133AL(5)(b): amended, on , by section 247(3)(a) of the Land Transfer Act 2017 (2017 No 30).
                                              • Section 133AL(5)(c): amended, on , by section 247(3)(b) of the Land Transfer Act 2017 (2017 No 30).