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Local Government (Water Services) Act 2025

Miscellaneous provisions - Compliance and enforcement - Power to obtain information

283: Power to obtain information

You could also call this:

"Compliance officers can look at and copy records to check people are following the rules"

Illustration for Local Government (Water Services) Act 2025

If you are a compliance officer, you can inspect records and documents that people must keep under this Act. You can look at these records and documents at any reasonable time and make copies of them. You can also ask people to give you these records and documents in a way that you choose.

You can take photos, videos, and audio recordings, and make electronic records. If you ask someone for records or documents, you must give them a list of what you took within 10 working days.

If you do something under this section, the rules about privilege and confidentiality in the Search and Surveillance Act 2012 apply. This section does not change any other laws that say you cannot collect certain information.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1004860.

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Part 5Miscellaneous provisions
Compliance and enforcement: Power to obtain information

283Power to obtain information

  1. A compliance officer may—

  2. inspect, at all reasonable times, all records and documents of every description in the possession or control of a person that are required to be kept under this Act; and
    1. make copies of, or take extracts from, those records and documents; and
      1. direct any person who has possession or control of those records and documents to supply to the compliance officer, in any reasonable manner that the officer specifies, all or any of those records or documents; and
        1. take photographs, video recordings, and other visual images; and
          1. take audio sound recordings; and
            1. make electronic records.

              1. The compliance officer must, not later than 10 working days after directing a person to supply records or documents under this section, give the person an inventory of all records or documents taken.

              2. Subpart 5 of Part 4 of the Search and Surveillance Act 2012 (privilege and confidentiality) applies to anything done under this section.

              3. Nothing in this section limits any other legislation that imposes a prohibition or restriction on the collection of information.

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