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Local Government (Water Services) Act 2025

Miscellaneous provisions - Offences - Offence relating to water supply network, wastewater network, or stormwater network

324: Carrying out work on or in relation to water supply network, wastewater network, or stormwater network without authorisation

You could also call this:

"Doing water network work without permission can get you in trouble"

Illustration for Local Government (Water Services) Act 2025

If you do work on a water supply network, wastewater network, or stormwater network without permission, you can get in trouble. You need to tell the water service provider that you plan to do the work and get their written okay first. The water service provider can say yes or no, and they can also set conditions for the work.

If you do the work without permission, you can be fined up to $100,000 if you are an individual, or up to $500,000 if you are a company. However, you will not get in trouble if you have a statutory authorisation to do the work, which is a special kind of permission from the government. A statutory authorisation is like a permit that allows you to do certain work without needing to ask for permission each time.

You also have a defence if you did the work to avoid an emergency or to fix the effects of an emergency, which means you might not get fined if you can prove that you did the work to prevent something bad from happening or to make something bad better. You can compare this to a similar law from 2022, which is available on the legislation website.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1006774.

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Government and voting > Local councilsEnvironment and resources > Food and water safety
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325: Breach of source water risk management plan or permit, or

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Part 5Miscellaneous provisions
Offences: Offence relating to water supply network, wastewater network, or stormwater network

324Carrying out work on or in relation to water supply network, wastewater network, or stormwater network without authorisation

  1. A person commits an offence if they knowingly carry out work on or in relation to a water supply network, wastewater network, or a stormwater network owned or operated by a water service provider without first—

  2. notifying the water service provider of their intention to carry out the work; and
    1. obtaining written authorisation from the water service provider to carry out the work on any terms or conditions that the water service provider thinks fit.

      1. A person who commits an offence against this section is liable on conviction,—

      2. for an individual, to a fine not exceeding $100,000:
        1. for a body corporate or an unincorporated body, to a fine not exceeding $500,000.

          1. A person does not commit an offence against this section if the work is carried out in accordance with a statutory authorisation.

          2. It is a defence to an offence against this section if the work carried out was necessary to avoid an emergency, or to mitigate or remedy the effects of an emergency.

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