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Local Government (Water Services) Act 2025

Miscellaneous provisions - Offences - Offences relating to duties associated with administration of Act

336: Pretending to be compliance officer, employee, agent, or warrant holder of territorial authority or water organisation

You could also call this:

"It's against the law to pretend to be a water or council worker or to fake a special permission."

Illustration for Local Government (Water Services) Act 2025

If you pretend to be someone you are not, you can get in trouble with the law. You might pretend to be a compliance officer, which is a person appointed under section 278, or an employee or agent of a territorial authority or water organisation. If you do this on purpose to deceive people, you are committing an offence.

You can also get in trouble if you pretend to have a warrant, which is a special permission, under section 290, when you do not really have one. Or, if you use a warrant after your appointment or authority has ended, which can happen under section 289 or section 290.

If you break this law, you can be fined a lot of money. If you are an individual, you can be fined up to $50,000. If you are a company or a group, you can be fined up to $250,000.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1006788.

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Government and voting > Local councilsEnvironment and resources > Food and water safetyCrime and justice > Criminal law
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Part 5Miscellaneous provisions
Offences: Offences relating to duties associated with administration of Act

336Pretending to be compliance officer, employee, agent, or warrant holder of territorial authority or water organisation

  1. A person commits an offence if, with intent to deceive,—

  2. they pretend to be a person who has been appointed as a compliance officer under section 278; or
    1. they pretend to be an employee or agent of a territorial authority or water organisation; or
      1. they pretend to be a person who holds a warrant under section 290 despite not holding such a warrant; or
        1. they act under a warrant under section 289 or 290 after the termination of, as the case may be,—
          1. their appointment as a compliance officer of the territorial authority or water organisation; or
            1. their authority to act on behalf of the territorial authority or water organisation.

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

            3. for an individual, to a fine not exceeding $50,000:
              1. for a body corporate or an unincorporated body, to a fine not exceeding $250,000.

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