Background

Under Section 131 of the Building Act 2004 (the Act) all territorial authorities are required to adopt a policy on dangerous and insanitary buildings. Waikato District Council, as a Territorial Authority (TA), adopted such a policy in 2006. In 2013 the Act was amended to require councils to also consider ‘affected buildings’ in their policies. We have reviewed our policy and updated it to make it more fit for purpose. The reviewed policy is intended to replace the 2023 version of the policy.

Under Section 131 of the Building Act 2004 (the Act) all territorial authorities are required to adopt a policy on dangerous and insanitary buildings. Waikato District Council, as a Territorial Authority (TA), adopted such a policy in 2006. In 2013 the Act was amended to require councils to also consider ‘affected buildings’ in their policies. We have reviewed our policy and updated it to make it more fit for purpose.


While there are no substantial changes in how we apply the Policy since Council adopted

the 2023 version, we have made some changes that provide more information to readers.

The Building Act requires we undertake a Special Consultative Procedure whenever the

Policy is reviewed.

  • The approach that Council will take in performing its functions under the Building Act 2004;
  • How we define dangerous, affected and insanitary buildings;
  • How we approach the management of dangerous, affected and insanitary buildings;
  • How we respond to complaints about potentially dangerous, affected or insanitary buildings;
  • How we interact with the related sections of the Act (specifically how we apply the principles of the Act);
  • How we deal with the impacts of the policy;
  • Council’s priorities in performing those functions; and
  • How the policy will apply to heritage buildings.

KEY CHANGE 1

Section 8 outlines how Council staff apply criteria when making assessments of potentially dangerous buildings, and how priorities are then applied.

This gives more information about Council ensures the safety of people affected by dangerous, affected and insanitary buildings.

KEY CHANGE 2

We have also added appendices to the end of the Policy to explain the risk management approach used, and the criteria and factors that influence our decisionmaking.

How you can help us

We would like to know if you have any feedback on:

  • Section 8 of the Policy - How we determine the prioritisation of the issues around potentially dangerous, affected or insanitary buildings.
  • The appendices we have added to the policy, explaining our risk management approach and the factors that influence our decision making.
  • If there is there anything else about our policy approach to the requirements of the Act you would like to share?