What non-compliance actually costs

Every figure on this page has been read directly from the legislation, not taken from secondary guidance. Where a maximum applies differently to an individual and a company, both are given. The date this page was last checked is at the foot of it.

Building Act 2004

Not obtaining a required compliance schedule — s101

An owner of a building that requires a compliance schedule must obtain one. Failing to do so is an offence.

$20,000, and for a continuing offence a further $2,000 for every day or part of a day the offence continues.

The Building Warrant of Fitness — s108

Section 108(5) makes it an offence to fail to supply the warrant to the territorial authority, to fail to display it, to display a false or misleading one, or to display one other than in accordance with the section.

$50,000 for an individual. $150,000 for a body corporate.

This is the figure most commonly misstated. If you have seen $20,000 quoted for a warrant offence, that is out of date.

An IQP certifying work that was not done — s108A

An independently qualified person must not state, in a warrant or any other document, that the inspection, maintenance and reporting procedures for a specified system have been complied with over the previous 12 months if they have not been fully complied with.

$50,000 for an individual. $150,000 for a body corporate.

There are defences — a reasonable mistake, reasonable reliance on information supplied by someone else, or having taken reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence.

This section is why a competent IQP will sometimes tell you they cannot sign. It is not obstruction. It is the law placing a personal criminal liability on the signature, and an IQP who signs anyway is exposing you as well as themselves.

Using a building with inadequate means of escape — s116B

No person may use a building, or knowingly permit another person to use it, for a use for which it is not safe or not sanitary, or where it has inadequate means of escape from fire.

$100,000, and for a continuing offence a further $10,000 for every day or part of a day.

Not complying with a notice to fix — s168

$200,000, and for a continuing offence a further $20,000 for every day or part of a day.

The largest number on this page, by a distance. A notice to fix is the point at which a compliance problem stops being an administrative matter.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act 2017

Not having an approved evacuation scheme — s76

The owner of a “relevant building” under section 75 must provide and maintain an evacuation scheme approved by FENZ. The exceptions are narrow and easy to get wrong — ask us before assuming one applies to your building.

For an individual: imprisonment for up to 6 months, or a fine up to $75,000, or both. In any other case: $150,000.

This is the only offence on this page that carries imprisonment. It applies to knowing contravention. Under section 79, FENZ may also apply to the District Court for an order closing the building.

What this is actually about

Fines are rarely the real cost. The real cost is a building that cannot be occupied, an insurer asking questions at renewal, a sale that stalls in due diligence, or a notice to fix with a deadline attached.

All of which are avoidable by a considerable margin, because every one of these obligations runs to a schedule that is known a year in advance.