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Lawful repairs and maintenance using comparable materials

Repair.

Exemption (a) of Schedule 1

A building consent is not required for the following building work:

(a) any lawful repair and maintenance using comparable materials, or replacement with a comparable component or assembly in the same position, of any component or assembly incorporated or associated with a building, including all lawful repair and maintenance of that nature that is carried out in accordance with the Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Act 1976, except—

(i) complete or substantial replacement of a specified system; or

(ii) complete or substantial replacement of any component or assembly contributing to the building’s structural behaviour or fire-safety properties; or

(iii) repair or replacement (other than maintenance) of any component or assembly that has failed to satisfy the provisions of the building code for durability, for example, through a failure to comply with the external moisture requirements of the building code; or

(iv) repair or replacement of any water storage heater connected to a solid-fuel heater or other supplementary heat exchanger, except for the repair, or replacement with a comparable heater, of any open-vented water storage heater using the same pipework.

Guidance

This exemption enables building owners to maintain their buildings without having to get a building consent. Previous guidance is available about this exemption, contained in some of the Department’s Codewords publications.2 There has also been a determination made on this topic that includes discussion about what is meant by comparable materials.3

Examples where this exemption could apply Examples where building consent is required
  • Replacing a roof cladding, where that cladding has achieved its durability requirement (lasted more than 15 years) and the replacement cladding is of a comparable material.
  • Replacing a pile, where that pile was subjected to mechanical damage (eg, vehicle impact) and the replacement pile is a comparable component in the same position. The new building work must comply with the Building Code.
  • An owner wants to replace the wall cladding, but the wall cladding has failed, resulting in damage to the wall framing, and this has occurred within 15 years of the cladding being installed. The cladding has failed the durability requirement under the Building Code and the replacement will require a building consent.
  • A building is substantially damaged by fire and the owner wants to rebuild. Although the building may have met its durability requirements, the proposed building work would involve complete and substantial replacement of various components, so a building consent is required.
 

2 For example refer to these issues of Codewords

3 This can be found in determination 2006/116.