Glossary of terms used in this booklet

Historic places: Category 1 status is given to places of 'special or outstanding historical or cultural heritage significance or value' and Category 2 status to places of 'historical or cultural heritage significance or value'.

Places may be significant because of their aesthetic, archaeological, architectural, cultural, historical, scientific, social, spiritual, technological or traditional significance or value.

For more information go to the Historic Places Trust website at www.historic.org.nz which also has links to the Historic Places Act.

Importance level: Importance levels are referenced in the Building (Designation of Building Work Licence Classes) Order 2007.

Importance levels are determined in accordance with AS/NZS 1170.0: 2002, Importance Levels for Building Types - New Zealand Structures.

This describes, in general terms, five categories, and gives examples of each. The headings are:

1. Structures presenting a low degree of hazard to life and other property
2. Normal structures and structures not in other importance levels
3. Structures that as a whole contain people in crowds or contents of high value to the community or pose risks to people in crowds
4. Structures with special post-disaster functions
5. Special structures.

Importance Levels for Building Types – New Zealand Structures.

Importance level	Comment	Examples
1	Structures presenting a low degree of hazard to life and other property	Structures with a total floor area of <30m2 Farm buildings, isolated structures, towers in rural situations Fences, masts, walls, in-ground swimming pools
2	Normal structures and structures not in other importance levels	Buildings not included in Importance Levels 1, 3, or 4 Single family dwellings Car parking buildings
3	Structures that as a whole contain people in crowds or contents of high value to the community or pose risks to people in crowds	Buildings and facilities as follows: (a)       Where more than 300 people can congregate in one area (b)       Day care centres with a capacity greater than 150 (c)       Primary school or secondary school facilities with a capacity greater than 250 (d)       Colleges or adult education facilities with a capacity greater than 500 (e)       Health care facilities with a capacity of 50 or more resident patients but not having surgery or emergency treatment facilities (f)         Airport terminals, principal railway stations with a capacity greater than 250 (g)       Correctional institutions (h)       Multi-occupancy residential, commercial (including shops), industrial, office and retailing buildings designed to accommodate more than 5000 people and with a gross area greater than 10,000 m2 (i)         Public assembly buildings, theatres and cinemas of greater than 1000 m2 Emergency medical and other emergency facilities not designated as post-disaster Power-generating facilities, water treatment and waste water treatment facilities and other public utilities not designated as post-disaster Buildings and facilities not designated as post-disaster containing hazardous materials capable of causing hazardous conditions that do not extend beyond the property boundaries
4	Structures with special post-disaster functions	Buildings and facilities designated as essential facilities Buildings and facilities with special post-disaster function Medical emergency or surgical facilities Emergency service facilities such as fire, police stations and emergency vehicle garages Utilities or emergency supplies or installation required as backup for buildings and facilities of Importance Level 4 Designated emergency shelters, designated emergency centres and ancillary facilities Buildings and facilities containing hazardous materials capable of causing hazardous conditions that extend beyond the property boundaries

Reproduced from AS/NZS 1170.0:2002 ‘Structural design actions, Part 0: General Principles’ (Table 3.2), with permission from Standards New Zealand.  AS/NZS 1170.0:2002 can be purchased from Standards NZ at www.standards.co.nz

Risk score:

The E2/AS1 risk matrix takes into account a building's

• wind zone
• number of storeys
• roof/wall intersections
• eaves width
• envelope complexity
• deck designs.

The Department of Building and Housing publication External moisture – a guide to using the risk matrix can be used in conjunction with E2/AS1 to extend your understanding of the concepts involved in risk assessment.

E2/AS1 Table 1: Definition of Risk.

E2/AS1 Table 1: Definition of Risk			Score
A: Wind zone	Low risk	Low wind zone as described by NZS 3604	0
	Medium risk	Medium wind zone as described by NZS 3604	0
	High risk	High wind zone as described by NZS 3604	1
	Very high risk	Very high wind zone as described by NZS 3604	2
B: Number of storeys	Low risk	One storey	0
	Medium risk	Two storeys in part	1
	High risk	Two storeys	2
	Very high risk	More than two storeys	4
C: Roof/wall intersection design	Low risk	Roof-to-wall intersection fully protected (eg hip and gable roof with eaves)	0
	Medium risk	Roof-to-wall intersection partly exposed (eg hip and gable roof with no eaves)	1
	High risk	Roof-to-wall intersection fully exposed (eg parapets, enclosed balustrades or eaves at greater than 90° to vertical with soffit lining)	3
	Very high risk	Roof elements finishing within the boundaries formed by the exterior walls (eg lower ends of aprons, chimneys, dormers, etc.)	5
D: Eaves width(1), (2)	Low risk	Greater than 600mm for single storey	0
	Medium risk	451-600mm for single storey	1
	High risk	101-450mm for single storey, or 451-600mm for two storey, or greater than 600mm above two storey	2
	Very high risk	0-100mm for single storey, or 0-450mm for two storey, or less than 600mm above two storey	5
E: Envelope complexity	Low risk	Simple, rectangular, L, T or boomerang shape, with single cladding type	0
	Medium risk	Moderately complex, angular or curved shapes (eg Y or arrowhead) with no more than two cladding types	1
	High risk	Complex, angular or curved shapes (eg Y or arrowhead) with multiple cladding types	3
	Very high risk	As for high risk, but with junctions not covered in C or F (eg box windows, pergolas, multi-storey re-entrant shapes, etc)	6
F: Deck design(3)	Low risk	None, timber slat deck or porch at ground-floor level	0
	Medium risk	Fully covered in plan by roof, or timber slat deck attached at first- or second-floor level	2
	High risk	Enclosed deck exposed in plan or cantilevered at first-floor level	4
	Very high risk	Enclosed deck exposed in plan or cantilevered at second-floor level or above	6

Notes: (1) Eaves width measured horizontally from external face of wall cladding to outer edge of overhang, including gutters and fascias (2) Balustrades and parapets count as 0 mm eaves (3) The term deck includes balconies.

Use: The term Use appears in the Building (Designation of Building Work Licence Classes) Order 2007. It is based on the Building (Specified Systems, Change the Use, and Earthquake-prone Buildings) Regulations 2005, which define change of use for the purposes of sections 114 and 115 of the Building Act 2004.

These Regulations largely reproduce Table 2.1 Purpose groups from Acceptable Solution C/AS1, with some minor changes. Table 2.1 C/AS1 determines the purpose group of a building based on the activity or use of the building space and its fire hazard category.

You can view the Building (Specified Systems, Change the Use, and Earthquake-prone buildings) Regulations 2005 at: www.legislation.govt.nz

You can view the Acceptable Solution C/AS1 on the Department's website at: www.dbh.govt.nz/blc-compliance-documents

The building uses mentioned in this booklet are:

Use	Spaces or dwellings	Examples
CM (Crowd Medium)	Spaces for displaying or selling retail goods, wares, or merchandise	Exhibition halls, retail shops, supermarkets, or other stores with bulk storage or display
CL (Crowd Large)	Enclosed spaces (with or without kitchens or cooking facilities) where more than 100 people gather for participating in activities, but also enclosed spaces with kitchens or cooking facilities and where 100 or fewer people gather for participating in activities	Cinemas (with qualifying spaces), schools, colleges, and tertiary institutions, libraries, nightclubs, restaurants and eating places with cooking facilities, theatre stages, opera houses, television studios (with audience)
SC (Sleeping Care)	Spaces in which people are provided with special care or treatment required because of age, or mental or physical limitations	Hospitals, or care institutions for the aged, children, or people with disabilities
SD (Sleeping Detention)	Spaces in which people are detained or physically restrained	Care institutions for the aged or children with physical restraint or detention quarters, hospitals with physical restraint or detention quarters, detention quarters in police stations, prisons
SH	Detached dwellings where people live as a single household or family	Dwellings, houses, being household units, or suites in purpose group SA, separated from each other by distance. Detached dwellings may include attached self-contained suites such as granny flats when occupied by a member of the same family, and garages whether detached or part of the same building and are primarily for storage of the occupants' vehicles, tools and garden implements.
SR (Sleeping Residential)	Attached and multi-unit residential dwellings, including household units attached to spaces or dwellings with the same or other uses, such as caretakers' flats, and residential accommodation above a shop	Multi-unit dwellings, flats, or apartments
WH (Working High)	Spaces used for working, business, or storage — high fire load and slow, medium, or fast fire growth rates	Chemical manufacturing or processing plants, distilleries, feed mills, flour mills, lacquer factories, mattress factories, rubber processing plants, spray painting operations, places for plastics manufacturing, or bulk storage of combustible materials over 3m high (excluding foamed plastics)
WF (Working Fast)	Spaces used for working, business, or storage — medium or high fire load1 and ultra fast fire growth rates	Areas involving significant quantities of highly combustible and flammable or explosive materials which because of their inherent characteristics constitute a special fire hazard, including bulk plants for flammable liquids or gases, bulk storage warehouses for flammable substances, and places for bulk storage of foamed plastics