About New Zealand Standards related to buildings

There are approximately 650 building and construction-related Standards. Some of these Standards are empowered by the Building Act and the Building Code.

An overview of the link between building Standards and building legislation is summarised in the diagram below from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

All our Standards are voluntary. The regulator may determine whether it is suitable to be used, and may cite the entire Standard or parts of it. It may also cite the Standard subject to certain modifications.

As noted in an IPENZ (Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand) fact sheet:

'There is a mandatory requirement that old buildings be strengthened to provide resistance to earthquake loads to a minimum of 33% of current design levels. The New Zealand Society of Earthquake Engineering recommends a minimum of 67% of current design level.'  (Institute  of Professional Engineers Fact Sheet 2011)

As a regulator, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment will consider whether a Standard is suitable for its use (refer http://www.dbh.govt.nz/blc-nzstandards)

Local government will also decide how it might use a Standard in its activities, such as:

• using as part of local government by-laws, and/or
• issuing building consents as part of fulfilling the role of a building consent authority.