Page 82 - Build 152

Departments/Legal
By Karen Shaw, Senior Associate, Harkness Henry, Hamilton
Acting without consent
Make sure you are up to speed with the consent provisions of the Building Act and know what is and what isn’t an exemption. Failure to do so could be costly both nancially and professionally.
They may look appealing but if you’re constructing a yurt, you need a consent.
Strict adherence
Stories like this are timely reminders of the Building Act’s strict requirements when it comes to complying with a building consent. Section 40 of the Act provides that a person must not carry out any building work except in accordance with a building consent.
The section goes on to provide that a person who does so commits an o ence and is liable upon conviction to a ne not exceeding $200,000. There is a further ne of $10,000 per day if work continues.
The o ence under section 40 is a strict liability o ence. This means it is not necessary for the prosecution to prove that the defendant intended to commit the o ence. A naïve homeowner will, therefore, be caught.
Onus on builder to check
Of course, builders who carry out work without a building consent will also be caught. In the case of a building party, it will not matter if a building contract states it is not the builder’s responsibility to obtain the building consent. It is the builder’s responsibility to check that a consent exists before starting any building work that requires a consent.
The nes actually imposed by the Courts for o ences under section 40 are significantly lower than the statutory maximum. Recent examples include a ne of $6,000 for undertaking work 3 weeks before the building consent was obtained and an $8,400 ne for building work on three yurts by a couple.
THERE WAS A STORY in the press recently about television presenter Miriama Kamo and her husband pleading guilty to charges of carrying out illegal building work.
The couple had carried out DIY work at their Waiheke Island property since 2009 without required building consents. The works apparently included the construction of two Mongolian yurts.
80 — February/March 2016 — Build 152