Building owners have to make sure their buildings are safe. Christine Grice of Harkness Henry discusses three aspects of what the Building Act 1991 requires in this area: building warrants of fitness, independently qualified persons and a building owner's responsibilities.

Building Warrants Of Fitness

Compliance Schedules and Warrants of Fitness are means of maintaining various health and safety features in a building for the benefit of the occupants. The major change is a shift in responsibility from the local authority to the owner. It is now for the owner to ensure that maintenance is carried out each year and to advise the local authority. It is not for the local authority to inspect.

A compliance schedule is issued by the local authority. It sets out the required inspection, maintenance and reporting procedures to be followed. These requirements apply to:

-new buildings
-existing buildings that contain any of the features specified in the law
-existing buildings that have been altered or have had a change of use so as to include any of the specified features

The requirements do not apply to single dwellings, but do apply to multi-unit residential buildings such as apartment buildings that contain any of the specified features.

Specified features are listed in the Building Act. They include items such as lifts, automatic sprinkler systems, automatic doors, lifts, air-conditioning, emergency warning systems, escape routes, and any other systems whose proper operation is required under the building code.

The owner must confirm the compliance by each year giving the council a WOF that states that "the requirements contained in the compliance schedule have been complied with during the previous 12 months", and publicly displaying a copy of the WOF in the building.

The owner must ask an independently qualified person to inspect, maintain and report upon the building. There may be separate IQPs inspecting each system within the building.

The owner must obtain written reports from the IQP relating to the requirements of the compliance schedule. They must be kept, together with the compliance schedule, for two years and be available for anyone authorised to inspect. The location of these records must be stated on the WOF.

The building owner is responsible rather than building occupiers. Therefore the landlord is responsible for making sure inspection and maintenance are carried out.

So long as the local authority acts in good faith, it may accept the WOF without carrying out its own inspections. It has the power to inspect and enforce compliance but it is not obliged to do so.

Tenants, buyers, mortgagees and insurance companies should take a keen interest in compliance. This creates an additional level of enforcement.

Independently Qualified Persons ("IQPs")

An independently qualified person is a person or organisation entitled to carry out inspection and maintenance procedures on behalf of the building owner. The IQP undertakes the inspection procedures detailed in the "compliance schedule" issued by the local authority after the building owner has given it specific information.

The IQP then certifies that it has done the necessary inspection and maintenance. As such, it is making a representation to the local authority that these have been done. It is not necessary for an IQP to undertake all procedures for any system. Others may do the work on the IQP's behalf, provided the IQP assumes overall responsibility.

The IQP's representation is relied upon by the owner and all other people who use the building, including any purchasers.

An IQP:
-may not have a financial interest in the building other than as a qualified person; and
-must be accepted by the local authority as being appropriately qualified for the task concerned.

It is not unusual for even the most expert IQP to have no paper qualifications, such as trade certificates. This may lead to problems, for instance, inadequately qualified IQPs.

Employees and officers of the building's owner will be deemed to have a financial interest in the building. However in some cases an IQP consultant oversees the employees of the owner and is ultimately responsible.

A financial interest also does not include being the fully paid designer, builder, manufacturer or supplier of the feature or system concerned, or entitlement to fees for acting as an IQP. For example, a company that manufactures and installs lifts would not be precluded from being an IQP.

Whether an employee of the building owner could be an IQP would have to be determined by the local authority in each case. It would have to take into account the nature of the management systems and the employment contract. In many cases, trade experience is the determining factor, because in many areas there is no formally recognised technical qualification. Local authorities often seek guidance from recognised industry groups, such as the Insurance Council and the Ministry of Transport.

Responsibilities Of Building Owners

A building owner must:
-obtain a building consent and Project Information Memorandum (PIM) containing relevant site information from the local authority for any work that is to be carried out;
-notify the local authority when the work is completed and, if a private certifier has been employed, give the local authority a building certificate and a code compliance certificate;
-keep the compliance schedule in the building;
-ensure that the compliance schedule is followed
-give the WOF to the local authority every year and display a copy in the building
-tell the local authority if the use of the building changes
-not allow anyone to use a building that is unsafe, insanitary or has inadequate means of escape from fire

The owner may be able to pass the cost of compliance on to a tenant, but it is the owner who is primarily responsible. Owners and managers need to be aware of what happens in their buildings. The system also requires co-operation between landlord and tenant to ensure that obligations are met.

Copyright The Lawlink Group Ltd 1999

Every effort has been made to ensure that this information is accurate. However, it is general introductory information only. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied on as such. Specialist legal advice should be sought in particular matters.


Christine Grice is a senior partner in the Hamilton Lawlink firm of Harkness Henry & Co. Christine has extensive experience in commercial law and litigation work.

Web site: Harkness Henry & Co
Email: christine.grice@harkness.co.nz

July 1999