Dangerous and insanitary buildings policies

Section 131 of the Building Act 2004 requires territorial authorities to develop policies on dangerous and insanitary buildings within their districts.

The Department of Building and Housing (now part of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) has prepared guidance information to assist territorial authorities in the development of these policies. See Dangerous and insanitary buildings: Policy guidance for territorial authorities. Hard copies are also available.

The main topics it covers are:

• a policy approach (eg, principles, identifying dangerous and insanitary buildings, dealing with building owners, economic impact)
• priorities for action
• dealing with heritage buildings
• a template check sheet for inspections.

The document does not set any mandatory requirements, but indicates the issues that territorial authorities may wish to consider during the preparation of their policies.