Building A-Z

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Q

Quantity surveyor 

A person trained in construction measurement and costs. They usually work closely with the architect/designer, engineer and builder to itemise the quantities of materials and labour needed to build a house or other building, using the design drawings, and to give an estimate of how much the project should cost. For further information, visit and the New Zealand Institute of Quantity Surveyors .

R

Regulations 

See Building Regulations.

Renovation 

To restore to a previous or better condition. For information and advice about renovations see our information for homeowners and consumers, and ConsumerBuild . See also alterations.

Repairs 

Work to mend or replace components of an existing building, for the purpose of its maintenance. For advice on good maintenance practices visit ConsumerBuild .  BRANZ Ltd produces a book, Maintaining Your Home that contains a range of useful maintenance which you can purchase by contacting BRANZ direct.

Residential premises 

Buildings that are used as dwellings by people. There are provisions in the Building Act relating to warranties for residential properties. There are also provisions relating to sales by residential property developers.

Residential property developer

Any person who, in trade, builds or arranges to build a household unit for the purpose of selling it. This could include large developers, or builders or individuals building homes on ‘spec’. It also includes a person who, in trade, buys a household unit from a builder or developer with the intention of selling it on. Section 364 of the Building Act 2004 provides consumer protection measures covering the sale of household units by residential property developers. For further information see our information for building owners, developers and managers.

Resource consent 

A consent issued by a territorial authority to use the land in a way that is not a permitted activity under a council or district plan. Under the Resource Management Act 1991, territorial authorities are required to prepare plans detailing how they will manage the environment in their area. Resource consent will be needed when a building project will contravene a permitted activity, for example, wishing to locate a building closer to the boundary than permitted on the District Plan. For more information about resource consent and how to apply for one, see ConsumerBuild .

Resource Management Act 1991

The Resource Management Act, often called the RMA, is the main piece of legislation that sets out how New Zealand’s environment should be managed. The Act’s purpose is to promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources. The Act is based on the idea of the sustainable management of resources, which is mainly achieved by the requirement for territorial authorities to prepare plans to help them manage the environment in their area. It is these plans that tell people what they can or cannot do with land on which they are building. For more information about the RMA, see ConsumerBuild . You can read the RMA at www.legislation.govt.nz. See also resource consent.

Restricted building work 

Building work that requires a building consent and relates to an element of a building that is critical to the integrity of the building and the health and safety of its occupants and includes, without limitation, work on the building envelope and the structural support of a building (section 7 of the Building Act 2004). Restricted building work must be carried out, or supervised by, a licensed building practitioner. The types of building work that comes under the category of ‘restricted’ must be declared by the Governor-General, by Order in Council. For more information, see licensing.

Retaining wall 

A wall that is constructed to hold earth in place. It is usually used to prevent ground loss or slumping, or to support an earth embankment. It usually requires substantial footing to redistribute pressure to ground and weep holes to relieve build-up of ground water pressure. Retaining walls are generally made of concrete, steel sheet piles, or timber.

Risk matrix

A table in the Clause E2 Compliance Document (Acceptable Solution E2/AS1) that enables the calculation of a ‘risk score’ by the allocation and summing of scores for a range of design and location factors applying to a specific building design. Once this score is known, the range of allowable claddings can then be determined (the list of claddings is contained in Table 3, which is separate from the risk matrix). A guidance document on the use of the risk matrix can be found in the Weathertightness section. There have been a number of determinations concerning claddings in relation to weathertightness, which can be viewed using the determinations search feature.

RMA 

See Resource Management Act 1991.

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