Determinations issued
Determination 2006/72
Notice to fix for certain units at Oakura Beach Camp, New Plymouth
The units
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| Figure 1: A unit being manoeuvred |
Figure 2: A unit in its final position into position |
As shown in the photographs, the units concerned are simple structures with a single-ridge, gable-end roof with no eaves and having the appearance of a small house or bach. Deck framing is hinged and connected to the floor framing to allow the deck structure to be folded up against the unit wall for transportation. All decks are fitted with adjustable legs of a type typically seen on caravans. Each unit is equipped with wheels and an extending towbar. Three units had been transported to the camp on trucks then manoeuvred into location on their own wheels and installed. As installed, the units are supported on concrete blocks and timber packers. Not all wheels remain in contact with the ground. The units were connected to the camping ground’s electrical, water and sewerage systems.
The notice to fix
The territorial authority had issued a notice to fix on the basis that the installation of the units was building work for which no building consent had been obtained. The owner disputed that notice on the grounds that each unit was a ‘vehicle’ as defined in section 2 of the Land Transport Act 1998, being ‘a contrivance equipped with wheels …on which it moves or is moved’. Under section 8(1)(b)(iii) of the Building Act, a vehicle is not a building unless it is ‘immovable and occupied by people on a permanent or long-term basis’.
Vehicle or building?
The Chief Executive took the view that the words ‘moves or is moved’ in the Land Transport Act were not to be read as meaning ‘is capable of moving or being moved’. The phrase was to be read literally as applying to a particular time and not as applying at all times while the units were equipped with wheels.
It followed that while a building equipped with wheels was being put to a use in which it moves or is moved, it was a vehicle and came under the Land Transport Act.
However, while it was being put to a use in which it does not move, it was a building and came under the Building Act. In other words, a structure with wheels was a vehicle while it was being used as a vehicle, and a building while it was being used as a building.
The units ceased to be vehicles when they had been manoeuvred into the positions in which they were to be used as buildings. As they were not vehicles, it therefore made no difference whether or not they were ‘immovable’ or ‘occupied by people on a permanent or long-term basis’.
The placement of a unit could not properly be called the construction of a building for which a building consent was required. However, once the unit became a building, any alteration to it would require a building consent (unless specifically exempted). Attaching the building to foundations and utilities amounted to alterations for which building consents were required.
The Chief Executive of the Department of Building and Housing determined that the notice to fix was to be modified to the effect that the owner was to apply to the territorial authority for a certificate of acceptance for each unit.
Guidance information on structures that are both vehicles and buildings
Although the decision turned on the finding that the units were not ‘vehicles’ at the relevant times, the determination also discussed structures used both as vehicles and as buildings, such as caravans, house-buses, and the like.
As mentioned above, under the Building Act such a vehicle is a building if it is ‘immovable and occupied by people on a permanent or long-term basis’. To help readers of the Determination to use the Determination in similar contexts, the Chief Executive took the view that:
- a vehicle such as a caravan can properly be described as ‘immovable’ if it is either:
– no longer supported solely by its wheels, or
– attached to the ground or to utility services and the like
- permanent occupancy is when there is an intention that the occupancy will be for an indefinite period, which could in the event be comparatively short
- long-term occupancy is when the occupancy will be for a definite period that can properly be described as ‘long’ in the particular circumstances.
To read all the Determinations in summary or in full, go to: www.dbh.govt.nz