Compliance schedules and BWoFs
The Department receives various questions about compliance schedules and building warrants of fitness (BWoFs), particularly the new Form 12A.
Common questions relate to what happens when a building owner cannot lawfully issue a BWoF because compliance schedule obligations have not been met, and whether the Department has any plans to amend the Form 12A to accommodate non-compliance.
The need for safety underpins the requirements that specified systems in buildings must be maintained appropriately and that the building is safe. These requirements were strengthened as part of the Building Act 2004, with the Building (Forms) Regulations 2004 introducing Form 12A (Certificate of compliance with inspection, maintenance and reporting procedures).
This Form, which provides a link between the independently qualified person (IQP), the building owner and the territorial authority, has had a significant effect on the way BWoFs are issued by building owners. Many building owners are now unable to issue the BWoF because they have not met compliance schedule obligations.
The purpose of BWoFs - public safety - must be considered when looking at the consequences of owners not being able to issue them: a specified system that has not been properly maintained may fail. On that basis, the owners of buildings unable to issue a BWoF should discuss with their territorial authority how they might remedy the situation.
The Department has no plans to amend Form 12A, which is an important part of ensuring that specified systems are properly maintained and can be relied on when they are required - ie, in an emergency.
People involved in the BWoF process should:
- ensure the building's compliance schedule accurately reflects the specified systems within the building
- ensure the compliance schedule is specific to the building and the system
- know their BWoF obligations
- know that BWoFs and Form 12A are not a trigger for upgrading a specified system (any upgrade of a specified system requires a building consent).
The Department has also been asked if it will prescribe a compliance schedule form. The Department does not plan to do this because, as noted above, a compliance schedule needs to be specific to the building and system. Not all buildings have the same specified systems and specified systems are not all maintained in the same way, so the compliance schedule needs to be flexible to reflect this.
More information on specified systems and owners' obligations is available at:
http://www.dbh.govt.nz/bomd-buildings-with-compliance-schedules