Natural Hazard Notations (Sections 71 to 74 of the Building Act)
Natural hazards are naturally occurring events that have the potential to cause damage to land or buildings. A natural hazard is defined as any of the following events: erosion, falling debris, subsidence, inundation/flooding or slippage.
One way that the regional councils have determined whether a site is subject to a natural hazard is based off of historical events but to further safeguard properties, they are also using projection modelling to determine the likelihood a property will be subject to a natural hazard in the future. While this can be helpful, councils are using a ‘broad-brush’ approach and casting generalisations over swathes of properties based on general predications for certain sites rather than implementing a case-by-case assessment using a combination of site specificities, historical information and projection calculations.
This is dangerous territory for councils as subjecting a property to a natural hazard notation can affect property owners’ insurance, land value and property rights. If regional or district councils do not have the evidence to support their determination of the hazard or application of the hazard to a property they could be in for a legal battle. It is early days but, Determinations with the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment are already starting to roll in.
It is becoming increasingly common that building consents are being issued subject to natural hazard notations because of these broadly assigned hazard overlays councils have adopted. When it comes to building on land with a hazard notation, a Section 72 is issued which requires registration of the hazard against a property title. While some sites are genuinely affected by a hazard based on a culmination of evidence, not all properties are. Many councils are pushing the onus of establishing that a property isn’t subject to a hazard back onto property owners which usually means the engagement of a geotechnical engineer and all associated costs. Even if council has incorrectly applied a hazard to a property, they still want property owners to be responsible for correcting the error. Again, a very thin legal line for council to teeter on.
As this issue is becoming more and more frequent, we want to bring awareness to the issue and make sure our customers and property owners out there aren’t being unfairly subjected to something that they shouldn’t be.
Do you know if your property is subject to a natural hazard notation? Before lodging a building consent or signing a Section 72 application get in touch with an expert like EzyConsents to make sure you aren’t being wrongly subjected to a notation that can have serious long-terms implications for your property and buildings.
