Building Act 2004

If you need more information about this Act, please contact the administering agency: Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment
133AE Meaning of priority building

(1)

In this subpart, priority building means any of the following that are located in an area of medium or high seismic risk:

(a)

a hospital building that is likely to be needed in an emergency (within the meaning of the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002) to provide—

(i)

emergency medical services; or

(ii)

ancillary services that are essential for the provision of emergency medical services:

(b)

a building that is likely to be needed in an emergency for use as an emergency shelter or emergency centre:

(c)

a building that is used to provide emergency response services (for example, policing, fire, ambulance, or rescue services):

(d)

a building that is regularly occupied by at least 20 people and that is used as any of the following:

(i)

an early childhood education and care centre licensed under Part 2 of the Education and Training Act 2020:

(ii)

a registered school or an integrated school (within the meaning of the Education and Training Act 2020):

(iii)

a private training establishment registered under subpart 5 of Part 4 of the Education and Training Act 2020:

(iv)

an institution established under section 268 of the Education and Training Act 2020:

(e)

any part of an unreinforced masonry building that could—

(i)

fall from the building in an earthquake (for example, a parapet, an external wall, or a veranda); and

(ii)

fall onto any part of a public road, footpath, or other thoroughfare that a territorial authority has identified under section 133AF(2)(a):

(f)

a building that a territorial authority has identified under section 133AF(2)(b) as having the potential to impede a transport route of strategic importance (in terms of an emergency response) if the building were to collapse in an earthquake.

(2)

For the purposes of subsection (1)(a) and (b), the likelihood of a building being needed in an emergency for a particular purpose must be assessed having regard to—

(a)

any national civil defence emergency management plan made under section 39 of the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002; and

(b)

the civil defence emergency management group plan approved under section 48 of the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002 that covers the district in which the building is situated.

(3)

If only part of a building meets the criteria set out in subsection (1), only that part of the building is a priority building.

(4)

Whether a building is a priority building affects—

(a)

the deadline by which a territorial authority must identify whether the building or a part of the building is potentially earthquake prone (see section 133AG); and

(b)

the deadline for completing seismic work on the building or a part of the building, if it is subject to an EPB notice (see section 133AM).

Section 133AE: inserted, on 1 July 2017, by section 24 of the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 22).

Section 133AE(1)(d): replaced, on 1 August 2020, by section 668 of the Education and Training Act 2020 (2020 No 38).