Natural hazard risks

Find out how natural hazards may affect your building consent.


Natural Hazards

One of the things we must consider when processing and granting a building consent is whether the land where the building work is taking place is subject to any hazards and also if the building work will be impacted by these hazards.  The hazards that we consider are listed in the Building Act as follows:

  • erosion (including costal erosion, bank erosion, and sheet erosion)
  • falling debris (including soil, rock, snow, and ice)
  • subsidence
  • inundation (including flooding, overflow, storm surge, tidal effects, and ponding)
  • slippage

Take a look at our Natural Hazards and the Building Act 2004 information sheet (529 kb) for more information.

Before starting a project

If you think natural hazards may apply to your project, we recommend:

  • getting professional or legal advice so you can make fully informed decisions.
  • booking a pre-application meeting with us to help you understand the possible hazards on your site.

For more information

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