Building Amendment Act 2012

29  New subpart 4A of Part 2 inserted

• The following subpart is inserted after section 90:

  “Subpart 4A—Restricted building work carried out by owner-builders

  “90A Purpose of this subpart

  • The purpose of this subpart is to enable homeowners to build and alter their own homes.

  “90B Meaning of owner-builder

  • “(1) An owner-builder, in relation to restricted building work, means a natural person who—

    • “(a) has a relevant interest in the land or the building on which the restricted building work is carried out; and

    • “(b) resides, or intends to reside, in the household unit in relation to which the restricted building work is carried out; and

    • “(c) carries out the restricted building work himself or herself or with the assistance of his or her unpaid friends and family members; and

    • “(d) has not, under the owner-builder exemption, carried out restricted building work in relation to a different household unit within the previous 3 years.

    “(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b), reside includes temporarily reside.

  “90C Meaning of relevant interest

  • For the purposes of section 90B(1)(a), relevant interest, in relation to the land or the building on which restricted building work is carried out, means a legal or equitable interest in the land or building; and includes—

    • “(a) a right of occupancy of the land or building or part of the building; or

    • “(b) a right, power, or privilege over, or in connection with, the land or building.

  “90D Owner-builder exemption

  • “(1) A person who is an owner-builder in relation to restricted building work may carry out that restricted building work without being supervised by a licensed building practitioner.

    “(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if the restricted building work in question is low-risk building work under a low-risk building consent, simple residential building work under a simple residential building consent, or commercial building work under a commercial building consent.”