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Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Bill

This bill is to establish a more proportionate and risk-based regulatory system for managing earthquake-prone buildings that will regulate only high-risk building types in medium and high seismic zones.

This bill has been accorded urgency in the House, with referral to a select committee. First detected 11 July 2026, 9:19am UTC.

Member in charge: Hon Chris Penk · Government bill · No. 238-2 · urgency accorded 30 Jun 2026 (the second reading of)
Bill on parliament.nz → RSS

Want a say? This bill is still moving

Urgency compresses the timetable, not the politics. Until the third reading, the committee of the whole House can still amend the bill — changes are moved right up to the final vote. The channels that operate at this speed:

  • Contact the member in charge — Hon Chris Penk — whose office decides what amendments are put, and your electorate MP. Members’ offices monitor correspondence while the House sits; a specific, clause-level point travels furthest.
  • Contact the opposition spokesperson for this portfolio — they speak and move amendments in the committee stage, and concrete problems raised by affected people are exactly what they put on the record.
  • Prepare a submission — this bill was referred to a select committee, so a public submission window is likely to open. Use the bill’s parliament.nz page (“Get notifications”) to catch it the moment it opens.
  • Start or sign a petition at petitions.parliament.nz — the formal channel that stays open regardless of the House’s timetable.

Stages observed

StageSitting dayRecord
First reading 30 Jun 2026 The Building Amendment Bill was read a first time and referred to the Transport and Infrastructure Committee. source · debate & vote (Hansard)
Second reading 30 Jun 2026 The Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Bill was read a second time. source · debate & vote (Hansard)

Dates are sitting days as recorded by the Office of the Clerk; a sitting extended under urgency continues under its original day. Readings are decided by party vote: each party casts its members’ votes en bloc (proxies included), so the whole House needn’t be present and individual attendance isn’t recorded — the party-by-party tally for each reading is in that day’s Hansard, linked per stage above.

What this touches

Topics in the OpenBrief corpus matched to this bill’s title, with their volume over the last six weeks — how loud the subject already was when urgency was moved. This is retrieval against our existing corpus, not model judgement.

TopicPress items · 6wkSocial posts · 6wk
building act reforms 0 3

What this bill changes

AI-assisted analysis · every claim links to primary source · corrections
Published 14 Jul 2026, 7:20pm UTC (separate from, and later than, the alert timestamp above) · model: claude-opus-4-8

In short: A building in a low seismic zone that was earthquake-prone ceases to be an earthquake-prone building.

What changes
Removes an obligation A building in a low seismic zone that was earthquake-prone ceases to be an earthquake-prone building.
cl 7 → Building Act 2004, s 133AP · affects: owners of buildings in low seismic zones, territorial authorities · confidence: high
The bill text this is based on
“the building or part of the building ceases to be an earthquake-prone building; and (b) the relevant territorial authority must— (i) notify the owner of the building or part of the building that it has ceased to be an earthquake-prone building”
Creates an obligation The owner of an earthquake-prone building with a required remediation measure must not change the building's use until its seismic work is complete.
cl 5B → Building Act 2004, s 114A · affects: owners of earthquake-prone buildings · confidence: high
The bill text this is based on
“The owner of the building must not change the use of the building until the building’s seismic work is complete.”
Removes an obligation For a change of use, structural performance excludes seismic work more onerous than the required remediation measure, so owners need only meet that measure.
cl 6 → Building Act 2004, s 115 · affects: owners of earthquake-prone buildings changing use · confidence: high
The bill text this is based on
“structural performance— (a) includes the seismic work that is a required remediation measure; but (b) does not include seismic work that would be in addition to, or more onerous than, the required remediation measure”
Expands a power A territorial authority may extend the deadline for completing seismic work by up to 15 years, with no more than 15 years total per building.
cl 7 → Building Act 2004, s 133AX · affects: owners of earthquake-prone buildings, territorial authorities · confidence: high
The bill text this is based on
“The territorial authority may, by notice in writing to the owner, extend by up to 15 years the deadline for completing seismic work that applies under section 133AV.”
Changes a threshold The seismic work deadline is set at 25 years for other buildings and 12 years 6 months for priority buildings in medium zones, and 15 years / 7 years 6 months in high zones.
cl 7 → Building Act 2004, s 133AV · affects: owners of earthquake-prone buildings · confidence: high
The bill text this is based on
“(a) in a medium seismic zone, 12 years and 6 months for a priority building and 25 years for any other earthquake-prone building; and (b) in a high seismic zone, 7 years and 6 months for a priority building and 15 years for any other earthquake-prone building.”
Creates an obligation Territorial authorities must display an EPB warning sign, in the form and content specified by the MBIE chief executive, instead of the previously prescribed EPB notice.
cl 7 → Building Act 2004, s 133AZA · affects: owners of earthquake-prone buildings, territorial authorities, MBIE chief executive, the public · confidence: high
The bill text this is based on
“An EPB warning sign issued under this section must— (a) be in the form specified by the chief executive; and (b) contain the information specified by the chief executive.”
Changes a penalty An owner who fails to complete seismic work by the deadline commits an offence liable to a fine up to $300,000 (individual) or $1,500,000 (body corporate).
cl 7 → Building Act 2004, s 133AZH · affects: owners of earthquake-prone buildings · confidence: high
The bill text this is based on
“is liable on conviction,— (i) in the case of an individual, to a fine not exceeding $300,000: (ii) in the case of a body corporate, to a fine not exceeding $1,500,000.”
Who this affects
owners of buildings in low seismic zonesterritorial authoritiesowners of earthquake-prone buildingsowners of earthquake-prone buildings changing useMBIE chief executivethe public
Scrutiny

Taken under urgency; the compressed timetable limited scrutiny even where a committee stage existed.

Retrospective: no provision identified
Gaps we can see. Clauses whose effect could not be established from the bill text alone: cl 4 (repeal of definitions earthquake rating, high/low/medium seismic risk — effect depends on Act text not shown), cl 7 s 133AB(6) (building types defined by reference to EPB methodology, which is not in the bill), cl 7 s 133AD (remediation measures depend on EPB methodology), Schedule 2A (seismic zone map not reproduced in text), cl 8/9 (dam section renumbering — machinery, target text not shown), cl 10 (EPB register content amendments — depend on s 275A text), cl 11 (regulation-making amendments — depend on s 401C text), cll 15–24 (amendments to regulations — target regulation text not reproduced), cl 7, commencement. 1 extracted claim failed verbatim verification against the bill text and was discarded rather than published.

Method: the model reads the bill as published (claude-opus-4-8); every claim above carries a verbatim span of that text, checked mechanically — claims that fail the check are dropped, not softened. Text analysed from an archived copy of the official text. Full methodology →

Source record — the urgency motion as published
30 June 2026 — scope: the second reading of (Second reading) 
A motion to accord urgency to the following business was agreed to:
- the remaining stages of:
  - the Antisocial Road Use Legislation Amendment Bill;
  - the Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill;
  - the Offshore Renewable Energy Bill;
  - the Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill; and
  - the Regulatory Systems (Primary Industries) Amendment Bill;
- the first reading and referral to a select committee of:
  - the Building Amendment Bill; and
  - the Climate Change Response (Tort Liability) Amendment Bill;
- the second reading of:
  - the Local Government (System Improvements) Amendment Bill;
  - the Crimes Amendment Bill;
  - the Land Transport (Revenue) Amendment Bill;
  - the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Amendment Bill; and
  - the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) (3 Day Postnatal Stay) Amendment Bill;
- the first reading and referral to a select committee of:
  - the Community Magistrates Legislation Amendment Bill; and
  - the Environmental Reporting Amendment Bill;
- the second reading of:
  - the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Bill; and
  - the Emergency Management Bill (No 2);
- the first reading and referral to a select committee of the Regulatory Systems (Social Security) Amendment Bill (No 2);
- the discharge and re-committal to a select committee of the Regulatory Systems (Courts) Amendment Bill; and
- the remaining stages of:
  - the Regulatory Systems (Tribunals) Amendment Bill and the Regulatory Systems (Occupational Regulation) Amendment Bill;
  - the Mental Health Bill;
  - the Plain Language Act Repeal Bill; and
  - the Constitution Amendment Bill.
Source: Daily progress in the House → · Hansard for this sitting day →