Frank Newman: Exempt building projects

It became national news when the Dunedin City Council required a tree house to be removed because it did not meet the Building Code.  

Essentially the problem was that council staff were covering their own butts by applying their regulatory powers rather than going out on a limb and making a common sense decision to apply the exemptions available in Schedule 1 of the Building Code.

Part 1 of Schedule 1 of the Building Act list those items that can be done without a building consent.  It's a long list with lots of ifs, buts, and maybes, but here's a rough summary.

Frank Newman: Tree house troubles

Oh dear. What has the world come to? A to-do has erupted in Dunedin about the tree house grandad Trevor built. It became national news when the Dunedin City Council required the tree house to be removed because it did not meet the Building Code.

The "But it's a bloody tree house!" response did not dissuade Council Officers from exercising their serious responsibilities as an "independently accredited building control authority".

NZCPR Weekly: Government Conceit

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we investigate the cause of the fall in business confidence and the implications for the future, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Anthony Willy shares his concerns over the threat that socialism – and all the other ‘isms’ – pose to individual freedom and our free market economy, and our poll asks whether a council’s decision to remove a tree house was over-regulation and PC gone mad, or a council doing its job and upholding the law.

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