Triggers from our ancestors to start the formation of what today is now the Building Act 2004 goes back to the late 1800’s. Here’s an extract from “Introduction to the Building Act 2004”:
BLIntro.13 (3)(d)
“In 1867, the prime thrust of building control remained directed against the dangers of conflagration [extensive fire]. This was not without reason: Government House was destroyed by fire in 1848; a group of 50 Houses in Auckland were destroyed by fire in 1858; entire blocks of Queen Street in Auckland were razed by fire in 1863 and 1866; also major blazes destroyed nearly 100 buildings between 1872 and 1873; and finally in 1876, the few remaining wooden structures in Queen Street were burned down. The pattern was repeated in almost every other settlement around New Zealand (e.g. Masterton, was almost eliminated by fire in 1872; and Dunedin lost £10,000 worth of property (a record for the time) in the Cumberland Street fire of 1873).”
This triggered the Municipal Corporations Act 1886 and after a few updates and years have passed by we arrive at the first Model Building Bylaw in 1935 which eventually turning into the Building Code and supplemented what we know now as the Building Act 2004.
As with anything else in today’s society, rapid change takes place faster than it did before and the Act and the Building Code is not immune to this as well. It’s important that you therefore choose a BWoF provider that is current with the changes and has a good rapport with council who are charged with upholding the Act and Code. Twelvea makes it a priority to do this for its clients so you get the best service from us.
Links:
1848 Government House fire: https://natlib.govt.nz/records/23035127
1858 Auckland fire: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TH18580724.2.18
1863 Auckland fire: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TH18630207.2.21
1866 Auckland fire: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18660830.2.15