A notice to fix (NTF) is a legal notice requiring a person to fix a violation of the Building Act 2004 or regulations under that Act. You can be issued for any violation of the Act, not just for building work.

Issuing of a notice to fix

A notice to fix is issued by a building consent authority or a territorial authority.

They’re issued to a specified person, the building owner, and where applicable

  • the person carrying out building work
  • any other person supervising that building work.

A notice to fix must be issued where we, as the authority, believe on reasonable grounds that

  • a specified person is working outside of the Building Act 2004 (for example, doing building work without a building consent, or not following the building consent)
  • a specified person is disregarding any of the Building Regulations under the 2004 Act (including the Building Regulations 1992, containing the Building Code)
  • a building warrant of fitness is not correct
  • the inspection, maintenance or reporting procedures stated in the compliance schedule aren’t or haven’t been complied with.

We have some discretion as to what to include in notices to fix, and use this to make sure a notice to fix is appropriate to the circumstances of a particular situation.

What to do if you receive a notice to fix

If you receive a notice to fix

  • read the details of the notice and ensure you understand your options to achieve compliance and the timeframe in which to do this
  • you may need a building consent to complete remedial work
  • keep council informed of how you’ll comply and when any remedial works will be carried out
  • don’t do any other work until you have fixed the non-compliances and the council has lifted the notice
  • if in doubt on any of the details contact us to discuss further.

Once the notice to fix has been complied with we’ll provide written confirmation to you (and the building owner if not you) that the notice to fix has been complied with and lifted.

If you don’t comply with the notice to fix within the stated timeframe this can result in

  • further notices to fix being issued, or
  • the possibility of an infringement notice and associated fee, and
  • ultimately can lead to prosecution under the Building Act 2004.

Fines on conviction can be up to $20,000. Where it is a continuing offence, further fines of up to $20,000 for every day or part of a day during which the office has continued.