Dealing With a Council Notice on Your Property After a Flood or Natural Disaster | NZ Legal

When a major flood, cyclone, or other natural disaster strikes, the damage to homes and properties can be overwhelming — and the process that follows is rarely straightforward. One of the most disorienting experiences for property owners is returning to find a coloured sticker or placard on their building placed there by council officials. These notices have real legal force under the Building Act 2004 and, in some cases, the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002, and they cannot simply be removed without going through a formal process.

This article explains what the different stickers mean, the legal authority behind them, what rights property owners have, and the steps involved in getting a notice lifted.

The Legal Authority Behind Building Notices

As a property owner, you might question the authority that council officials have to conduct a brief inspection of your home and then restrict your access to it. The authority is real and comes from two sources.

The Building Act 2004 grants local authorities the power to place notices on buildings that pose a danger to people, whether or not a state of emergency has been declared. Under the Act, a building official who believes a building is dangerous or insanitary can issue a notice restricting or prohibiting use of the building until the danger is remedied. Removing or interfering with a notice without authorisation is an offence.

The Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002 (CDEM Act) provides broader powers when a national or regional state of emergency is declared. When an emergency is declared — as occurred across multiple New Zealand regions following the Auckland Anniversary Weekend flooding in January 2023 and Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023 — the National Controller has authority to deploy trained building assessors to conduct Rapid Building Assessments across affected areas.

Rapid Building Assessments take up to 20 minutes and are conducted by trained assessors who examine both the interior and exterior of a property, including adjacent areas like rear yards and cliff faces where landslides may have occurred. The assessor places a coloured placard based on their assessment of the structural integrity and safety of the building.

What the Three Colours Mean

Sticker	What it means	What you can do
Red — Entry Prohibited	The building has sustained moderate or heavy damage and poses a significant risk to health or life. Entry is prohibited.	Contact the council's compliance team to arrange supervised access for essential purposes (insurance assessment, retrieving critical personal items). Follow the removal process below.
Yellow — Restricted Access	The building has sustained damage and access is restricted. Either specific areas are off-limits, or the public cannot enter except under supervision for essential business.	Limited access for essential purposes (removing business records, valuables, arranging repairs) may be possible. Contact council. Follow the removal process below.
White — Can Be Used	The building may have little or no visible damage and can be used. However, this does not guarantee the building is structurally sound — there may be unseen damage.	Contact your insurer to arrange an assessment. White stickers expire after 21 days and do not need to be formally removed.

It is important to understand that a Rapid Building Assessment is exactly what it says — rapid. It is a triage process designed to identify obvious safety risks in the immediate aftermath of an event. It is not a comprehensive structural or geotechnical assessment. A white sticker does not mean your property is safe for normal long-term occupation; it means no obvious immediate risk was identified. Subsequent assessments by engineers, geotechnical specialists, or insurers may reveal more serious underlying issues.

“

A Rapid Building Assessment takes twenty minutes and is a triage process. A white sticker means no obvious immediate risk was found — not that the building is fully structurally sound. Commission independent professional assessments regardless of the sticker colour.

What Are Your Rights as a Property Owner?

Property owners with red or yellow stickered properties are in a difficult and stressful position. Here is what you are entitled to, and what you are not:

You can request supervised access. For red stickered properties, you can contact the council to arrange supervised access for limited essential purposes — retrieving medications, critical documents, insurance-related items, or to allow insurance assessors to view the damage. You cannot simply enter of your own accord.

You have the right to engage your own professionals. You are entitled to commission your own structural engineer, geotechnical specialist, or other experts to assess the property, provided this is done in compliance with any access restrictions. The council’s initial assessment does not bind your own technical investigations.

You have the right to challenge a notice. The Building Act 2004 contains provisions allowing property owners to contest the basis for a building notice. If you believe a notice has been placed incorrectly, or that the assessment was based on inaccurate information, legal advice should be sought promptly. The process for challenge varies depending on the type of notice and the circumstances.

You cannot simply remove the sticker. Under the Building Act, it is an offence to remove or deface a notice or sticker without council approval. This may seem unjust if you believe the notice was placed incorrectly, but the correct course is to follow the formal removal process, not to take matters into your own hands.

The Process for Removing a Red or Yellow Sticker

The process for getting a red or yellow notice lifted is not automatic and requires demonstrating to the council that the building no longer poses the risk that triggered the original notice. The general approach is:

1. 1

   Document the damage

   While respecting any access restrictions, photograph and video the damage as thoroughly as possible. If you have been granted supervised access, use that opportunity to document everything in detail. This documentation is important for your insurance claim and for the council report you will need to submit later.

2. 2

   Engage your insurers

   Contact your home and contents insurer and notify them of the damage. If you have suffered a landslide within eight metres of your home or outbuildings, you may also have coverage through the Earthquake Commission (EQC) for the land damage component. Co-ordinate the insurance assessment with any necessary repair work — insurers typically need to assess the damage before repairs begin.

3. 3

   Commission professional assessments

   Engage suitably qualified professionals to assess the structural integrity of the building and any ground or slope stability issues. For flooding damage, this may include a structural engineer and a building inspector. For landslide-affected properties, a geotechnical engineer is essential. These assessments will establish what repairs are needed and provide technical evidence for the council report.

4. 4

   Complete the required repairs

   Arrange for repairs to be completed by licensed or otherwise suitably qualified tradespeople. For building work that triggers the Building Act (structural repairs, alterations to elements covered by a Building Consent), building consent from the council will be required before work begins. Check with your lawyer or the council what consents are needed.

5. 5

   Keep comprehensive records

   Keep records of all work completed — scope of work, who carried it out, dates, invoices, completion certificates, and any engineer sign-offs. These records form the basis of the council submission.

6. 6

   Submit a report to council

   Compile a report summarising the damage, the professional assessments carried out, the repairs completed, and the evidence that the building is now safe for occupation. Submit this to your local council’s building compliance team.

7. 7

   Council reassessment

   The council will review your submission and decide whether a site reassessment is required. If satisfied that the hazard has been remedied and the works are appropriate, the council will issue written approval for removal of the red or yellow notice (for Auckland Council, this takes the form of a letter authorising removal).

Insurance Obligations

The flood and disaster context raises specific insurance issues that property owners need to be aware of:

Notify promptly. Most home insurance policies require prompt notification of damage. Delaying notification can affect your claim. Contact your insurer as soon as it is safe to do so.

Do not commence repairs without insurer approval (other than emergency repairs to prevent further damage). Insurers need to assess damage in its original state. Undertaking significant repairs before the insurer has assessed the property can prejudice your claim.

EQC coverage for land damage. EQCover applies to natural disaster damage to residential land (not just buildings). If your land has been damaged by a landslide, flood erosion, or similar, you may have an EQC claim for the land component separate from your private insurer’s building and contents claim. The landslide-within-eight-metres rule applies to the building damage claim under EQCover.

Insurable event vs. maintenance. Some damage revealed by flooding may pre-date the event — blocked drainage, deferred maintenance, pre-existing weathertightness issues. Insurers may contest coverage for damage they characterise as maintenance rather than event-caused damage. Keep records that distinguish event damage from pre-existing issues.

The Longer-Term Question: Rebuild, Remediate, or Sell?

For some properties — particularly those subject to repeat flood risk or on unstable slopes — the question after an event is not just how to remove the sticker, but whether to rebuild at all. Councils including Auckland Council and Hawke’s Bay District Council have, in the wake of recent events, developed voluntary buyout and managed retreat programmes for properties in high-risk locations. These programmes are separate from the sticker removal process and involve different legal and financial considerations.

If you are facing a decision about whether to rebuild or explore a voluntary buyout, legal advice is important. The terms of any buyout offer, the conditions attached to resource consent for rebuilding, and the insurance position all need careful analysis.

Property owner checklist after a flood or natural disaster

0/0 complete

1. Confirm sticker colour and understand restrictions before attempting to access the property.
2. Contact council compliance team to arrange supervised access if red or yellow stickered.
3. Notify your home insurer promptly — do not delay for insurance claim purposes.
4. Check whether any landslide damage triggers an EQC claim for land damage.
5. Commission independent structural and/or geotechnical assessments — do not rely solely on the Rapid Building Assessment.
6. Obtain building consents for any structural repair work before commencing (check requirements with council).
7. Keep comprehensive records of all damage documentation, professional reports, and completed works.
8. Submit a formal report to council to initiate the sticker removal process.
9. Do not remove the sticker without written council approval — it is an offence.
10. If considering rebuilding in a high-risk location, take legal advice on council buyout schemes and resource consent conditions.

---

This article provides general information only and does not constitute legal advice. The process for dealing with building notices varies between councils and depends heavily on the specific circumstances. Get in touch with NZ Legal if you need advice on navigating the legal and insurance aspects of flood or disaster damage to your property.

Sources

1. Building Act 2004Primary legislation governing building safety notices, including the authority to place and remove stickers following natural disasters.
2. Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002Grants wider powers to civil defence officials during a state of emergency, including the authority to carry out rapid building assessments.
3. Earthquake Commission Act 1993Governs EQCover for natural disaster damage, including landslides within 8 metres of habitable buildings.
4. Insurance Law Reform Act 1985Relevant to insurance obligations and the duty to disclose material facts.