"Freedom camping" and caravan self-containment

“Freedom camping” – approved campgrounds and disposal facilities

New Zealand warmly welcomes tourists from around the word, and offers a wide range of accommodation options. “Freedom camping”, or finding accommodation along the road, is a popular option among younger and lower-budget tourists. Generally this poses no problems, but some instances of inappropriate human waste disposal have caused concern in host communities. In response, the New Zealand Freedom Camping Forum have brought together key stakeholders on the tourism industry, local and central government to improve resources and information in this area, Parliament has improved framework legislation, and labelling requirements for self-contained caravans have been updated.

Please see the following links for more information.

  • Camping Our Way – links to approved campsites, holidays parks, and good practise principles.
  • Campground locations and details – interactive Rankers map
  • Campermate – smartphone application for campers with locations of dump stations, campsites, rubbish bins and more.
  • Public toilet maps
  • Freedom Camping Act – new legislation to help enforcement of local rules for approved campgrounds
  • Other links - Sustainable tourism - promoting sustainable tourism enterprises and communities in New Zealand

Caravan Self Containment Certification: NZS 5465

New Zealand Standard 5465:2001 Self Containment of Motor Caravans and Caravans sets out a detailed standard for a minimum of three days of self containment for water supply, greywater and septic waste. NZS 5465 as amended March 2012 requires:

  • a detailed “self containment certificate” be issued to the owner of a compliant vehicle, which must be kept in the vehicle;
  • a “self containment warrant” sticker to be placed on the inside left front window; and,
  • a “self containment sticker” to be placed on the back of the vehicle on the bottom right-hand corner of the rear window or the right-hand side of rear bumper .

Under transitional arrangements for implementation of the March 2012 amendment to this standard, there are three common forms of warrant sticker that parking and other enforcement officers may find on the left front windscreen of vehicles. These are the stickers previously made available to issuing authorities by the Ministry for the Environment  (Figure 1), a yellow sticker designed by the New Zealand Motor Caravan Association Inc (NZMCA) (Figure 2), and the new white print on blue sticker now required under the standard (Figure 3). The warrant stickers of earlier designs already in place on vehicles remain valid until the expiry date on the sticker.



Self-containment warrant for Motor caravans and caravans

Figure 1: Old style: valid only until warrant expiry date.



certified seld containment warrant

Figure 2: Old style: valid only until warrant expiry date



New warrant design required under NZS 5465

Figure 3: New warrant design required under NZS 5465 (filled-in details for illustration only)


New rear of vehicle sticker required under NZS 5465

Figure 4: New rear of vehicle
sticker required under NZS 5465

The sticker now specified for the back of the vehicle under NZS 5465 is shown in Figure 4.


There is also a green diamond “responsible camper” sticker currently displayed on the back of compliant vehicles tested by the NZMCA before the upgrade to the standard. This sticker, which will remain current under the standard until the vehicle’s warrant sticker has expired, is shown in Figure 5.  

responsible camper

Figure 5: Old "responsible camper"
voluntary sticker

The rear of vehicle sticker is not a mandatory requirement of NZS 5465, since an external sticker may be subject to weathering or defacement. Caravans without these  stickers might still be self-contained, enforcement officers should also check the front left window for a warrant sticker before concluding that the vehicle does not meet the containment standard.


The new self-contained vehicle stickers are designed to match new signage specified by NZS 8603 Design and application of outdoor recreation symbols for use in campgrounds designated by local authorities and the Department of Conservation under the Freedom Camping Act 2011.


Any plumber or other suitably qualified person registered under the Plumber, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Act 1976 is eligible to certify compliance with NZS 5465. The standard also provides for other entities to be “issuing authorities” if they have a suitable scheme of qualification for testing officers. With the March 2012 amendment to the standard the Ministry for the Environment no longer approves these bodies. Issuing authorities will now need to document their training scheme on a public website and provide documentation for inspectors to show to clients on request.

Issuing authorities (in addition to registered plumbers) as of March 2012 were:

NZS 5465 may be purchased from Standards New Zealand. The March 2012 update in electronic format (updated portions only) is available for download free of charge.

 

Last updated: 11 April 2012