Figure 5: Summary of the various controlling legislation for on-site wastewater management
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Text description of figure
This diagram overlays the boundaries of the principal acts over the top of an illustration of the physical passage of wastewater from a house with an on-site wastewater system through treatment of the wastewater and its discharge to the environment.
The Building Act covers the design and installation of on-site systems and is administered by territorial authorities through building inspectors.
The Health Act comes into play if a failing system creates a public health nuisance. This is administered by territorial authorities through environmental health officers and by district health boards through their public health units.
The Local Government Act provides territorial authorities with the ability to make by-laws to control the design, installation and operation of on-site systems. Territorial authorities are also required by the Local Government Act to undertake sanitary surveys.
The Resource Management Act controls discharges to the environment and provides regional councils with powers to regulate discharges to the environment. The Resource Management Act also gives the Minister for the Environment powers to make regulations to address any matters controlled by the Resource Management Act.
