STANDARD CODE OF BY-LAWS

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26078, 3 April 1950, Page 8

STANDARD CODE OF BY-LAWS

REFERENCE TO COURT FINDING DEFINITION OF BUILDING TO BE REVISED (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, April 1. Reference to the by-laws governing the erection of sheds and other small buildings, in the light of a recent finding in the Wellington Magistrate’s Court, was made yesterday by the Director of the Standards and Technical Division of the Department of Industries and Commerce (Mr R. T. Wright). The Wellington City Council bylaws under which the prosecution had been taken, said Mr Wright, was part of the Standard Code of Building Bylaws which had been widely adopted by local bodies throughout the country. The standard code required a permit to be obtained from the local authority for the erection of “any structure the safety and security of which is important to the community.” The Magistrate held that a shed did not come within this definition, and a prosecution for erecting a building without a permit was accordingly dismissed. •

The Standard Code of By-laws, which took into account all factors concerning security, health an.d safety, had been formulated after the Napier earthquake, Mr Wright said. It was intended to ensure that all structures provided the fullest possible resistance to shocks of a severity equal to that at Napier. It had been considered that the safety and security of all structures, including small sheds, would be important to the community in the event of such an earthquake.

Before the Wellington prosecution some doubt had been expressed whether the definition of “building” had the meaning intended, and after taking legal advice, the committee of the Standards Institute had started to revise the definition, said Mr Wright. In the course of this work it was found desirable to reconsider the definition from other points of view to ensure that it left no possible doubt concerning the structures to which the code applied. ' A general revision of the definition was well advanced, said Mr Wright, and it was honed to make the amended wording available to local bodies soon.