Estate agents await ruling on reports

Rotorua real estate experts are waiting with interest for the result of a meeting where the Rotorua Lakes Council will discuss its plans to do away with Safe and Sanitary Reports for property sales.

According to a report by the council's buildings solutions lead Darryl Holder, presented at a recent council committee meeting, "a decision has been made by officers to no longer accept Safe and Sanitary Reports from 31 July, 2016".

He said the changes would be detailed to industry representatives during a meeting at the council on Monday.

He said the reports were used by prospective property buyers to identify incomplete records relating to historical building work and were, essentially, a supplementary building report.

"A Safe and Sanitary report has no legal status and doesn't relate to a building consent so there is no requirement to accept them.

"Ultimately, the acceptance of Safe and Sanitary Reports is a left over process from the previous legislation and has been successfully phased out across the vast majority of the country where reliance on robust builders' reports is accepted as best practice," he said.

Real Estate Institute Industry of New Zealand spokeswoman for Rotorua and First National principal Ann Crossley said Safe and Sanitary Reports were not a legal requirement but she would wait until after Monday's meetings to make further comment.

"But, almost no one else requires a Safe and Sanitary Report."

Co-director of Property Inspect BOP Sara Kenny said until she knew what was going to officially replace the reports she'd rather not comment.

What is a Safe and Sanitary Report

* An opinion from a suitably qualified person (someone with extensive building experience and report writing skills) as to building works' current performance and status when assessed against the building regulations in existence when the building work was completed.

- Rotorua Lakes Council website