Is a Tiny House on Wheels a Vehicle or a structure?
Unfortunately legislation around Tiny Homes in New Zealand is a grey area. Councils are required to interpret the building code for something that does not fit. Across NZ and even depending on who you talk to in the councils can yield different interpretations. We can offer some advise.
Remain Temporary
Ensure a plumber or electrician is not needed to disconnect services eg push fit plumbing connection and caravan plug.
Keep decks disconnected from the house.
In our opinion the house is best to be ready to move in a couple of hours from its normal setup.
Talk with neighbours
Talk with all your neighbours and anyone that has anything to do with your property e.g. shared driveway and ensure they are on board with what you are doing. The council has to engage with any complaints.
Documentation
Get plans drawn up professionally and document the process. If you do get asked questions in the future and set of well organised and through documents will usually help.
Get plumbing and electrical certificates.
How risk adverse are you?
Lets talk grey areas or the sliding grey scale. Light grey safer and darker grey more risk.
Tiny by Taylor caravan / THOW
Lighter Grey
Under 3.5T
Under 2.55m
WOF & Rego
Sitting on wheels with corner steadies
Grey and black water containment
Get building code compliance
Fully road legal eg brakes, lights, suspension etc
Similar to caravan or tiny house
Darker Grey
Over 3.5T
2.55m - 3.1m
No WOF & Rego
House sitting on blocks
Users local approved septic
DIY
Site trailer with fixed axles and coupling only for site use
Similar to tiny house
Grey
Over 3.1m
House on screw piles
DIY system
Similar to relocatable building
Remarks
Over 3.5T in NZ legally needs to be moved on truck or similar
WOF and Rego sometimes helps but not commonly, safe bet to have at minimal expense.
We see screw piles as semi permanent
Questionable to where this stands currently
This table may not always reflects everyone’s situations and is more laid out as a guide.
THOW Court Case
Alan Dall’s count case was a small game changer for tiny houses on wheels in New Zealand. See other cases here.
Alan Dall vs MBIE
This court case has paved the way for 2.55 to 3.1m wide tiny houses on wheels in NZ. This from Lane Neave Lawyers. Link to Building Performance case.
In 2018, Hurunui District Council (Council) issued Alan Dall an “order to fix” under the Building Act in relation to his tiny home. Mr Dall’s tiny home consisted of a trailer and a dwelling constructed on top of the trailer. Both the Council and MBIE determined that the Building Act applied to his tiny home. Mr Dall disagreed and appealed to the District Court.
Was the structure a vehicle or a building? The Court found that the structure was a vehicle because it was equipped with wheels, axles, brakes, a drawbar and a trailer hitch enabling it to be used on the road. This differed from other cases where structures had axles, wheels and tow-bars that were moveable around a property but not designed for road use. These structures were found to be relocatable buildings.
Was it immovable? The Court found that the structure was not immovable because its design and components enabled it to be attached to a vehicle and relocated with relative ease, it had a valid registration and WOF, it was self-contained and incapable of being fixed to the ground, there was evidence it had previously been relocated, and it was indistinguishable in any material way from a caravan.
On this basis, the Court found that the structure did not come within the Building Act definition of “building”, therefore the Act’s requirements did not apply.
Alan Dall tiny house on wheels
