ABSTRACT. New Zealand is vulnerable to natural disasters. When disasters occur, the effects can be devastating on the built environment. As one aspect of a major programme of research in New Zealand, the authors address the recovery issue in terms of how legislation either facilitates or hinders reconstruction. The results of a survey to building control offi cers and other disaster practitioners in New Zealand on the application of the Building Act 2004 post-disaster are presented in this paper. There are indications that the New Zealand Building Act 2004 will not be supportive or enabling in post-disaster reconstruction environments, particularly in large-scale disaster events. Key problems found were procedural constraints as a result of high consenting standards and logistic considerations. The desire is to create the best possible conditions that will encourage rapid rebuilding of lives and communities after large-scale disasters in New Zealand and that can only be done within a supportive legislative environment.

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New Zealand has extensive infrastructure networks and localised, dense urban populations that make it vulnerable to natural disasters. When they occur, the effects can be devastating on the natural and built environment. Organisations therefore need to be well prepared, rather than rely on a reactive recovery process after an event.As one aspect of a major programme of research in New Zealand, the authors address the recovery issue in terms of how the local legislative and regulatory frameworks either facilitate or hinder reconstruction projects and programmes. If well articulated and implemented, the regulations should not only provide an effective means of reducing and containing vulnerabilities (disaster mitigation), but also a means of facilitating reconstruction projects. This paper highlights the interrelated reconstruction challenges of allocation of responsibility for coordination, scarcity of resources and the application of legislation and regulations that were written for routine construction rather than post-disaster reconstruction. Examples of reconstruction following recent small scale disasters in New Zealand are presented to support the points raised. The paper concludes that whilst routine construction processes have proved adequate for small-scale disasters, the greater degree of coordination required for programmes of reconstruction following a larger disaster has not been adequately addressed in policy and legislation.