About this portal
What is Building CodeHub
Building CodeHub is an online search tool that helps building practitioners find and access resources that enable them to design and construct buildings that comply with the Building Code.
It holds information about resources, but not copies of the resources themselves. This information might include:
- the type of resource it is, the organisation that provides it, the dates it was published and/or came into force, and which version it is
- information about the resource’s content, including a brief description of the resource, its scope and its table of contents
- a link to the page where the resource lives on the provider’s website and, where available, a link that enables you to open it directly from their website (if the resource is one that needs to be paid for, you’ll be taken to the page where it can be purchased)
- whether the resource is part of a compliance pathway, and cited in an Acceptable Solution or Verification Method
- the resources that it cites and the resources that cite it.
Resources found in Building CodeHub
A number of resource types appear in Building CodeHub due to the status accorded them by the Building Act 2004. These are:
- Building regulations and other legislation issued under the Building Act
- Acceptable Solutions and Verification Methods
- Primary reference documents (documents that are cited in Acceptable Solutions and Verification Methods)
- Secondary reference documents (documents that are cited in primary reference documents)
- Determinations
- Product certificates (CodeMark)
- Multiple Use Approvals (MultiProof)
A wide range of other resources from different organisations that support people to comply with the Building Code can also be found on Building CodeHub.
Building CodeHub only links to resources that are about the design, construction and maintenance of buildings. It does not link to information about building contracts or specific products, aside from product certificates (as mentioned above) and appraisals.
If you can’t find a specific resource, but you think we should have it in Building CodeHub, please let us know by going to our feedback form, and we will review your request.
How the Building CodeHub search works
Building CodeHub is designed to let you search for resources in a number of ways.
Title search
If the word or words you type in the search box appear in the title of a resource or resources in Building CodeHub, you’ll see a short list of these resources. Clicking ‘See all matching resources by title’ will give you a full list of the resource titles that feature that word or those words.
Keyword search
All resources in Building CodeHub are ‘tagged’ with keywords from the Building CodeHub taxonomy (see below) that describe what the resources are about. When you start typing in the search box you’ll see a list of possible keyword matches for what you are typing. If you select one of these keywords, you’ll see all the resources that are tagged with this keyword.
Full search
If you type something in the search box and either select the ‘Search’ button or hit ‘Enter’, your search results will include:
- resources that have the word or words you typed in their title (as above)
- if the word or group of words you have typed is a keyword in the Building CodeHub taxonomy, resources that are tagged with that keyword
- resources that have the word or words you typed in their Building CodeHub Description or Scope statement.
Filters
You can also select filters that narrow down your search. Before you search you can filter by:
- the relevant Building Code Clause,
- the Building Category (based on the Classified Uses in Clause A1 of the Building Code)
- the Information Type (for example, an Acceptable Solution).
Once you have seen your search results you can use the same filters as above, and an additional filter that allows you to filter by the Information Provider (where the resource can be found).
The Building CodeHub taxonomy
The Building CodeHub taxonomy is a collection of building sector words that has been developed specifically for Building CodeHub to support the search for resources.
We recognise that not everyone uses the same word to refer to something, so Building CodeHub is designed to search for alternative words as well – for example, whether you do a keyword search for ‘leaky buildings’ or for ‘weathertightness’, you will find the same list of resources in your search results.
If you don’t find a keyword you are searching for and you think we should have it in our Building Code Hub taxonomy, please let us know by going to our feedback form.
Archived resources
The primary purpose of Building CodeHub is to provide access to current resources. However, we will be providing information about previous versions of a small number of resources.
To access these, you need to go to the current version of the resource. This will show you which previous versions are in Building CodeHub. Note that while we may still have information about an archived resource, this doesn’t necessarily mean the provider is still making that resource available.
You will need to contact the Information Provider to obtain previous versions of any other resources, including resources that are no longer available on Building CodeHub.
Latest updates and subscriptions
The latest updates page provides notifications about general updates of the Building CodeHub resources. You can subscribe to updates, in which case, you will receive emails of all the latest Building CodeHub updates.
If you wish to update your subscription details, please contact us either by emailing buildingcodehub@mbie.govt.nz or by using the feedback form.
If you have any queries or would like to provide us feedback, you can use the feedback form.