Source
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2025/0321/latest/whole.html — original source (opens in a new tab; the file is not redistributed)
Small Stand-alone Dwellings Commencement Order 2025 (SL 2025/321)
Summary
The Order in Council that brings the remaining provisions of the Building and Construction (Small Stand-alone Dwellings) Amendment Act 2025 into force. It is the missing half of REG_007: the Act itself sets no commencement date, so the widely-cited January 2026 start for the granny-flat building-consent exemption rests on this instrument alone.
Key claims
- claim: "Commencement, verbatim: 'the remaining provisions of the Building and Construction (Small Stand-alone Dwellings) Amendment Act 2025 that have not earlier been brought into force come into force on 15 January 2026.'"
source_location: "SL 2025/321, clause 2 (Commencement of remaining provisions)"
- claim: "Making and authority, verbatim: 'At Wellington this 15th day of December 2025. Present: Her Excellency the Governor-General in Council. This order is made under section 2(1) of the Building and Construction (Small Stand-alone Dwellings) Amendment Act 2025 on the advice and with the consent of the Executive Council.' Signed by Nicola Purvis, Acting Clerk of the Executive Council."
source_location: "SL 2025/321, preamble and signature block"
- claim: "Notification and administration, verbatim: 'Issued under the authority of the Legislation Act 2019. Date of notification in Gazette: 18 December 2025. This order is administered by the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment.'"
source_location: "SL 2025/321, end matter"
- claim: "Effect, from the explanatory note (verbatim): the order 'brings into force, on 15 January 2026, the provisions of the Building and Construction (Small Stand-alone Dwellings) Amendment Act 2025 (the Act) that are not already in force. The Act amends the Building Act 2004 and related legislation to allow small stand-alone dwellings (commonly known as granny flats) to be built without a building consent'. The explanatory note states it 'is not part of the order but is intended to indicate its general effect'."
source_location: "SL 2025/321, explanatory note"Neobiome Intelligence and regulatory relevance
Cite the date to this Order, not to the Act. REG_007 already records that section 2 of the Act says only “This Act comes into force on a date set by Order in Council”, and warns against attributing the January 2026 date to the statute. This page closes that gap with the instrument that actually sets it.
The exemption is in force. As at the date of this page the granny-flat building-consent exemption pathway is operative law rather than pending legislation, which matters wherever the corpus or a report describes the dwelling options available to a community.
A dated coincidence worth not over-reading. This Order was notified in the Gazette on 18 December 2025 and commences on 15 January 2026, the same notification and in-force dates as the national direction package at REG_038. They are separate instruments under separate statutes; the shared dates reflect a common gazettal round, not a connection between the two.
Notes
data_quality: verified. The instrument text was read directly from the retrieved page and every claim above is quoted verbatim. The raw is the “as made” whole-instrument HTML.
Research targets
None opened or resolved.
Connections
Links to
Referenced by
Sources (1): REG_007