the Building Amendment Bill has been introduced to Parliament and had its first reading on 11 September 2018, with the aim of creating a better process around management and investigation powers for buildings post-earthquakes. The Bill amends the Building Act 2004, and proposes two new sets of powers for territorial authorities and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to improve the system for managing buildings after an emergency and to provide for investigating building failures. The Bill proposes new powers that aim to address risks to people and property from buildings during and after an emergency. The proposed amendments seek to create a system that is clear, has proportionate impacts on personal and property rights, and ensures that heritage values are appropriately recognised. Managing buildings after an emergency The Bill introduces into the Building Act an end-to-end process for managing buildings from response to recovery following an emergency. The Bill provides powers to territorial authorities (and where a state of emergency or transition period is in force, the relevant civil defence emergency management person) to manage buildings during and after an emergency event, including among others: • inspecting and placing notices on buildings; • evacuating and restricting entry to buildings; • closing roads and cordoning streets; • requiring further information from building owners, such as detailed engineering assessments; and • demolishing or carrying out works to buildings that pose a risk of injury or death (including through impacts to critical infrastructure) or a risk of damage or disruption to neighbouring buildings, critical infrastructure, and public thoroughfares. Investigating building failures The Bill proposes amendments to the Building Act that provide MBIE with a clear set of legislative powers to investigate significant building failures to determine the circumstances and causes of those failures. The key focus of the proposed powers is to learn lessons in order to improve building regulation to help avoid similar occurrences in the future. The Bill proposes that the powers of investigation can be used only when there has been a building failure that resulted or could have resulted in serious injury or death. The amendments in the Bill will enable MBIE, on its own initiative or at the request of the Minister responsible for the Building Act, to investigate the circumstances and causes of building failures, including to: • secure, or direct any person to secure, the site to be investigated for a reasonable period; • enter a property and carry out inspections (which may include the taking of