Building Warrant of Fitness NZ: Who's Really Checking Your Fire Safety?

A BWOF on the wall in reception tells you paperwork was signed. It doesn't tell you whether the fire door upstairs has been wedged open all week. Rosie Killip founded Building Networks to teach building, fire and safety compliance. When she came on Health & Safety Unplugged she was blunt about the gap between what the forms say and what's happening in the building.

This post covers what a BWOF is, where Rosie sees the system breaking down, the everyday behaviours that undo it and what owners and businesses that occupy buildings should be checking. We recorded the conversation in 2023, a few months after the Loafers Lodge fire. I've added what has changed since.

What Is a Building Warrant of Fitness?

Buildings with specified systems have a compliance schedule, issued by the council, that sets out how each system must be inspected, maintained and reported on. Every year the owner gives the council a BWOF confirming those procedures have been followed, backed by certificates from independent qualified persons (IQPs). The owner keeps it on display in a public part of the building.

The rules have been tightened since we recorded. Changes to the Building Act that took effect on 26 November 2024 added new offences and penalties for IQPs. That followed Loafers Lodge, the Wellington boarding house fire in May 2023 that killed five people. The man who lit it was found guilty of murder in September 2025. MBIE has also been reviewing the fire safety provisions in the Building Code, with proposed changes signalled for 2026.

A Triangle That Became a Hexagon

Rosie's description of how the system has drifted was the most useful part of our conversation for anyone who owns or leases a building. The legislation was written around a triangle of the council, the owner and the IQP. In practice she sees a hexagon or an octagon: IQP work subcontracted four layers deep, a BWOF agent who isn't the property manager, a property manager who isn't the purchasing manager. By the time someone finds a safety defect, nobody is quite sure who to tell or who has the authority to fix it.

She has also seen health and safety checks give a building a tick without anyone confirming whether the equipment had been serviced, tested and maintained and without checking the building's warrant was current. Her concern was that serious safety issues end up buried 40 pieces of paper deep after passing through 40 hands. Her answer is integration. Back in 2001 she saw technology that could alert around 40 parties at the press of a button. Years on, she says we still aren't using it well: one view of the building's safety, clear escalation to the person who can approve the fix and a pre-agreed budget so small problems get fixed without a meeting.

Why People Break Rules They Understand

Rosie doesn't think most rule-breaking comes from ignorance. People cut corners when they're in a hurry. They do it when they've never experienced a fire or an earthquake and don't believe it will happen to them, when they trust their own judgement over the rules or when someone else in the workplace has said it's fine. She added that building rules have moved from prescriptive to performance-based. Many people in the industry would rather be told exactly what to do than weigh up what's adequate or reasonably practicable.

Her other point was about enforcement and having the backbone to use it. Like parenting, there are times when someone has to have the courage to say no. Rules need to be enforceable, administrable and doable, then supported by training and monitoring. What you're after is real change, not a box ticked.

Fire Doors, Escape Paths and Everyday Risks

Early in her career Rosie did night checks in rest homes, back when people still smoked inside. Fire doors were constantly wedged open so staff could push trolleys through. She'd tell staff to kick the wedge out once their trolley was through, then find the doors wedged open again on her next round. Today she sees the modern version: hold-open devices fitted to doors without permission, cluttered escape paths, exit doors that are blocked or locked and fire doors that should be shut propped open, taking the building's first line of defence to zero.

Her frustration is that people point to disasters like Grenfell and talk about waiting for "the big one", when the small things being done in their own building today are the same things that lead there. Over time these behaviours become part of the wallpaper. Her suggestion for facility managers is simple: walk your fire escape yourself and take a photo of what it should look like. Then everyone can see straight away when it isn't. She was also scathing about relying on more signage. Slapping up another sign doesn't change behaviour, it just adds to the sign pollution.

Rosie practises what she preaches in her own business. When Building Networks books a venue, they ask to see the BWOF and the evacuation plan and then walk it when they arrive. She has stopped a conference because the exit doors were blocked and locked. She admitted that gets you into trouble. My own view is that's exactly the courage the rest of us need.

Where Health and Safety Meets Building Compliance

This is where a lot of businesses get caught. The BWOF sits with the building owner, however a business that manages or controls a workplace has its own duty under section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. It must ensure so far as is reasonably practicable that the workplace and the means of entering and exiting it are without risk to anyone. A tenant can't point to the landlord's BWOF if its own staff have wedged the fire door open. Where a landlord controls common areas like stairwells and shared exits, both businesses can hold the duty and need to consult, cooperate and coordinate with each other.

Rosie also raised safety in design for the people who maintain buildings. The contractors who maintain plant on roofs often can't get to it safely because nobody thought about them at the design stage. She wants anchor points, gantries, edge protection and access hatches for fire dampers planned in from the start. In my experience they're cheap to design in and expensive to retrofit. Every renovation, upgrade or new build is a chance to fix that.

What Owners and Businesses Should Check

These are the things I'd want a building owner or the senior leader of a business occupying a building to be able to answer.

1. Is the BWOF current and on display? When did you last read what it actually covers?
2. Who are the IQPs for each specified system? Are they the people doing the work or several subcontractors removed?
3. When a defect is found, who is told, who can approve the fix and how quickly does it happen?
4. When did someone with authority last walk every escape route and check every fire door?
5. Are any fire doors fitted with hold-open devices that weren't approved or wedged open as a habit?
6. Does your emergency plan match the building you're in today? Has it been tested?
7. If you're a tenant, do you know which obligations sit with you and which sit with the landlord?

My post on whether emergency drills are a legal requirement covers emergency plans in more detail. My piece on the Grenfell Tower fire report covers what that disaster taught about building safety. If you'd like a quick view of how your wider health and safety system is holding up, the free Compliance Compass Self-Check takes about 20 minutes around a leadership table.

Watch the full conversation with Rosie Killip on Health & Safety Unplugged below.

Frequently Asked Questions About Building Warrants of Fitness

What is a building warrant of fitness in NZ?

An annual certificate from the building owner to the council confirming that the specified systems in the building have been inspected, maintained and reported on as the compliance schedule requires.

Who signs a building warrant of fitness?

The building owner or their agent signs the BWOF. Independent qualified persons (IQPs) inspect the specified systems and issue certificates confirming the procedures were completed.

What are specified systems?

The safety and essential systems listed on a building's compliance schedule, such as fire alarms, sprinklers, emergency lighting, lifts and automatic doors.

Where must a BWOF be displayed?

In a public part of the building where building users can see it.

Is a tenant responsible for fire safety if the landlord has a BWOF?

Yes, for its own workplace. A business that manages or controls a workplace must ensure so far as is reasonably practicable that the workplace and the ways in and out of it are without risk under section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

What happens if an IQP certifies work that wasn't done?

Changes to the Building Act in force from 26 November 2024 added offences for independent qualified persons, including negligently issuing a certificate of compliance, with maximum fines of $50,000 for an individual and $150,000 for a company.

Sources: MBIE, Owners’ responsibilities about BWOFs and compliance schedules; Auckland Council, Building warrant of fitness; Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, section 37; Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016, regulation 14; Fire and Emergency NZ, evacuation scheme regulations; RNZ, Loafers Lodge verdict (September 2025); Health & Safety Unplugged, episode with Rosie Killip. This post is general guidance, not legal advice.