This is an Example:
The Learnings
1. What was meant to happen?
e.g. A building consent for a retaining wall
2. What did happen?
e.g. We started to build the retaining wall and the council came and ordered us to stop work and
obtain a building consent.
3. Why did it happen?
e.g. We thought because the retaining wall was under 1.5 meters high it would not need a building
consent or engineer design. We were ignorant of the law as I discovered.
4. What did we do to fix it, or how did we fix it?
e.g. We applied for a building consent and discovered from talking to the council, that the wall
needed a building consent because there was a driveway above it. I have since learned that this part
of the Building Act. There is a section called Schedule 1 which lists all building work that does not
need a building consent. Part (C) of schedule 1 states "construction or alteration of any retaining
wall that retains not more than 1.5 metres depth of ground and that does not support any surcharge
or any load additional to the load of that ground (for example, the load of vehicles on a road)". It is part of being a builder to understand the laws that are relevant to what I do. This experience is part of my learning. I will now know where to look, to see if the work I am undertaking is legal
New Zealand. The Building Act 2004. Wellington, N.Z,: Thomson Brookers.
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