Source: Auckland Council
Recovery office case managers are bringing good news to hundreds of households across Auckland with 1,396 placards (or ‘stickers’) removed since February 2023.
“It’s a great feeling enabling storm damaged households to move on with their life. The number of placards being removed has ramped up and our team is really busy right now supporting these homeowners through the process,” says Tāmaki Makaurau Recovery Office Group Manager Mat Tucker.
A placard is removed when a property owner provides evidence that storm damage has been fixed and their home is safe again. The type of evidence required will vary depending on the situation. It could be a geotechnical engineer report, a structural engineering report or proof that a builder has rectified the problem.
All case managers have a digital dashboard that is updated in real time when the status of a placard changes. The team has removed 333 red and 1063 yellow placards across the region since February 2023. The number of placards remaining on Auckland properties are 277 red, 1155 yellow*.
“We want whānau back in their homes as quickly as possible. Many residents have fixed their property but are forgetting to contact us again to close the loop with placard removal. We urge people to provide documents to their case manager or
rbacomms@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz to start the de-placarding process,” says Tucker.
When a placard is removed the recovery office will send a letter to confirm the change of status and the property file or LIM is updated to ‘placard closed’.
*Data from 27 September 2023
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between placards and property categorisation?
Placards are issued after a Rapid Building Assessment (RBA) to assess immediate risk in an emergency response situation. Property categorisation considers the future, long-term risk to life if another weather event occurs.
What efforts are council going to make to ensure that repairs to land and buildings will be prioritised (in the consent process) and fast-tracked so our lives and homes can return to normal?
We recognise that getting repairs made as quickly as possible is a priority for all storm affected people right across Auckland. A fast-track process is already in place for building consent and resource consent applications for properties that need repairs due to flood and cyclone damage. This process is available to both insured and uninsured property owners.
You can either speak with your allocated case manager or email regionalplanninghelpdesk@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz to discuss your application with our planning team. Please include the word ‘cyclone’ in the subject line and include your property address and placard details too. It’s important to note that the fast-track process doesn’t relax consenting requirements, all repairs will be subject to relevant building code and resource management requirements.
Will council inspect my property when I provide evidence of my repairs?
We’ll review the documentation you’ve supplied along with your placard status and determine whether we need to visit the property again. A visit from council inspectors is not always required – it will vary from property to property.
What does it mean for a placard to be downgraded?
A re-assessment has been completed in person and finds that a placard can be lowered, or the owner has completed work to reduce the risk. When the owner of a property provides geotechnical engineering report or structural engineering report that shows that the danger has been removed or that the information provided proves that the risk is lower than originally determined.
Is there any support for homeowners with storm damaged properties?
Visit the support page on Our Auckland to discover what is available to you. Email navigators@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz if you’re a storm affected property owner and want to discuss support options for mental health, finance, insurance or accommodation.
More information
If you’ve still got questions about storm damaged properties, the information below will point you in the right direction.
Read our frequently asked questions document. This is a good place to start as it includes answers to our most common queries relating to remediation, buyouts, placards, property categorisation and more. If you want to understand how property categorisation works, we’ve got a handy video and article that explains it all.
If you have a property that you believe needs to be categorised as part of the assessment process, and you haven’t already completed the flooding and landslide registration form, go online here.
If you have questions relating to a particular address for a storm damaged property, email them to propertycategory@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
If you have a question about red, white or yellow placards (‘stickers’) then email your case manager or email rbacomms@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
If you have questions about rates relief, they may be answered by reading the Our Auckland rates relief article – note there is a Q&A section at the end. If your question isn’t covered here, then email ratesrelief@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz.
If your storm damaged property question doesn’t fit into any of the scenarios above, then email your question to recoveryoffice@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz.
