New planning laws are now in place. The Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions & Transport is publishing guidance, tools and updates on this website as the new planning system is introduced in stages.
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Compliance and enforcement
Learn more about compliance and enforcement in the new planning system. Get the information you need to implement it with confidence.
About compliance and enforcement
The planning system sets rules and standards that control the way we use land and natural resources to help achieve community aspirations and outcomes. Councils set rules in regulatory plans, while the government sets national standards. Following these rules and standards helps support thriving communities, well-functioning towns and cities, and healthy natural environments for future generations.
Achieving high levels of compliance requires all parts of the regulatory system to work together. Rules and standards should be clear, practical and easy to understand. People need to know what the rules are and how to follow them. Rules should be proportionate to the risks they manage, and New Zealanders need confidence that they will be enforced fairly, consistently and reasonably.
Enforcement provides accountability by ensuring people who breach the rules are held responsible in a fair, reasonable and proportionate way. Effective enforcement encourages compliance, discourages non-compliance and helps achieve community outcomes while protecting natural resources for future generations.
How compliance and enforcement in the new planning system differs from the RMA
The new planning system builds on the existing enforcement framework in the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA), including the changes introduced in 2025, and adds some new enforcement tools.
Some of the new tools strengthen the deterrent effect of existing enforcement measures, while others provide alternate ways to hold people accountable for environmental harm without involving the criminal justice system. Expanding the range of enforcement tools gives officers more flexibility to respond to non-compliance in a fair and proportionate way, while supporting restorative outcomes where appropriate.
Schedule 12 of the Planning Act made some changes to the RMA that take effect one month after the Planning Act receives Royal assent. While one new tool is introduced, the remaining amendments change how existing tools operate.
The changes include:
- the introduction of a new enforcement tool called an Adverse Publicity Order, which enables a court to require an offender to publish details of their offending
- a new offence of contravening an Adverse Publicity Order
- changes to powers of entry for inspection and search warrant provisions to improve clarity and application
- an increase to the maximum fines for ancillary and administrative offences
- amending the fines insurance prohibition to clarify that the prohibition only applies to indemnity provided via a contract of insurance, and not to other forms of indemnity
- amending various provisions so that rules in initial national standards are treated similarly to or have similar effect to national environmental standards
- updating Schedule 1 of the Resource Management (Infringement Offences) Regulations 1999 to make the way the penalty provisions are described consistent with the primary legislation
- updating Schedules 2 and 3 of the Resource Management (Infringement Offences) Regulations 1999 to remove the standard text relating to paying infringement offences by cheque.
Read a factsheet setting out each of the compliance and enforcement changes to the RMA.
When the changes take effect
The compliance and enforcement provisions of the Planning Act and the Natural Environment Act commence on the transition date, once spatial plans and regulatory plans have been developed (likely to be late 2029). We will prepare more detailed guidance about compliance and enforcement (including new tools) under the new system as we get closer to the time the system takes effect.
From the time the Planning Act and the Natural Environment Act are enacted until the transition date, compliance and enforcement activities will continue under the RMA (including the changes set out above). The changes made to the RMA in 2025 continue to apply.
Who the changes affect in practice
The compliance and enforcement changes will mainly affect council enforcement officers and prosecutors. Councils may also want to provide information to consent holders and resource users who may be affected by these changes.
What happens next
The clarification to the insurance prohibition took effect on 1 October 2026. All other changes to the RMA compliance and enforcement provisions take effect from 30 October 2026.
Detailed guidance on Adverse Publicity Orders is being prepared and will be released before the new enforcement tool comes into effect.
For more information, including upcoming webinars see implementation training and events.