There are two types of evacuation documents a building may need, which depend on whether your building is classified as a ‘relevant building’ or not.

Most buildings used by the public must have an evacuation procedure in place. A full list of buildings that require an evacuation procedure can be found in schedule 2(external link) of the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fire Safety, Evacuation Procedures, and Evacuation Schemes) Regulations 2018.

Buildings classified as a 'relevant building' must also provide and maintain an approved evacuation scheme.

A building that requires an evacuation scheme is called a ‘relevant building’. Relevant buildings are buildings:

• where 100 or more people can gather together;
• where 10 or more people work;
• where 6 or more people sleep, unless the building is made up of three or fewer household units
• where certain levels of hazardous substances are stored;
• that are used for early childhood education and care, medical  nursing or geriatric care, and disabled care services, unless the building is a household unit;
• that are prisons and/or holding cells.

For a complete list and full details of buildings that are ‘relevant buildings’ refer to section 75(external link) of the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act 2017.

An owner of a relevant building is not required to provide or maintain an evacuation scheme, if the building:

• is used for either, or both, of the following purposes:
• providing employment facilities for 10 or more people; and/or
• providing accommodation for 6 or more people (other than in 3 or fewer households): and
• has an automatic sprinkler system that complies with one of the following standards, either: NZS 4515:2003, NZS 4541:2007, NZS 4515:2009, NZS 4541:2013 or NZS 4515:2020;  and
• the owner of the building notifies Fire and Emergency that an evacuation scheme is not required using the Notification that an evacuation scheme is not required [DOCX, 108 KB] form.

These buildings must still have an evacuation procedure in place and must comply with part 1 (sections 5 – 17)(external link) of the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fire Safety, Evacuation Procedures, and Evacuation Schemes) Regulations 2018.

An evacuation scheme is a plan that is designed to enable evacuation from the scene of a fire in a reasonable time, in the event of a fire, or an alarm of fire. 

The owner of a relevant building must submit the proposed evacuation scheme to Fire and Emergency for approval in line with the timeframes set out in the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fire Safety, Evacuation Procedures, and Evacuation Schemes) Regulations 2018. Schedule 4(external link) of the regulations sets out what information must be included in the application.

The evacuation scheme is then assessed by Fire and Emergency and can be approved or declined. Fire and Emergency can also require amendments to be made to the evacuation scheme, however these amendments cannot require modification of the building or require the building to meet performance criteria that exceed the requirements of the building code.

See regulations 18(external link) and 19(external link).

An evacuation scheme needs to include:

• the building’s evacuation procedure
• copies of fire action signs and notices
• a description of the building’s firefighting equipment (if applicable)
• details of the places of safety, where they are located, and how they are reached
• a description of the building’s automatic sprinkler systems (if applicable)
• a description of the building’s fire alarm/means of warning occupants of a fire description of the building’s provision for people requiring assistance
• a plan for the regular maintenance of the evacuation scheme by either trial evacuations or training.

View available guides and documents to help complete and maintain your evacuation scheme.