Reading a LIM: what matters most

What a LIM is, and what it is not

A LIM is issued by the territorial authority (your local council) under section 44A of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987. It is a structured summary of what the council knows about the property at the time the LIM is requested. It is not:

• A guarantee that the property complies with the Building Code, Unitary Plan, or any other standard.
• A record of private arrangements (easements in gross, private agreements between owners).
• A building inspection or condition report.
• A title search (separate document from LINZ).
• Complete, in the sense of including everything relevant. It includes what the council has on file.

A LIM is most useful for identifying issues the council knows about. What the council does not know about will not appear. This is why a LIM and a building inspection are complementary — the LIM catches documented issues (consents, notices, hazard maps) while the inspection catches physical ones.

Ordering a LIM

You order a LIM from the relevant council. Fees and turnaround vary widely: as of April 2026, Auckland Council charges $375 (10 working days, standard) or $506 urgent (3 working days) with a 1.75% credit-card surcharge; Wellington City Council charges $563.50 incl. GST standard, and has suspended its fast-track service as of April 2026 (current backlog around 28 working days). Check the specific council's current schedule. Your solicitor can order on your behalf, or you can order directly.

A LIM condition in the ADLS Agreement for Sale and Purchase is standard for non-auction sales. Typical LIM condition periods are 10 to 15 working days. The condition protects you: if the LIM reveals something unacceptable, you can cancel the agreement during the condition period.

Some vendors order a LIM before listing and provide it with the marketing materials. A pre-listed LIM is legitimate; check the date — if the LIM is more than three months old, consider ordering a fresh one. For auction purchases, because the contract is unconditional, ordering the LIM before the auction is a must.

The sections, in rough order of priority

1. Special features of the land (natural hazards)

From 1 July 2025, under the 2023 amendment to LGOIMA (sections 44B to 44D), natural-hazard disclosure in LIMs was strengthened. Councils must include information about hazards affecting the land regardless of whether the hazards appear in the district plan maps, and must identify "potential hazards" where the council is satisfied there is a reasonable possibility the hazard may affect the land now or in the future.

Read this section first. Flags to watch for:

• Flood zone designation.
• Coastal erosion or inundation area.
• Landslip or subsidence risk.
• Liquefaction vulnerability (Canterbury, parts of Wellington, Napier, and others).
• Seismic overlay or fault-line proximity.
• Contamination (HAIL register entries).

A hazard disclosure is not automatically a deal-breaker — most of New Zealand has some form of hazard exposure, and properties in hazard zones are still sold and insured. The question is whether the specific hazard is manageable: is the property currently insured? Is the insurance premium sustainable? Are remediation works required or possible?

2. Building consents, CCCs, and notices

This section lists the building consents the council has issued for the property and the Code Compliance Certificates (CCCs) issued against those consents. Red flags:

• A consent issued but no CCC. The work was consented but not certified complete. Investigate — the work may have been abandoned, completed but not inspected, or completed with issues. Your solicitor can ask the council for detail; the property file (separate document) has more.
• A notice to fix. The council has identified non-compliant work. Read the notice and determine whether it has been resolved.
• A request for information or a consent in process. Works in progress.
• Work done without consent. If the council knows about it, it will be noted. A Certificate of Acceptance (section 96 of the Building Act 2004) is the remedy for retrospective legitimisation.

Cross-reference with the property marketing: if the property is described as "extended" or "renovated," check that the works have consents and CCCs. See The building inspection report for the physical side of the same question.

3. Rates and outstanding amounts

The LIM shows current rates and any outstanding amounts. Outstanding rates at settlement become the buyer's responsibility unless specifically addressed in the contract. Small unexpected amounts are common; large outstanding rates or penalty accrual are red flags warranting explanation.

4. Zoning, designations, and encumbrances

The district plan zone determines what can be built on the property, density, and permissible uses. A zoning change that occurred after the current house was built may mean the house is now a legal non-conforming use — re-building or significant alteration could be constrained.

Designations (e.g., for road widening, transmission corridors, public works) can override the zoning and constrain the property. Check for any designations affecting the land.

5. Water, wastewater, stormwater

How is the property serviced? Connected to council water and sewer? On tank water and septic? A private bore? If private, the bore water test is a separate due-diligence item. Rural properties often have complex service arrangements.

6. Other sections

Depending on the council, LIMs include sections on dogs, heritage listings, trees protected by the district plan, swimming-pool fence compliance, and miscellaneous council records. Each can surface specific issues.

Specific red flags and what to do about them

Five common red flags, with a typical response:

1. Unconsented work or missing CCCs. Ask your solicitor to request the property file for more detail. If material work is unconsented, a Certificate of Acceptance should be arranged — usually by the vendor before settlement, or with a price adjustment to cover the risk.
2. Natural-hazard designation. Obtain an insurance quote from your intended insurer for the property specifically. If the premium is prohibitive or insurance is refused, the hazard is a material issue; reconsider the offer.
3. HAIL register (contamination). The Hazardous Activities and Industries List records sites where activities that may have caused contamination have occurred. A HAIL entry does not mean the site is contaminated; it means contamination investigation is warranted. Your solicitor can request council's environmental records; a specialist report may be needed.
4. A leaky-building history. Some LIMs disclose historical weathertightness claims or repairs. These affect insurance and future remediation risk; a specialist weathertightness inspection is worth considering.
5. Outstanding infringements or notices. Any council action against the property — noise complaints, illegal use, consent breaches — is worth understanding fully before proceeding.

What the LIM does not replace

A LIM is council-held information. It does not replace:

• A title search from Land Information NZ (LINZ), showing ownership, encumbrances registered against title, easements, covenants. Your solicitor orders this as part of conveyancing.
• A building inspection by a qualified inspector under NZS 4306:2005. The LIM does not document physical condition.
• A property file review — the full set of documents the council holds. The LIM is the summary; the property file is the detail.
• Insurance assessment — speak to your insurer about the specific property.
• A lawyer's review of the ADLS Agreement.

Using the LIM in your decision

After reading the LIM, write down three things:

1. Any item that would change your offer or make you walk away.
2. Any item that you need more information on before deciding.
3. Any item that would add cost after purchase (remediation, compliance, insurance).

Your solicitor will form their own view. Compare yours with theirs. Items on either list that you cannot explain or resolve before the LIM condition expires are grounds to walk, to negotiate, or to extend the condition.

Where this guide sits in the section

Previous: Whose agent is this, anyway?.

Next: Conditional offers: finance, LIM, building — what they actually protect.

Rules cited: LGOIMA, Building Act 2004, NZS 4306:2005, ADLS Agreement for Sale and Purchase.