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LEGAL STUFF
The Tiny House Rules and Legislations – We talk about it
The Tiny House Rules
We want to talk about this. There are many questions surrounding Tiny Homes and what is and isn’t allowed. These Tiny House rules do have a heavy hand to play in what is possible with a Tiny Home and its important to know where you stand and what is required to achieve the goals you may have set.
To keep things clear there is one important thing to keep in mind when learning what is possible and is not, that is, at NZ Tiny Living we build Tiny Homes On Wheels.
Why is building on wheels important?
Building a Tiny Home on wheels means that a vehicle is being built, not a ‘Building’ as they are legally classified. This means that rules applying to campervans and vehicles apply to these Homes, not the building code and consenting procedures.
Rules for Tiny Homes On Wheels
Building on wheels means that we build our Tiny Homes as part of, or fixed to, trailers. This means that the rules these homes must follow are set by the NZ Transport Agency, for trailers, and these trailer rules must be what is followed.
Trailer rules
A Tiny Home trailer must be registered and warranted. It must be a legally roadworthy trailer for the Home to comply with a set of rules.
Length
A trailer's total length can not exceed 12.5 meters in total length, from end to end. That includes the draw bar. Making the available Tiny Homes length est. 11 meters.
Width
A trailer cannot be wider than 2.55 meters. So, for a thin Tiny Home, we build its base to be 2.4 meters wide before cladding is installed. These Tiny Homes are permanently fixed to the trailer. It is The Trailer.
For a wider Tiny Home, it must be detachable from the trailer itself. This means the trailer is under 2.55 meters wide, but it is carrying a load wider than 2.55 meters, which a trailer can do. We won’t go wider than a 3.1 meter wide load, as this would then require pilot vehicles to transport it.
Weight and Transport
Under 3500kg: For Tiny Homes with a total weight (Trailer included) under 3500kg, they can be legally transported on the road by a vehicle with the same towing capacity. This doesn’t require any special transport permits or specialist vehicles.
Over 3500kg: If the total weight of your Tiny Home exceeds 3500kg then it cannot be legally transported on the road, on its attached trailer. Here, the Tiny Home load will be loaded onto the back of a heavy-duty trailer and transported to its intended site, separately to its trailer. On-site it is then sat onto the original trailer.
Height
From the ground itself to the highest point of the Tiny Home, it must not exceed 4.3 meters. This is so that any load will fit under different height restricted roadways.
We will build our homes no higher that 4.2 meters to allow for good clearance if required.
