Hi Guys

I am currently living in South Africa, but we are thinking of immigrating to New Zealand. I heard that NZ and Australia have a lot of rules and regulations about open fires. I am reluctant to get a gas forge as they are expensive and costly to run. Can anyone tell me about the laws on open fires? Things like what conditions they are allowed in, where they are allowed, and if special precautions must be taken for a fire to be legal. I think we are going to live near Manukau, if that helps.

Any help is appreciated
Jordan

I think an open fire is more like a barrel of burning trash or pile of brush burning on the ground...........BBQ's, gas forges and the like are considered enclosed. New Zealand eh, .........You lucky dog...........:D

I'm going there to see it early next year(possibly this december. My main worry is wether or not coal forges are allowed. I have a light, portable one that still gets up to welding heat, but if I'm not allowed to use it, it wouldn't be worth taking it.

I do find the odd four-leafed clover

Jordan

From a friend on the island:

"I can't reply to that guy on that forum Ric.

If you know him then tell him that manukau is an Auckland City. By that I
mean it's an Authority area inside the city proper. Manukau covers high
density housing and a lot of rural areas, especially the Franklin county
area.
NZ laws are as ridiculous as EU law so everyone tends to ignore them. Fires
, i.e. wood stoves etc. are allowed but they require flueing , generally
these days the regs say a three part flue. ( chimney and two jackets) but
that's only for domestic heating. The main problem the guy will face is his
neighbours. If he starts dumping huge volumes of black smoke on the guy next
door then the can expect a visit from the plod. If he's semi-rural then just
don't worry about it. Auckland isn't too bad for this type of stuff , unless
your stupid enough to apply for a resource consent . Then you can expect
numerous meetings and huge fees to the local council. If, however, the
wanted to move to somewhere like Christchurch the he'd have a few problems
because they have a total ban on fires, even wood burners etc. because of
the pollution."

So long as you pronounce things like "fush and chups" when you really mean fish and chips, or go to a bugguge chukken when you really want to go to a baggage check-in, and call everyone "cuzzy bro" then every one will think you are a born and bred Kiwi and you will "huve no wirries" Cuzzy Bro eh.
Seriously though we don't have any restrictions on fires in door (read forges, furnaces etc) at any time including bush fire period, when there is a total fire ban. There may be bans on fires in the open during total fire bans and these can often include Gas BBQs, but NZ is fairly wet and lush for most of the year, can't recall many reports of summer fire bans in Un Zudd.
Just as was already mentioned, you may have to consider the neighbours in town, but most of us colonials are pretty laid back sort of blokes any way.

Phil

Check with the local council about the by-laws of the area. Ric and forgemaster summed it up pretty well, if you are living in the suburbs it depends on your neighbors and if you are living rural I wouldn't even worry about it. Living in Christchurch I found it cheaper by about $250 to get a professional gas forged shipped from pieh tools than to apply for resource consent (which isn't guaranteed to be approved) to run a coal forge which is classed as an open fire. There is however an exemption for a fire used for the heating of metal in industrial zoned areas.

This is just Christchurch though we are a little funny about laws regarding open fires because of our smog problems due to our geography. Most other places are much more accommodating about coal forges.

Thanks guys, I haven't been online since last year, and I'm living in East Auckland. I doubt I will be able to forge here as the garden is tiny and there is so much wood around. However I might be able to do some forging in the upcoming school holidays if I can find a nearby smithy.

 

Thanks again for the help :)