Body Corporate & Commercial Property Health & Safety
Body Corporate & Commercial Property Health & Safety Auckland
On-site audit and documentation review for body corporates, property managers, and commercial building owners. We identify the health and safety risks in your common areas and tell you exactly what needs fixing to meet your PCBU duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.
Reuben Brooker, Lead Consultant·Last updated: September 2026
A body corporate is a PCBU (Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking) under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. That means your body corporate has the same primary duty of care as any other business: to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers and other people affected by work carried out in your common areas. Committee members are "Officers" under the Act and have personal due diligence duties. This applies whether you have one contractor mowing the lawns or a full building management team.
Find out where your property stands
We audit your common areas, review your documentation, and give you a clear picture of what needs attention.
Why Body Corporates and Property Managers Need This
Most body corporate committees and property managers know they have health and safety obligations, but very few have a clear picture of what those obligations actually require day to day. Common areas become a "workplace" under HSWA the moment anyone is engaged to carry out work there, whether that is a building manager, a cleaner, a contractor repairing a lift, or a gardener maintaining the grounds.
When that happens, the body corporate is the PCBU. Committee members are Officers. And the duty extends not just to the workers, but to residents, tenants, visitors, and anyone else who could be affected by the work or the condition of the common areas.
The consequences of getting this wrong are real. WorkSafe can prosecute the body corporate as an entity, and individual committee members can face personal liability for failing to exercise due diligence. An audit gives you documented evidence that you are actively managing your obligations, not ignoring them.
Who This Service Is For
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Body corporate committees
You are legally the PCBU and your committee members are Officers with personal due diligence duties. An audit shows you what risks exist in your common areas and what you need to do about them.
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Property managers
You manage the building on behalf of the body corporate or the owner. You also have PCBU duties where you have influence and control over who works on the property and how. An audit protects both you and the owners.
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Commercial building owners
If you own a commercial property with tenants, contractors, or shared spaces, you have overlapping PCBU duties. An audit identifies risks in the areas you control and gives you a documented action plan.
What We Check
The audit covers both the physical condition of your common areas and the documentation behind your health and safety management.
On-site inspection
Lobbies, foyers, stairwells, corridors, and access ways (slips, trips, falls, lighting, handrails)
Car parks, driveways, and pedestrian routes (traffic management, lighting, signage)
Lifts and escalators (maintenance records, emergency procedures)
Swimming pools, gyms, playgrounds, BBQ areas, and other shared amenities
Fire safety: alarms, extinguishers, evacuation routes, assembly points, building warrant of fitness
Electrical and plumbing plant rooms, switchboards, and water supply (legionella risk)
Hazardous substances stored on common property (pool chemicals, cleaning products)
Contractor work in progress and how it is being managed
Documentation review
Health and safety policy (does one exist, and does it reflect reality?)
Hazard register and risk assessments for common areas
Contractor management: inductions, insurance, health and safety plans
Incident and near-miss reporting records
Emergency and evacuation procedures
Building warrant of fitness and compliance schedule
Asbestos management plan (if applicable to the building's age)
What You Receive
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Written audit report
Findings from both the on-site inspection and the documentation review, written in plain language that committee members and property managers can act on without needing a consultant to translate.
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Prioritised action plan
Risks ranked by priority so you know what to fix first. Each recommendation is specific enough to brief a contractor or put to the committee for approval.
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Compliance summary
A clear statement of where you are meeting your PCBU duties and where you are not, referenced to the specific sections of HSWA 2015 that apply.
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Follow-up conversation
We walk you through the findings and discuss the most practical way to close the gaps, whether that means a committee resolution, a contractor brief, or further work from us.
What Committee Members Need to Know
Under HSWA 2015, anyone who exercises significant influence over the management of a PCBU is an "Officer." In a body corporate, that typically includes every committee member and the chairperson.
Officer duty
What it means in practice
Acquire and maintain H&S knowledge
Committee members must understand the health and safety risks relevant to the property, not just delegate and forget
Understand the business and its risks
Know what work is carried out on the property, who does it, and what hazards are involved
Ensure adequate resources and processes
Budget for health and safety, including audits, contractor management, and remedial work
Ensure processes for receiving and responding to incidents
Have a system for reporting and acting on incidents and near misses in common areas
Verify compliance
Actively check that controls are in place and working, not just assume they are
Volunteer committee members still have a duty of due diligence, although they cannot be held personally liable for a failure to meet that duty under HSWA. However, committee members who receive an honorarium may not meet the definition of a volunteer under the Act, which means the protection may not apply. An audit gives every committee member documented evidence that the body corporate is actively managing its duties.
Present this at your next committee meeting
An independent audit gives the committee a clear picture and a documented plan. Get in touch and we will scope it for your property.
We discuss the property: how many units, what common areas exist, what contractors are engaged, and what documentation is currently in place. This is also when we confirm the fee.
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Document collection
You send through your existing health and safety documentation: policies, hazard registers, contractor records, compliance schedules, and anything else relevant. We tell you exactly what to gather.
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On-site inspection
Reuben visits the property to inspect all common areas, shared facilities, and any contractor work in progress.
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Documentation review
Your existing policies, registers, and records are reviewed against HSWA 2015, the GRWM Regulations 2016, and best practice for body corporates and commercial properties.
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Audit report and action plan delivered
You receive the written report with findings, compliance summary, and a prioritised action plan.
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Follow-up conversation
We walk you through the findings. If the committee or property manager needs help implementing the recommendations, we can scope that work separately.
Who Carries Out Your Audit
Your audit is carried out by Reuben Brooker, Lead Consultant at Health & Safety Consultants Auckland, with more than 15 years of experience in workplace health and safety.
Reuben inspects the property, reviews the documentation, writes the report, and walks you through the findings. You deal with one person from start to finish.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, a body corporate is a PCBU. It has the primary duty of care to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers and others affected by work carried out on the common property. Committee members are Officers with personal due diligence duties.
Committee members are Officers under HSWA 2015 and have a personal duty of due diligence. Volunteer committee members cannot be held personally liable for failing to meet that duty. However, if a committee member receives an honorarium, they may not qualify as a volunteer under the Act, and the protection may not apply. The body corporate itself can be prosecuted regardless.
Common areas become a workplace under HSWA 2015 the moment anyone is engaged to carry out work there. That includes employees, contractors, building managers, cleaners, gardeners, and tradespeople. Once it is a workplace, the body corporate has a duty to ensure the area and the means of getting in and out of it are without risks to the health and safety of any person, including residents and visitors.
Yes. Body corporate managers and property managers also have PCBU duties where they have significant influence and control over who carries out work on the property and how. The duties of the body corporate and the property manager overlap, which is why both benefit from an independent audit that clarifies who is responsible for what.
The fee depends on the size of the property, the number and type of common areas, and how much existing documentation there is to review. We confirm a fixed quote after a short scoping call.
There is no fixed frequency in the law, but best practice for body corporates is at least annually. You should also re-audit after any significant change to the property, the common areas, or the contractors working on site. Making it an annual operating expense is the simplest way to demonstrate ongoing due diligence.
Yes. If the audit identifies that you need a documented system (policies, hazard register, contractor management procedures, incident reporting), we can build one for you. That is a separate piece of work, usually scoped as an OHSMS tailored to body corporate requirements.
Both. Any commercial property with shared areas, tenants, or contractors working on site has overlapping PCBU duties. We work with body corporates, property managers, and commercial building owners across Auckland.
Sources
Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, section 36: primary duty of care requiring every PCBU to ensure health and safety so far as is reasonably practicable. legislation.govt.nz
Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, section 44: duty of Officers to exercise due diligence. legislation.govt.nz
Brookfields Lawyers, bodies corporate and HSWA 2015: legal analysis of body corporate PCBU duties and committee member Officer obligations. brookfields.co.nz
Crockers Property, body corporate health and safety: practical guidance on PCBU duties for body corporates under HSWA 2015. crockers.co.nz
Protect your property and your committee
Tell us about your property. We will scope the audit, confirm a fixed quote, and give you a clear picture of where you stand.
