Hon Dr Nick Smith
Minister for Building and Construction
Hon Jacqui Dean
Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs
29 June 2017 Media Statement
New meth contamination and testing standard
New Zealanders will be able to better manage the risks of methamphetamine in residential properties following the
release of a new standard, Building and Construction Minister Dr Nick Smith and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister
Jacqui Dean say.
“The new standard is a huge step forward in helping home owners and tenants deal with the risks of methamphetamine
contamination. It will give people greater confidence and certainty, will result in hundreds fewer properties having to
be vacated and save millions in unnecessary decontamination work,” Dr Smith says.
“The major gain from the new standard is having clear methods for sampling and testing, and competency requirements for
samplers and decontamination contractors. The most significant change is the new 1.5g/100cm2 limit, as compared to
0.5g/100cm2 under the old guidelines. These were focussed solely on the risks of a clan lab, whereas the new standard
results from a better understanding of the health risks.
“This new standard will form an important part of new legislation I introduced to Parliament last month. The Residential
Tenancies Amendment Bill (No 2) gives landlords the right to test for meth and enables tenancy agreements to be
terminated when levels are unsafe. The new standard will be referenced in the regulations and will become legally
enforceable when the Bill is passed later this year.”
“It is quite appropriate that this new standard has been funded from the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009. The
damage done to residential properties is just a fraction of the social and economic harm methamphetamine is doing in New
Zealand. These new contamination standards and residential law change are a small part of the Government’s anti-drug
initiatives.”
“These new standards are an important new addition to consumer protections. They will help clean up an industry that has
had problems over inconsistent tests and excessive decontamination costs,” Ms Dean says.
“Standards New Zealand follows a robust process in developing all standards, in line with the Standards and
Accreditation Act 2015. Twenty-one committee members from the public and private sector contributed to the development
of the standard, by offering expertise on the methods and logistics of testing and decontamination of affected
properties.
“I’m pleased to see the work put into the development of the standard has resulted in a strong piece of guidance.”
See the new standard, NZS8510:2017 Testing and decontamination of methamphetamine contaminated properties, here:https://www.standards.govt.nz/sponsored-standards/testing-and-decontamination-of-methamphetamine-contaminated-properties
ends