What to Do If Your House Has Been Red or Yellow Stickered After a Landslip

If your home has been red or yellow stickered after a landslip, bank failure, flooding, or ground movement, the first priority is safety.

These stickers are more formally called rapid building assessment placards. A red placard usually means the building is unsafe to enter or occupy. A yellow placard means access is restricted, either to certain parts of the building or for limited supervised entry. The risk may come from the building itself, nearby structures, or unstable land. MBIE’s guidance is clear that you should follow the conditions on the placard and should not remove or alter it yourself.

For many Auckland homeowners, the next step is not obvious. You may be dealing with your insurer, Auckland Council, engineers, consent requirements, damaged land, drainage problems and a retaining wall rebuild, all at the same time.

Absolute Landscaping Solutions helps homeowners with the practical construction side of these situations, including retaining wall construction, site stabilisation work, drainage, earthworks and coordination with engineers where required.

1. Follow the placard instructions first

Do not assume it is safe to enter the property because the damage looks minor from the outside.

A red placard means entry is prohibited unless authorised. A yellow placard means the building has restricted access, and the exact conditions should be written on the placard. In some cases, access may need to be arranged through council so that an engineer, builder, insurer or other professional can inspect the site safely.

If there is active ground movement, cracking, leaning retaining walls, broken drainage, or visible slip material near the house, treat the situation seriously.

2. Contact your insurer early

If the damage followed a natural event, such as a storm, flood or landslip, your insurer should usually be one of your first calls.

Under New Zealand’s natural hazards insurance system, homeowners with qualifying home insurance may have cover for certain natural hazard damage. From 1 July 2024, the Natural Hazards Insurance Act 2023 replaced the EQC Act for new natural hazard damage claims, and claims are generally made through your private insurer.

Your insurer may arrange or help arrange more detailed engineering assessments. This can include geotechnical or structural input, depending on the damage and what is needed to reduce the risk.

3. Get the site assessed properly

Landslip and subsidence problems are rarely just surface problems.

A failed bank, leaning wall or moving section may involve:

• saturated soil

• poor drainage

• water pressure behind a wall

• undersized or rotten retaining posts

• surcharge from driveways, buildings or sloping land

• unstable ground conditions

• stormwater or overland flow issues

• damage to accessways, services or neighbouring land

  
  

This is where the process often moves from “landscaping” into structural retaining, drainage, engineering and council compliance.

For red-placarded properties, MBIE notes that a detailed evaluation is likely to be needed, usually by a structural or geotechnical engineer. A detailed evaluation may also be recommended for yellow-placarded properties.

4. Work out whether a retaining wall or stabilisation work is needed

In many landslip situations, the practical solution involves rebuilding or constructing a retaining wall, improving drainage, and stabilising the affected ground.

Absolute Landscaping Solutions builds practical timber retaining walls for Auckland’s sloping residential sites, including work where drainage, access, excavation, backfill and engineering coordination are important.

Depending on the site, this may involve:

• removing failed wall material

• excavation and site preparation

• new timber pole retaining wall construction

• drainage coil and free-draining backfill

• filter fabric/geotextile where appropriate

• reinstatement of usable ground

• coordination with structural or geotechnical engineers

• construction to an approved design where consent is required

  
  

The aim is not just to make the property look tidy again. The aim is to reduce the risk, manage water properly, and create a retaining system suited to the site conditions.

Example: completed retaining wall after a North Shore landslip

A large slip can leave a property unstable, unsafe and difficult to use. This video shows a completed retaining wall built by Absolute Landscaping Solutions after a significant landslip on the North Shore.

The finished wall helped stabilise the affected area, restore usable ground, and protect the property from further movement.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/a94f4d_2892bcd50d7f43b3afcbddd2ff87aec2/720p/mp4/file.mp4

5. Check building consent and resource consent requirements

Many retaining walls on unstable or slipping land require consent, particularly where the wall is over 1.5 metres high or supports an additional load such as a driveway, building, vehicle load, swimming pool, another wall, or sloping ground above it. MBIE’s guidance says the common building consent exemption only applies where the wall retains no more than 1.5 metres of ground and does not support any surcharge or additional load.

In some cases, resource consent may also be relevant, especially where there are significant earthworks, drainage changes, unstable land, environmental overlays, or effects on neighbouring properties.

Absolute Landscaping Solutions can work with the relevant engineers and council process so the construction work follows the required design and consent pathway.

6. Understand natural hazards insurance cover

If the damage was caused by a natural hazard event, there may be cover available for some land damage and certain retaining walls.

The Natural Hazards Commission explains that limited cover may apply to retaining walls that support or protect your home, insured separate buildings, or insured land, and are within 60 metres of the home. Under the Natural Hazards Insurance Act, retaining walls have a separate limit of $50,000 plus GST.

This does not mean every retaining wall or landscaping feature is automatically covered. Non-structural retaining walls, fences, paving, driveway surfacing, trees, gardens and general landscaping are commonly outside natural hazards land cover.

Your insurer should guide the claim process, but it is useful to have clear documentation, photographs, engineer reports, consent documents and construction records.

7. Choose a contractor who understands retaining work, drainage and difficult sites

A landslip repair is not the same as a normal garden project.

The contractor needs to understand access, excavation, site safety, drainage, retaining wall construction, sequencing, engineer-designed work and council inspections where required.

Absolute Landscaping Solutions is an owner-operated Auckland landscaping and outdoor construction business with experience in retaining walls, earthworks, drainage and complex residential sites. For engineered or consented walls, we work alongside established engineering professionals so the wall can be designed and built around the actual site conditions.

Why act early?

Delaying can make the problem worse.

Water can continue building pressure behind failed ground. A leaning wall can move further. Slipped material can affect access, drainage, neighbouring land or the house itself.

Insurance, engineering and council processes can also take time, so early action helps clarify what needs to happen next.

Need help with a landslip, failed retaining wall or stickered property?

If your Auckland property has been red or yellow stickered after a landslip, or you are dealing with a failed retaining wall or unstable bank, Absolute Landscaping Solutions can help with the construction and coordination side of the repair.

We can assess the site, discuss the likely retaining or stabilisation work required, coordinate with engineers where needed, and provide a clear construction quote once the scope is understood.

Call John on 021 067 1694 or send through photos of the site so we can understand what has happened. You can also learn more about our retaining wall construction service here.