Some faults are not able to be precisely located. For example, a good clear trace may be separated by a gap from another fault trace which is aligned along it. Such cases require more extensive investigation, and prudence would suggest not building in such a locality unless likely faulting could be disproved. There is no organised link between scientific information and land information such as a national inventory of accurately located active faults that is tied to cadastral land data. Although there is a considerable amount of existing scientific information, in many areas it is not easily accessible for planning purposes.
Any inventory needs to be able to be updated as new information comes to hand.
There are no national guidelines about how such information could or should be incorporated into district schemes. Some regions or districts have accurately located hazards such as faults, whereas others have overlooked them, or only include vague statements in their plans. There are no national guidelines regarding building on or close to active faults. Some local authorities prohibit such building in their district schemes, whereas others assume that this is something that will be dealt with under the Building Act. The Resource Management Act has deliberately moved away from national to regional control in order to give local authorities greater responsibility for their own regions.