This Retirement Villages Code of Practice establishes minimum requirements that retirement village operators must comply with to meet their legal obligations in New Zealand. These include some occupation right agreement terms and different types of policies an operator must have. Provisions in the code are enforceable by residents against operators.
Areas covered under this code include:
- Staffing of retirement villages
- Safety and personal security of residents
- Fire protection and emergency management
- Transfer of residents within a retirement village
- Complaints facility
- Meetings of residents with the operator and residents involvement
- Accounts
- Maintenance and upgrading
- Termination of an occupation right agreement by the operator or resident
- Communication with residents
The village operator is required to give you a copy of the Code of Practice (alongside the disclosure statement, occupation right agreement, and Code of Residents Rights) if you're intending to sign an Occupation Rights Agreement. If you want to get a head start on reading, you can download a copy the Code of Practice here.
Updated: 20 Nov 2025