If you're planning to install an outdoor fireplace in Canterbury, you've probably come across the term "Clean Air Zone" and wondered whether it affects your backyard plans. Here's what you need to know: outdoor fireplaces used for cooking are generally allowed in Clean Air Zones across New Zealand, even in areas with strict air quality regulations.
The confusion often comes from mixing up two very different sets of rules. One applies to indoor home heating (wood burners and pellet burners installed inside your house), and the other applies to outdoor cooking structures like fireplaces, pizza ovens, and fire pits.
Clean Air Zones are urban areas where regional councils have introduced stricter rules to improve air quality. In Canterbury, Environment Canterbury has designated eight Clean Air Zones in Rangiora, Kaiapoi, Christchurch, Ashburton, Washdyke/Timaru, Geraldine, and Waimate.
These zones exist because wood smoke from home heating contributes to winter air pollution. During cold months, smoke can settle in valleys and urban areas, creating health risks from particulate matter.
This is where most of the confusion happens. Clean Air Zone regulations primarily govern indoor solid fuel burners used for home heating. If you're installing a wood burner inside your house in Christchurch, for example, it must be an ultra-low emission burner that meets strict standards.
Open fires are prohibited inside homes in all Canterbury Clean Air Zones, and older-style wood burners have been phased out entirely. But outdoor fireplaces fall under separate regulations that are far more lenient.
For properties under two hectares in Canterbury, you cannot burn garden waste outdoors. However, outdoor cooking structures, including BBQs, pizza ovens, hāngī or umu, are explicitly allowed, as long as the smoke doesn't create a nuisance beyond your property boundary.
This exemption applies throughout Canterbury, including all Clean Air Zones. Your outdoor fireplace NZ setup can be used for cooking purposes year-round in Christchurch, Timaru, Rangiora, and other Clean Air Zone areas.
The distinction matters. If your outdoor fireplace has a cooking grill, it's classified as an outdoor cooking structure rather than just a recreational fire. This is why many outdoor fireplace designs in NZ include cooking grills as standard, as they maintain compliance with council regulations while giving you maximum flexibility. It is then the responsibility of the property owner to ensure the fireplace is used as a cooking device.
Before you install an outdoor fireplace, you'll need to check whether it requires building consent. Permanent outdoor fireplaces and ovens are exempt from building consent if they meet specific criteria.
Your outdoor fireplace doesn't need consent if it:
Most Trendz Outdoors fireplaces are slightly taller than 2.5 metres (at 2.6 metres), which can put them in a grey area. We're happy to work with your local council to clarify consent requirements or obtain exemptions.
While Clean Air Zone rules generally don't restrict outdoor cooking fires, you still need to follow Fire and Emergency New Zealand's fire season requirements. These change based on weather conditions and fire risk.
Before lighting your outdoor fireplace, check checkitsalright.nz to see whether your area is in an open, restricted, or prohibited fire season.
In an open fire season, you can light fires without restriction. In a restricted season, you may need a fire permit. In a prohibited season, most outdoor fires are banned.
However, there's good news for outdoor fireplace owners. Permanent outdoor fireplaces can now be used year-round, even during prohibited fire seasons, if they meet specific safety requirements:
All Trendz Outdoors fireplaces meet these requirements. Want to know more about using your outdoor fireplace during different fire seasons? Check out our guide on outdoor fireplaces during fire bans.
While this article focuses on Canterbury's Christchurch Clean Air Zone and surrounding areas, similar principles apply in other parts of New Zealand with air quality regulations.
In Auckland, Otago, and Hawke's Bay, outdoor cooking structures are generally permitted even where open recreational fires are restricted. The distinction between cooking and non-cooking fires appears in regulations across the country.
If you're outside Canterbury, check with your regional council about local air quality rules. In most cases, outdoor fireplaces with cooking capabilities remain compliant.
Clean Air Zone regulations shouldn't stop you from enjoying an outdoor fireplace. The strict rules you've heard about apply to indoor home heating, not outdoor cooking structures.
As long as your outdoor fireplace is used for cooking purposes, doesn't create a smoke nuisance for neighbours, and meets basic safety requirements, you're generally fine to install and use it in Canterbury's Clean Air Zones.
We've been manufacturing and delivering outdoor fireplaces throughout New Zealand since 2006, including hundreds of installations in Christchurch and other Clean Air Zone areas. Our team understands the regulations inside and out, and we're here to help you work through any consent or compliance questions.
Ready to start planning your outdoor space? Download our Outdoor Style Guide for inspiration and design ideas.