What plan data do we make available on Rico?

We do not make all plan information available on Rico. We focus on that which is relevant to including in planning assessments (resource consent applications and decisions). This typically consists of:

• Objectives, Policies, Assessment Criteria
• Matters of Discretion and Control
• Activities, Standards and Rules

Who owns Plan Data?

Rico is not the owner of plan data. This is publicly available information that we make available on our platform for our customer’s convenience.

We recognise the original authors of plans (typically local authorities in the case of local plans) as the owners of this information and notify them of our intended use of before making it available on our platform.

Out of respect to the original authors and to deliver a reliable service to our customers, we do our best to use data responsibly. We have consulted with local authorities and identified the following key considerations to be important in our use of this information:

• Plan information on our platform is kept up to date with any changes.
• No liability is attributed to relevant local authorities for use of their plan information on our platform.
• Rico is not a substitution for the original plan documents / ePlan.

These are addressed below.

How do we keep plan data up to date?

We make plan provisions that are operative or that have legal effect available on Rico. Plan provisions that do not have this weighting are considered to be a 'qualitative' consideration only and as such are not copied into our plan data. 

When a plan change or proposed plans becomes operative or has legal effect, we update our plan data accordingly.

To monitor for such changes, we monitor local authority communications, this involves one or multiple of the following methods:

• Check relevant plan change web pages weekly on a Friday.
• Subscribe to relevant email updates.
• Where we have a relationship with a council, establish contact with their policy team to have more timely updates.

Through the above methods we keep plan changes up to date within the week that a change becomes operative / has legal effect.

In addition to the above, we are looking to add 'last updated at' dates to all our plan data so this is apparent to users.

You can report any changes you are concerned about or that we may have missed or any plan data you would like to see available on Rico via email to support@rico.nz.

Who's responsible for the accuracy of plan data in Rico?

We take great care in keeping our plan data accurate and up to date, but as this is subject to change and controlled by outside entities, we do not take accept any liability for errors or omissions in our plan data. Our terms of use state Rico users "accept full responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of your application and of any reports, documents or advice given by you in completing the forms in conjunction with use of [Rico]."

As such, it's important to review the rules and provisions you're referencing and refer to these at their source. Links are provided throughout Rico to help facilitate this. Additionally, as Rico does not contain all information available in original plan documents / ePlans etc. where we get plan information from, these references enable you to read further parts of the plan where relevant.

How can I best use Rico for assessing projects with plan changes?

You can learn more about how plan changes are assessed in this example of How Plan Changes are Assessed in Rico.