Guidelines

The Director Civil Defence Emergency Management issues guidelines under the CDEM Act 2002, as well as other supporting documents. Find guidelines to support emergency management.

What is a guideline?

Guidelines are designed to help organisations:

  • understand their responsibilities under the Act, and
  • properly exercise those responsibilities.

Guidelines issued under the Act can be:

  • Director’s Guidelines (DGL)
  • Technical Standards (TS)

Guidelines not issued under the authority of the Act include:

  • Best Practice Guides (BPG)
  • Information Series’ (IS)
  • Factsheets

Guidelines (excluding factsheets and Supporting Plans) are named based on:

  • type of guideline,
  • number of the guideline
  • publication year.

For example, DGL 10/20 would be the tenth Director’s Guideline published, and it was published in the year 2020.

Types of guidelines

Director’s Guidelines (DGL)

Director's Guidelines provide guidance and advice on how a function defined by legislation or national planning arrangements should be performed.

Technical Standards (TS)

Director's Technical Standards set out the requirements for technical matters. They support national consistency across New Zealand. They must be accounted for when preparing any CDEM Group Plans.

Best Practice Guides (BPG) and Information Series (IS)

Best Practice Guides and Information Series documents supplement the CDEM Act, Regulations and Director's Guidelines. They are informative in nature and are not issued under the Act's authority. They have information, current best practice examples and advice on different topics. They are usually developed in partnership with a range of agencies.

Quick guides and factsheets

Factsheets outline different processes related to legislative or financial requirements. They are informative and are not issued under the CDEM Act.

Supporting Plans

Supporting Plans are national plans on specific topics or emergency events. They are not included as part of the list of guidelines by topic.

Find a guideline by topic

Note: This does not include Supporting Plans.