The Self-contained Motor Vehicles Legislation Act 2023 was passed into law in the middle of the year and brought in new rules around freedom camping.
It also introduced changes for campervans and their self-contained toilets. Owners of campervans will have to have their vehicles checked by a registered inspector.
The check covers a vehicle’s water supply system, fixed toilets, wastewater system, ventilation system and secure rubbish storage.
Campervan owners will have some time to get certified but there will be a six-month difference between rental vehicles and private operators to carry this out.
All rental campervans will have to be certified by December 7 next year while private owners will have until June 7 in 2025 to be certified. They will have to get green warrants, which will last for four years.
Rental Vehicle Association of New Zealand chief executive Ben McFadgen said the different dates was a nightmare waiting to happen.
The biggest issue the association had was the date for rental operators was in the middle of peak tourist season.
"We are wondering how local councils and government agencies are going to manage the confusion and negative experience for the many travellers who are renting a self-contained camper in late November, that is suddenly non-self-contained part way through their trip on December 7.
"Everyone from operators to councils will be navigating and implementing the transition in the middle of the busiest month of the year and we will also likely see an influx of low-quality private vehicles taking advantage of the self-contained loophole because of the different dates.
"So what is going to happen is you are going to get two campervans, exactly the same, yet one which is rented is going to have to be to certified and the other ones are going to come along and do whatever they want."
There are about 5000 rented campervans in New Zealand and way more private campervans — "tens of thousands" — Mr McFadgen said.
Campervan renters were generally high-value travellers, who typically travelled in a manner which respected the environment.
This was quite different from the profile and average stay of an economically-private vehicle traveller — which was where most industry concerns originated, he said.
"These travellers can stay up to three to six months and often do everything they can to extend their budget.
"The challenges around waste that brought these legislation changes to the industry were largely caused by the lower end of the private market. Not just international travellers, but Kiwis themselves.
"We found this out during Covid when the borders were shut. The problem with rubbish and freedom camping was still there."
He said the least that could be done was to align the changes so they occurred out of peak season, because implementing them before Christmas was just ridiculous.
MBIE could not be contacted by deadline.
