How it works
Firstpass gives you a fast, affordable first look at natural hazard overlays before you commit to a council LIM. Currently available for the Greater Wellington region only.
We check the parcel, not a pin in the road
When you enter an address, we geocode it to find the property location, then query the LINZ cadastral database for the legal parcel boundary — the actual section shape, not just a point on the street.
That parcel polygon is then intersected against hazard layers from Greater Wellington Regional Council's open GIS and your local council's district plan overlays (Wellington City, Lower Hutt, and Porirua today). If any part of your section overlaps a mapped hazard area, it is flagged.
Public data, explained plainly
All the hazard information in a Firstpass report comes from publicly available GIS data published by Greater Wellington Regional Council, local councils, and LINZ. We do not conduct site visits, engineering assessments, or interpret council files.
Each layer is explained in plain English: what it is, what it means for buying and insurance, and what a LIM would tell you that we cannot.
First pass → then a LIM
Firstpass is designed for the moment you are browsing Trade Me at 11pm, wondering if a section sits in a flood or liquefaction zone. For NZ$49 and a few minutes, you get enough information to decide whether the property is worth pursuing.
If you proceed to buy, you still need a council LIM (~NZ$345+, 5–10 working days). The LIM covers consents, drainage, notices, rates, and unconsented work — things no GIS intersection can tell you.
Read: Firstpass vs LIM →The process
- 1.Enter a Greater Wellington address
- 2.We geocode the address and fetch the LINZ parcel boundary
- 3.The parcel is intersected against 15+ regional and district plan hazard layers
- 4.You see a free preview with overall score and detected layers
- 5.Pay NZ$49 for the full report with detailed explanations and GIS citations
Important disclaimer
- Firstpass is not a Land Information Memorandum (LIM), title search, property survey, or engineering, legal, financial, or insurance advice.
- We are not civil engineers, lawyers, or insurers. We do not assess EQC or Natural Hazards Commission cover.
- Reports use publicly available GIS data from Greater Wellington Regional Council, local councils (Wellington City, Hutt City, Porirua), and LINZ. Data is dated and attributed to source agencies.
- “Not detected” means the checked location did not intersect the mapped hazard layer. It does not mean the land is free from risk.
- The overall score (1–5) reflects the worst significant layer, never an average that could hide a flood or instability risk.
- This is a first-pass check only. If you are seriously considering buying, you should still obtain a council LIM and seek professional advice.
- Firstpass is not affiliated with any council or government agency.