The mayor of Rotorua says they warned the founder of a night shelter well in advance that the building wasn't up to code.

Mayor Steve Chadwick says there's no way they could turn a blind eye to a night shelter not up to fire and earthquake standards.

Visions of a Helping Hand founder, Tiny Deane, says he's had to shut up shop over fears he'd be fined $200,000 dollars because the property isn't compliant with fire laws, leaving around 50 homeless to sleep on the street.

He had hoped the council would turn a blind eye rather than send the dozens of homeless back onto the streets.

She says Mr Deane knew a long time ago the building wasn't compliant for people to sleep in.

"We've got to have public safety top of our mind and the building looks benign but it's not up to fire standards, not for people sleeping in it and not for earthquake strengthening."

 

Chadwick says the council is happy to work with Deane but getting the issue sorted will take time and must be done properly.

"He's very philanthropic, you know this isn't about him, he has a very special connection with the homeless but he needed to do his paperwork."

She says the building could be brought up to code.

"We've had support from MSD and to get it up to standard, the cost is not an issue, but we still don't even have the paperwork required to get it up and the other issue is it wouldn't be done overnight."