These guides and templates has been prepared for Bowling Clubs that are members of Bowls New Zealand to use as base documents for whatever requirement a club might have.

The constitution templates have been updated from previous club constitution templates to take into account membership structure changes made to the Bowls New Zealand membership structure. The explanatory notes in this guide explain the rules and note if they are required by law or under the Bowls New Zealand Constitution.

If your Club is part of a larger club or organisation which undertakes other activities (e.g. an RSA or a multipurpose sports club) this guide and template constitution will need amendments that recognise that status. It is recommended that clubs in this position obtain specific legal advice when preparing their constitutions.

Bowls New Zealand recommends that this template is used especially where a Club has not updated its constitution for some time or if a Club is looking to modify its constitution.

Each bowling club needs to tailor their own constitution to suit their membership. Bowls New Zealand does not recommend that clubs select isolated clauses from the template and insert them into their existing constitutions because the template's constitution rules have been designed to relate to each other and not in isolation.