Just Doi, who described himself as an ageing hippie building his own home, said the vessel was "not seaworthy at all", but he had not finished it yet.
He was now free to do so after a protracted dispute with the Dunedin City Council had been resolved, he said.
The council had argued the structure was a house and it was subject to building regulations.
Mr Doi said it had now backed down and apologised.
"They’ve acknowledged that she’s a boat."
The council has not clarified if it accepts the structure is a boat, not a house, but a spokesman confirmed a resolution had been reached.
Mr Doi said the boat had its genesis in him responding to climate change and the threat of sea-level rise.
It turned out the council was not on board, flagging concerns such as windows suitable for land and not sea.
Mr Doi received notices ordering him to fix the structure and in 2018 the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment became involved.
The ministry initially considered the structure a house and later clarified if it became a boat that not much work was needed to make it suitable for navigation.
"Basically, they are saying that I’m obviously building a boat and it’s not far from meeting their peculiar requirements and that the council should really just leave me alone," Mr Doi said at the time.
He then got into choppy waters for not obtaining code-of-compliance certificates.
Mr Doi said he was delighted the matter was over and praised council chief executive Sandy Graham for her role in helping find a resolution.
The council spokesman said costs for the council largely involved staff time, which could not be quantified.
