Apply for a Building Consent

Building Consent applications can be complex; a designer who is a licensed building practitioner will have the knowledge and experience to provide the BCA with the required application details.

 Each application must be accompanied by: 

• a set of plans and specifications
• if applicable, one set of engineering calculations, accompanied by Producer Statement Design PS1 from a Chartered Professional Engineer.
• one set of wall bracing calculations and, if applicable, a Producer Statement Design Review PS2 from a suitably qualified Chartered Professional Engineer.
• if applicable, an E2 risk matrix (demonstrating weather tightness features); and the application fee.

Commercial building consent applications may require specified systems, which will involve proposed inspections, maintenance, and reporting procedures (IMR). Specified systems are crucial to the safety and health of a building and those who use it. As a building owner it is your responsibility to ensure the systems are inspected and maintained according to the compliance schedule. If specified systems form part of your building consent application, this will trigger the need for a Compliance Schedule. Refer to Compliance Schedule for further information.

All consent applications need to be made online using the application checklist. This is found on Council's website Objective Build.

For more detailed information refer to the Building Consent checklists below:

• Checklist for Residential (pdf) 
• Checklist for Commercial (pdf) 
• Private Wastewater System Checklist (pdf)
• Solid Fuel Heater (Fireplace) Checklist (pdf)

You need to apply online to take full advantage of the Building Consent Authority’s (BCA) online consenting system, Objective Build. It provides visibility on the current status of the application as well as the ability to apply for Code Compliance Certificate online when the building work is completed.

You can view the Objective Build system to show how to complete a Building Consent application form online, before you commence this process.

You can find an appropriate checklist here Form 2(Residential) or Form 2(Commercial) to assist you in preparing your application. It would be an advantage to provide details of the Licensed Building Practitioners (LBPs) to be used for each stage of the project. If an online application is not possible, we are able to accept paper applications if necessary, however this option is not recommended. Paper applications can be received by email, or delivery to our office located at Unit 6, 6 Molesworth Drive, Mangawhai 0505. Once received, we will convert your application into digital form for online processing and tracking.

On receipt of your application, our Technical Services Team will vet your plans to ensure all relevant information has been provided.

Please note: This is not a technical assessment but merely a check to ensure all necessary information has been included.

On receipt of your application, and if after vetting, all information necessary has been confirmed along with your paid fees, the statutory time clock will start the next working day. If your application is declined, it will be returned to you with a list advising the type of information that is required.

Under Section 46 of the Building Act 2004 the BCA is required to send certain applications to Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) for review under the Fire Service Act. Where this occurs, FENZ have 10 working days in which to provide their feedback / memorandum to the BCA.

The memorandum issued by FENZ will set out their advice regarding provisions for means of escape from fire and the needs of persons who are authorised by law to enter the building to undertake firefighting.

Types of applications that are required to be sent are detailed at https://gazette.govt New Zealand Gazette.

Please refer to the New Zealand Building Act 2004 in the stated sections for detailed information and requirements regarding the following subjects:

• Section 112 - Alterations to existing buildings
• Section 115 - Change of Use of a building
• Section 116 - Extension to the ‘specified intended life’ of a building
• Section 116A - Subdivision of an existing building
• Sections 133AA - 133AY - Earthquake Prone Buildings, which includes a summary on Council’s website and: Managing Earthquake-prone buildings

If you own two lots and you intend to build across the boundary of the second lot the Building Act section 75 will apply. Council is required to issue a certificate to the Registrar General of Land signed by the owner of the land. The certificate requires that the affected lots must be sold together.

The only two exceptions of this requirement are:

• If a Party wall (fire rated to the required level) is installed on the affected boundary
• If the Registrar General of Land has granted an exemption

Please refer to the Building Act sections 75 – 80 of the Building Act 2004 for details: Public Act 80 Records of Title for 2 or more allotments subject to registered instrument

You can lodge your Building Consent online through Objective Build.  Your application will be checked for completeness and formally accepted (subject to all information provided and fees being paid).

You will be invoiced on lodgement of your application, based on the value of work and applicable levies. Refer to the Fees and Charges as a guideline. 

The method of fee and levy payment for Building Consents can be made by the following options:

a.    Pay an invoice through KDC’s website

b.     Direct Debit.  Details of direct debit payments are included in your invoice, or

c.     Payment over the counter at either of Council’s office locations

The cost of allocated inspections (calculated by building complexity) and costs associated with the Code Compliance Certificate are included in the Fees and Charges for building applications.

Additional inspection fees may be charged over and above the allocated inspections, depending on the building consent.

Please also refer to our Development Contributions Policy.

Building Consent processing time depends on the complexity of your project and whether or not you have provided us with sufficient information that demonstrates compliance with the NZ Building Code.

All Building Consents are required to be approved within 20 working days, however; if information is deficient the statutory time clock is stopped, and a formal request for further information will be made. The statutory time clock is not restarted until the requested information is received in full.

It is possible that your Building Consent application requires checking by several disciplines; therefore, the statutory time clock may be stopped on more than one occasion.

All applications are put through a formal vetting process.  The vetting process is not a technical check but merely a check to ensure all information has been provided.  Your application may be rejected at this time if there is insufficient information.  

Once the application has been vetted it is then receipted and entered into our processing system and allocated a unique identifier, (i.e. your Building Consent number). 

The application is then allocated and circulated to the various disciplines within Council for processing, (i.e. planning, structural / Geotech engineering, building, stormwater, wastewater, drainage etcetera).

The consent application, including all accompanying specifications and supporting documents, are assessed for compliance against the Building Act 2004 which includes the NZ Building Code. The Building Code contains a series of clauses that are referenced to the specific part of the building (e.g. ‘B1 Structure or ‘E2 External Moisture’). Building Code compliance.

The application must demonstrate compliance ‘on reasonable grounds’ with all the relevant sections of the Act and Building Code at which time the building consent will be issued.

Specialist Input is often required (typically structural, Geotech or wastewater engineers) and will be on-charged at a tiered rate in accordance with our Fees and Charges.

Each discipline will review your application and assess it for compliance.  If there are any questions or concerns, you will receive a communication (via Objective Build and or an email) requesting further information (RFI) or clarification.

It is important you respond to the RFI by replying directly through Objective Build, or to the email sent to you. This will send your reply directly back into your electronic consent application and to the processor who is working on it.  

When a request for further information (RFI) is sent the 20-working day statutory time clock is stopped, and processing is suspended until this information is provided in full.

Once all disciplines are satisfied that compliance is achieved, a final check is made to ensure all work has been assessed correctly.  If satisfied, the statutory time clock is stopped at the time of granting and issuing the building consent. Granting and issuing the building consent means the BCA processing officer has been satisfied on reasonable grounds (as referred to under Section 49 of the Building Act 2004) that if the building work was completed in accordance with the plans and specifications the building would comply with the provisions of the NZ building code.

What if you want to make minor changes to the application before the consent is issued? i.e. ‘minor variations’ or ‘amendments’

Note: If the consent has not been issued any changes, whether minor or major, are not ‘changes to the consent’ since it has not yet been issued. It is rather changes to the ‘application.’

If the proposed changes were applied for ‘after’ the consent is issued, the changes are ‘minor variations’ or ‘amendments’ to the ‘building consent.’

If the processing of the application has not been completed and you want to make changes, you must contact the processor and discuss the proposed changes as soon as possible.

The processor must determine what effect these changes would make on the application. The changes may be quite simple and only require superseding minor details. However, if the changes are significant or differ substantially from the originals, a new application may be required. This could depend on how far the processor has advanced with the original application.

Other considerations include:

• Whether the proposed changes require re assessment in terms of value of work (i.e., fees & charges including BRANZ, MBIE levies and Development contributions).
• Whether the proposed changes affect the District Plan, therefore Planning may need to review the proposed changes

Granting you building consent is conditional on enabling the building work to be inspected.

You will be notified of any outstanding fees at the point when we are satisfied that building consent may be granted and issued or refused.  When these fees are paid, the building consent will be issued, in most situations the initial fee will cover all costs.

If we consider the building consent cannot be granted, we are required to refuse to issue the consent.  This does not alleviate the requirement to pay any outstanding building consent fees. 

You will be notified when your application is ready for issue (or refused issue) and all fees are paid, your building consent (Form 5) will be uploaded to the Objective Build portal.   If there are outstanding fees, then you will receive an invoice advising you that your building consent is granted and may be issued when all fees are paid.

Please note that the BCA no longer prints Building Consents, and this will be the applicant’s responsibility. 

As soon as you receive your issued building consent, you may commence building works in accordance with the approved building consent.

If a Resource Consent is identified as being required during the building consent process, you will be notified and required to apply for a resource consent. Your resource consent must be granted before any building work may commence.  A Section 37 certificate will be issued with the building consent if the resource consent hasn’t been obtained prior to Building Consent issue.

Note: Please ensure all consented plans, specifications and all supporting documents are printed off and available for all site staff as well as Council’s Building Service Officers (Inspectors).

Your building consent application may be refused if the consent documentation does not adequately demonstrate compliance and the Building Code.

If you disagree with our decision about building work, a determination by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) can help you solve the problem.

Refer to our Determinations section for more information on this service: Understanding determinations | Building Performance

Building Consents are valid for 12 months from the date of issue.  Work must have commenced within the 12 months, or the Building Consent shall lapse requiring a new application. However, you may apply for an extension of time to ‘commence’ work. Extension of time applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the BCA to ensure the proposed building work continues to meet the requirements of the Building Code.

Please note that extensions of time for building work to start can only be made prior to the 12 months’ expiry date as the application cannot be processed after the lapse date. A new application will be required. 

You can apply for an Extension of time using the application form which is available from our Council office/s or our Website under the section “Services”, “A-Z Services”, “Forms A-Z”, “Building”, “Application Forms”, “Extension of time to commence or complete building work”.

You may also access the form from Council’s website under the section “How long is my Building Consent valid for?”

The MultiProof scheme is beneficial for builders and companies who build standardised designs. It provides evidence of compliance for Building Consent Authorities, and is a statement by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) that a set of plans and specifications for a building complies with the Building Code.

To be eligible for MultiProof, you must have the intention and the ability to build an approved design at least 10 times over two years. MultiProof speeds up the consenting process. It does not give the right to carry out building work in advance, if the building wok requires a building consent. You still need to apply for consent each time you want to build.

MultiProof establishes that a design complies with NZ Building Code.

Yes. National multiple-use approvals are issued by the MBIE. A MultiProof is a statement by the Ministry that a specific set of building plans and specifications complies with the New Zealand Building Code. Under the Building Act 2004, Building Consent Authorities (councils) must accept a MultiProof or national multiple-use approval as evidence of Building Code compliance. However, a building consent is required each time you want to build a design that has been issued with a national multiple-use approval.

Product Assurance and MultiProof.

When your building consent application includes a MultiProof the BCA must grant or refuse it within 10 working days instead of the usual 20.

When receiving a building consent application that relies on a MultiProof, the BCA will undertake the following:

check the application is complete, based on the list provided on the previous page of this document

• ensure the application is within the terms of the MultiProof and that the approval is current
• assess the Building Code compliance of any building features not covered by the MultiProof (for example, site-specific features, such as drainage)
• check that the Memoranda (‘Approval/s’ of design work) for the site-specific RBW include all the necessary information
• ensure that the proposed site meets the conditions of the MultiProof (such as wind or climate zone limitations)
• ensure any other approval conditions are met
• grant or refuse the building consent within 10 working days
• advise the applicant, in the building consent, of inspection requirements and any documentation that must be supplied before the code compliance certificate will be issued, such as an energy work certificate and Memoranda (Records of Building Work) from the trade LBPs involved in the construction of RBW.

Similar to a building consent, the BCA may need to contact you for further information on aspects of your application during processing.

If this is the case, the BCA will ‘stop the statutory time clock’ and will not continue processing your application until we receive the requested additional information. When the requested information is received, the BCA will ‘restart the statutory time clock’ and continue processing your application.

When we have finished processing your application, you will be notified of the outcome including confirmation of the building consent being issued.

BuiltReady is a voluntary certification scheme for manufacturers of modular components.

It allows registered manufacturers to issue certificates covering the manufacture, or design and manufacture, of modular components.  Certificates will need to be included in building consent and CCC applications.  The modular components that have certificates issued by a design and registered manufacturer will be ‘deemed to comply’ and the certificates must be accepted by the BCA as evidence of compliance with the Building Code.

The BCA will;

1.     ensure the manufacturer supplying the certificates that accompany a building consent or CCC application have a current registration within the scheme.

2.     Check that the modular component is used in accordance with the scope and limitations as defined on the certificate, and

3.     Need to establish the extent of any work not covered by a manufacturer's certificate.

CodeMark is a voluntary product certification scheme that provides an easily understood and robust way to show a building product or building method meets the requirements of the New Zealand Building Code.

A CodeMark certificate must be accepted by the BCA as meeting the requirements of the New Zealand Building Code, provided the certificate is current and the product or method is used in accordance with details noted on the certificate.

There is a mandated certificate template for CodeMark certificates that certification bodies must use when issuing certificates.

Effective 11th December 2023, new CodeMark scheme rules 4.4 and 4.5 relating to public disclosure requirements commence. Under this new rule, certificate holders are required to make information such as design or installation manuals accessible on their website or via request on their website. There are instances when a certificate holder may reject a request for this information, for example if the product requires an approved installer and the person requesting is not approved to install the product. Information such as test reports and opinions are not required to be disclosed.

For more information on CodeMark, please reference this link CodeMark | Building Performance