Applying for a Building Consent

How to apply for a building consent

You can apply for a building consent through the ObjectiveBuild Building Consent system. You can also use this portal to apply for amendments to your approved building consent or a code compliance certificate when you have finished building.

The application is to be completed by the property owner or their authorised agent, e.g. architect, engineer, draughtsman or builder.

You must attach all documents relevant to your building project as a PDF.

Note:
A Record of Title not older than 6 months is required with the application available from Landonline (LINZ). Council can obtain the Record of Title on your behalf if requested.

Building consent applications can be complex. We recommend that you engage a professional to help with design work and drawings.

Documents to attach may include:

Plans that should include
- a location plan
- a site plan (we cannot accept aerial photographs as a site plan)
- a floor plan of each floor (if there is more than one)
- an elevation of each exterior wall
- a foundation layout
- a drainage plan
- sufficient cross-sections to show the full nature and extent of the work, including
  details of junctions and flashings
Specifications
Ground bearing report
Engineering calculations (if applicable)
Wall bracing calculations (if applicable)
Truss certificate (if applicable)
Wastewater details, complete with a wastewater evaluation form (if applicable)
An E2 risk matrix demonstrating weathertightness features (if applicable)
LBP names and license numbers
Design Certificate (2A) Restricted Building Work

Document Order for Building Consent Applications

Grey District Council follows the MBIE Standard Order of Documents checklist for building consent applications. Applicants should download and use this checklist to ensure documents are submitted in the correct order.

Submitting your Plans, Supporting Documents, and Specifications in the standard order helps streamline the consent process. It allows Building Inspectors to efficiently locate the required information on-site, especially when reviewing large files.

Once you have gathered all the necessary information, you can either apply online or submit a paper application to our offices.

Acceptance and management of professional or expert opinions

It may be appropriate to engage a suitably qualified and experienced professional or expert to assist in preparing your building consent application. Experts can help by providing evidence to support your application in demonstrating compliance with the building code.

Supporting evidence may take many forms, including:

tests, verification methods or other standards
appraisals of products or systems
reports, including calculations and modelling
peer reviews
comparison with similar products and systems
comparison with generic products and systems that are compliant with acceptable solutions
producer statements and other forms of certificate (IQP/LBP certificates, for example)
case studies of products and systems in use.

Professional opinions can assist in demonstrating compliance with the building code on reasonable grounds. They can also be used to assess alternative solutions.

When processing your building consent Council will need to determine if:

the source or author of the professional opinion is expert (competent) and independent
the basis for the opinion is acceptable.

Paper applications

Please submit paper applications to 105 Tainui Street, Greymouth 7805, New Zealand. Our staff are trained to assist you, and can scan your documents for a small fee.

Forms are available to download here.

Online applications

Applications for building consents can be made using Objective Build, our online consent application system.

Objective Build is the electronic means for you to upload and submit the following applications:

Project Information Memoranda(PIMs) only, to read more about PIM's please click here
Building consent (with or without PIM)
Amendment to a building consent
Code Compliance Certificate
Exemption from the need for building consent

Objective Build also enables uploading of documents during the consent and inspection phases.

How to pay

On receipt of your building consent application, Council will send you an invoice requesting a deposit. Click here for the schedule of fees.

Payment can be made by any of the following methods:

Direct debit: Phone 03-769-8626 or email accounts.receivable@greydc.govt.nz to set up a direct debit.
Direct Credit/Internet Banking: By following the instructions on the invoice.
In Person: By presenting at the Council office for payment by Cash, Eftpos, Visa or Mastercard

On receiving your application, we will vet your plans to ensure all relevant information has been provided. If your application is deemed incomplete, a correspondence will be sent advising the information required to allow your application to proceed.

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

If all required information has been provided correctly, your application will be accepted and the clock started from when you lodged the application. All applications or information received will be recorded as received the NEXT working day.

Once accepted your consent will be assessed against the Resource Management Act 1991, the Building Act 2004, New Zealand Building Code the District Plan and any other relevant legislative requirements. When the processing of the building consent is complete and the building officer is satisfied on reasonable grounds that compliance has been achieved, the consent is granted.

Following payment of any outstanding fees, the building consent is issued with conditions. At this point building work may begin unless the consent has been issued with a building consent restriction under the Resource Management Act 1991. If a Resource Consent is identified as being required during the consent process you will be notified and required to apply for and have this 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.

IMPORTANT

A building consent will lapse if the work is not started within 12 months after the date of issue of the consent.

Please let the Building Control team know if you will require more time to begin work. If we have not been contacted to undertake any inspections before then, we will contact you advising that the building consent will lapse at the expiry of the 12-month period. You may decide not to do the work; in which case the consent will lapse. Alternatively, you can apply for an extension of time to start the work. Time extensions are considered on a case-by-case basis. If we don't hear from you within the stated time, the consent will lapse and have no effect, and you will need to apply for a new building consent if you want to proceed with the building work.

Council must decide whether to issue or refuse a Code Compliance Certificate (CCC) within two years of granting a building consent.

Other legislation that may need to be considered:

Local Government Act 2002
Health Act 1956

Conditions of consent

Building consent conditions are requirements imposed on your building consent. These are deemed necessary to ensure the compliance of the proposed building. The conditions are listed on the building consent, and you must comply with these conditions.

The following are allowable conditions under the Building Act 2004 and regulations:

Section 67(2): Waivers and modifications
Section 73: Natural hazards
Section 75(2): Building on 2 or more allotments
Section 90: Inspections by building consent authorities

In all cases a Building Consent will be granted subject to section 90 of the Building Act, this enables the Building Consent Authorities authorised agents to inspect the work as stated by this section of the Building Act.

If a Building Consent application involves a waiver or modification to the Building Code it will be subject to Section 67(2) of the Building Act 2004, this allows the authority to add any conditions that it considers appropriate.

Building on land subject to natural hazards

Sections 71-74 of the Building Act 2004 are concerned with building on land which is subject to natural hazards, such as flooding, slippage and erosion.

There are risks in building on land subject to natural hazards for both the owner and Council. Under the Building Act, natural hazard means any of the following:

erosion
falling debris (rockfall)
subsidence
inundation (flooding)
slippage

When there is the construction of a building, or major alterations to a building, on land subject to a natural hazard, section 72 allows a building consent to be granted in certain situations but requires a notice to be placed on the property title. This notice warns future property owners of the natural hazard and takes away Council liability if there is damage as a result of the natural hazard.

While in some cases the granting of the building consent will have decided that the building work will comply with the building code, the natural hazard notice is still required to recognise that the land is subject to a natural hazard.

Natural hazard notices may affect the value of your property and your insurance cover, including disaster insurance provided by the Earthquake Commission (EQC). If you think natural hazards may apply to your project the Council recommends you seek professional or legal advice so you can make fully informed decisions. To find out more, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has published a guidance document on natural hazards.

We also recommend that you book a pre-application meeting to help you understand how the natural hazards provisions may affect your project.

Where the Council considers that the land is subject to a natural hazard, we are required to grant the building consent under section 72.

Land Subject to Natural Hazards (S72)[Form IS 29] (PDF, 31KB)

Building on two or more allotments

Section 75

To enable a building to be constructed over a legal boundary, it is required that each of the affected allotments (whether on the same certificate of title or not) are tied so that one cannot be sold or leased without the other.

There are two legal ways of addressing this issue:

either by tying each of the allotments by means of complying with s77,
or by legally amalgamating the allotments by way of survey plan which places all the affected land under the same certificate of title.

In either case the affected properties must be under the same ownership.

These matters should be addressed or understood before making a building consent application to avoid delays and misunderstandings during processing.

Section 75 in the Building Act

Section 77

Section 77 of the Building Act requires that when a building application is made to us (the building consent authority) to construct a building over an existing legal boundary(s), the consent cannot be granted until we issue a certificate under this section that the affected land cannot be sold or leased except in conjunction with the other land subject to the building work.

This condition is set out in a certificate authenticated by us, signed by the owner, and lodged with the district land registrar who makes an entry on each certificate of title or each affected allotment to which the condition applies.

Section 77of the Act allows us to accept the building consent for processing, but the consent cannot be issued until the certificate under section 77 has been registered against all affected property titles.

This is the simplest method of allowing a building to be constructed over legal boundaries.

Buildings with specified intended lives

When a building that is constructed or altered to have a specified intended life of less than 50 years, the BCA will issue the consent subject to Section 113 of the Building Act. This will impose a condition that states the building must be altered, removed or demolished on or before the end of its specified intended life. The Building Consent Authority will add any other condition it considers necessary.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand

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

The memorandum issued by the DRU EU will set out their advice in regard to provisions for means of escape from fire and the needs of persons who are authorised by law to enter the building to undertake fire-fighting.

Information about the types of applications that are required to be sent are available here.

Alterations to buildings subject to EPB notice

Where alterations are proposed to buildings subject to an EPB notice the BCA must give consideration to NZ Building Act Section 133AT.

It requires that the BCA be satisfied on reasonable grounds the building will comply “As Near As Reasonably Practicable” (ANARP) to Means of Escape and Access for People with Disabilities provisions before granting a building consent, also in the case of a substantial project it must include the necessary structural work needed to deem the building no longer Earthquake Prone. It also gives the Territorial Authority some discretion in this regard under certain circumstances.