Applying for a Building Consent Step by Step

Before you begin

• Know where the property is - If your property subdivision is not fully complete, you must lodge your consent under the parent parcel (original Lot) and provide details of the pending Lot and DP numbers
• Know the owner and have proof of ownership - The owner is listed on the Certificate of Title (Certificate is to be no more than 3 months old); or on the rates valuation; or an unconditional sale and purchase agreement.
• Plans - Indicate the scale and the sheet size on each plan
• Specifications must be merged into one document in PDF format
• Supporting documents must be merged into two documents in PDF format
• Ensure documents have OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and bookmarking.
• Council's system does not accept PDF portfolios.

Pre-lodgement meetings

If your building project is for a complex addition, architecturally designed dwelling or commercial we recommend having a pre-lodgement meeting with the Councils officers. At the meeting we can confirm the adequacy of the information being prepared for the application and/or highlight any areas where additional information will be required.

A pre-lodgement meeting can include officers from various Council teams including the building team, resource consents, development engineering or health depending on the nature of the proposed project

To book a pre-lodgement meeting, email BuildingCounterEnquiry@westernbay.govt.nz and include a simple description of the scope of works to be carried out, and a contact phone number.

Registering as a new user

Go to Objective Build, click on New Users / Register and complete the details. You will receive a confirmation email, click on the link provided, log in and you are good to go!

For help and support, contact the dedicated Objective support team, available - Monday to Friday - 8:30am to 6:00pm. Email: build.support@objective.com or call 0800 024 508.

Prepare your application

• An agent or owner can lodge the application
• The application can be shared with other interested parties
• The applicant is responsible for identifying which clauses of the building code the project complies with

Manage required documents

Standard order of documents checklist for building consent applications.

• Upload files to the correct folder (e.g. Certificate of Title [no more than 3 months old] into the Certificate of Title folder)
• Plans and specifications must be PDF and uploaded as one document each
• Supporting documents must be PDF, Doc or DOCX and you may upload two separate documents
• Supporting documents are to include:
• Bracing calculations
• H1 calculations
• Truss design
• Lintel/beam design
• Engineering
• Geotechnical report (if required).
• Ensure these have OCR and bookmarking
• A copy of the building consent and approved plans must be held on site at all times. This is the applicant's responsibility
• Please clearly indicate the scale and the sheet size on each plan.

Submit your application

You can submit, manage and track applications for your building consent from anywhere, at any time though the Objective Build.

Returning or rejecting a consent application at initial receipt and checking

A BCA (Building Consent Authority) does not have to accept for processing any application that is not a complete application and does not comply with the Act and associated regulations (and does not contain all the relevant information).

A BCA’s policy, procedure and system may provide that it returns or rejects a non-complete application. It is adequate for the BCA to:

• advise the applicant that the application is non-compliant with the Act and associated regulations,
• reference the relevant information that is absent or where the application is deficient.

For example, the BCA may make a statement such as:

“We consider that your application is non-compliant with the Building Act 2004 and associated regulations that require us to be provided with certain information. Insufficient information has been provided in the prescribed Form 2 (Application for project information memorandum and/or building consent). It was noted that several required fields were not populated (this included the legal description of land where the building is located, owner and contact details, estimated value of the building work). Furthermore, the applicant has not signed Form 2.”

Refusing a consent application on assessment prior to processing

A BCA’s policy, procedure and system may provide that it refuses a materially insufficient application. It is adequate for the BCA to:

• advise the applicant that the application is materially insufficient.
• reference the relevant information that is absent or deficient.

For example, the BCA may make a statement such as:

“We are refusing your application for a consent. We consider that the application and accompanying information were insufficient for us to make a decision about your proposed building work’s compliance with the New Zealand Building Code. In particular:

• A generic specification has been provided which includes trades and products/materials that are not relevant to this project. The specification should be edited so that it accurately reflects the proposed building work.
• A report is required on how the owner intends to address the building’s means of escape from fire, protection of other property, sanitary facilities, structural/fire-rating performance, and access/facilities for people with disabilities. This report will assist the council in making a decision on the level of upgrade required for this building.
• We require information about the proposed inspection, maintenance and reporting procedures for the modified and new specified systems.”

Refusing a consent application after an RFI and as a result of processing

The RFI process is not intended to act as a safety net for a poorly written application. A BCA can refuse a building consent if the information received in response to an RFI is materially insufficient. There is little value in trying to use multiple RFI processes to try to rectify a consent application that has material or multiple flaws.

Where an RFI response is responded to with a holding note such as: “this point to be supplied at a later date” the response will be taken by council as conformation of an incomplete application and result in an immediate refusal of the application as set out in Section 50 of the NZ Building Act 2004.

In order to avoid refusal of the application please do not submit holding responses. Only complete responses clearly addressing the points raised will be accepted. Partial responses will not be accepted.

A building consent must also be refused where the employee or contractor processing the consent is not satisfied on reasonable grounds that the building work would comply with the Building Code.

Section 50 of the Act provides that where a building consent is refused an applicant has to be given:

• written notice of the refusal to grant an application,
• reasons for the refusal.

A BCA may provide written notice by way of letter, fax or email.

When refusing a building consent as a result of processing, it is adequate for a BCA to state:

• it is not satisfied on reasonable grounds that the building work would comply with the Building Code
• the relevant Building Code clause where the application is deficient.

For example, the BCA may make a statement such as:

“We are refusing your application for a consent. We are not satisfied on reasonable grounds that your proposed building work would comply with the New Zealand Building Code. In particular:

• We are not satisfied, on reasonable grounds, that the proposed wall cladding product, recently introduced to New Zealand, complies with Building Code clauses B2 (Durability) and E2 (External moisture)
• Our request for further information (RFI) about the cladding has not been supplied within what is considered to be a fair and reasonable timeframe (that was 30 working days from the date of the original RFI)”.

A BCA is not required to provide detailed reasons for each Building Code clause as to why an application may be deficient, or to detail all the deficiencies. It is also not required to provide any advice on how to rectify any deficiencies. This may blur the lines between the role and responsibilities of the applicant, and the role of the BCA (as the regulator).

You can read the following on the Legislation website:

• The Building Act 2004
• The Building Code (Schedule 1 of the Building Regulations 1992)