Certificate of Acceptance

What is a Certificate of Acceptance?

An owner may apply for to a Territorial Authority for a Certificate of Acceptance (COA) in the following instances:

• A certificate of acceptance may be issued for any building work carried out after 1 July 1992 that should have had a building consent
• Where a building consent was approved by a building consent authority other than this Council (for example, private certifiers) and a Code Compliance Certificate has not been issued.
• Where urgent work is required to be carried out, Contact the Building team at Council to notify of the urgent work required to be carried out and council will instruct what information/ documentation needs to be recorded and supplied for the COA application.
• Where urgent work as defined in Section 41(1)(1) of the Building Act has been completed without a building consent. Urgent work' means work that is for the purpose of saving or protecting life or health or preventing serious damage to property or ensuring a specified system is made safe. In the case of urgent work the owner must apply for a COA as soon as practicable after completion of the work.

Please note you MUST have a pre-application meeting before an application for a COA can be lodged.

Prior to the pre lodgement meeting you will need to have some information to bring with you:

• A copy of the property file
• Ideally, scaled architectural drawings of the work, or as a minimum a copy of the property file plans highlighting the changes to show what the COA application will be for.
• Photos of the area/work associated with the COA
• Where possible, Photos of the build sequence as the work was completed to assist in building a picture of the construction
• Any other relevant records of the work such as engineering, producer statements, or other specialist certification to support he work carried out (this maybe in the for of Producer statements, installer statements, warranties etc.)

Download: - COA Checklist – Residential dwelling

There is a popular misconception that applying for a COA as provided for in section 96-99 of the Building Act 2004 (the Act) will result in an owner being issued with a certificate that has similar status to a Code Compliance Certificate issued under sections 91-95 of the Act. This is not the case. A COA, if issued, is likely to cover only limited aspects of the building work that was undertaken.

Once building work has been completed we are often unable to undertake all types of inspections carried out during construction. It may not therefore be possible to establish if all building code requirements have been met. Therefore Certificate of Acceptances issued are limited and qualified to the effect that only parts (if any) of the building work were able to be verified as complying with the Building Code.

A COA does not relieve the owner of the building (or proposed building) of any duty or responsibility under any other Act relating to or affecting the building (or proposed building). A COA also does not permit the construction, alteration, demolition, or removal of the building (or proposed building) if that construction, alteration, demolition, or removal would be in breach of any other Act.

The granting of a COA does not remove the need to obtain a retrospective resource consent if one is required under the Western Bay of Plenty District Plan.

An application for a Certificate of Acceptance will not be accepted where:

• The work was completed before 1 January 1993 (effective date for the Building Act 1991)
• Council has issued a building consent for the building work in question but a Code Compliance Certificate has not been issued (this is specifically excluded in the Act)
• There is insufficient information about the project to enable the work to be assessed

Also an application for a COA may not always be the best or most economic option when Council has declined to issue a Code Compliance Certificate where a private certifier approved the building consent, undertook inspection/s but did not issue a Code Compliance Certificate.

In some cases an application to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) for a determination may be appropriate. Please refer to the MBIE determination information for further information.

Council charges a fee for the processing of an application for a Certificate of Acceptance, for further details please see our fees and charges page.

Have you received a Notice to Fix or wish to legitimise building work that was carried out without a building consent?

Whether you have received a Notice to Fix (NTF) or just want to make your building work compliant, then this flow chart will guide you through this process.

Apply for a Certificate of Acceptance

Certificate of Acceptance Application - Apply via online services page.