Building Consent guidance and FAQ

You'll receive an invoice via the Build portal and payments can be made online, via internet banking or in the office.

The time it takes to process a building consent depends on the complexity of your project and the information you’ve given us.

Council is required to process your building consent in no more than 20 working days – if we make a formal request for more information, the days won’t be counted until we receive the information.

Please note: Under the Building Act 2004, the period beginning on 20 December to 10 January each year doesn't count towards the 20 working day timeframes. This means that the days between 20 December to 10 January will not count as working days.

If you need technical Build support, you can contact Objective directly via email build.support@objective.com or by phone 0800 024 508, Monday to Friday, 8am - 6pm (excluding public holidays).

This is a requirement of the Building Act and enables us to identify who owns the property and allotment details, including any easements or other legal instruments that might affect the proposed building work.

To obtain a Certificate of Title, visit the Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) website, contact your solicitor or see a land agent.

For developments where title is not yet available, you may submit a Sales and Purchase Agreement with your building consent application.

The estimated value of work provided on your application is used to calculate the levies due to the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE) and Building Research Association New Zealand (BRANZ).

All building work with an estimated value of work of $20,000 or more incurs a BRANZ levy.

All building work with an estimated value of work of $20,444 or more incurs a MBIE levy.

Your portal allows you to view any further information requests issued and responses received, upload documents, apply for a Code Compliance Certificate (CCC) and much more.

If your building consent application is approved and all fees have been paid, the consent will be uploaded to your online customer portal and you’ll be notified by email.

You can download the Build app from the Apple App Store to receive push notifications as your consent progresses.

All fees must be paid prior to your consent being issued.

You can apply for CCC within the customer portal, as these will need to be approved prior to your final inspection taking place.

Please make sure you upload all required documents with your application, as these will need to be approved prior to your final inspection taking place.

No, your consent must be issued before the work can commence.

Your building consent is valid for a period of 12 months from the date of issue, work must have commenced within this time or the consent will lapse and a new application will be required.

The building work should be completed within two years from the date that the building consent is granted.

If for any reason your project is delayed, it may be possible to apply for an extension. Give us a call on 0800 WAIPADC (0800 924 723) and speak to our Building Compliance team to discuss further.

Restricted Building Work (RBW) is design and building work that must be carried out by a Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP) as it is critical to the integrity of a residential building.

In the context of RBW, design work is the preparation of drawings, specifications and/or other documents for the purposes of consent. Registered Architects and Chartered Professional Engineers are treated as LBPs licensed in the design class.

Licensed Building Practitioners are designers, builders, roofers, bricklayers, carpenters, external plasterers and foundations specialists who have been assessed as competent to carry out such work.

The approval and registration of LBPs is maintained by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).You can check if someone is registered on the Public Register.

All active consents in AlphaOne will be automatically transferred, and AlphaOne will be available for 30 days after September 9.

Users are encouraged to submit any draft applications prior to changeover, which will begin from 5pm, Friday September 6. However, people will be able to submit any drafts into the new portal after the go-live date.