Building consent time frames

Find out how long it takes to get your building consent application approved.

Under the Building Act 2004, Council has a statutory timeframe of 20 working days to process and make a decision on a building consent application, as long as we have all the information we need.

This 20 working day clock begins from the next working day after we receive a complete application.

Request for Information (RFI)

If, during the processing of your application for a building consent, we consider that we need information that cannot be provided immediately by phone or email, we may issue you with an RFI.

An RFI is a formal request for information that we consider to be essential for the processing of your application.  Until we receive the requested information all processing work will cease and the statutory time clock will be stopped from the day after we issue the RFI.  The statutory time clock will remain stopped until we receive a response from you or your agent that is complete and enables us to make decisions concerning your application.

We will restart the statutory time clock on the day after we receive the information requested in the RFI.

National Multiple-Use Approval (Multiproof) processing timeframes

If you are applying for a building consent that includes a National Multiple-Use Approval (MultiProof) certificate then the statutory time frame for us to process your application is 10 working days. The RFI process that is described above also applies to a building consent that includes a MultiProof certificate.

A National Multiple Use certificate is issued by MBIE and any application needs to be compliant with all the conditions and options documented in the certificate.

BuiltReady (modular construction)

The BuiltReady Scheme has been developed to apply for modular construction of building components and whole buildings.  If you are applying for a building consent that includes a BuiltReady approval, then the statutory timeframe for us to process your application is 10 working days. The RFI process that is described above also applies to a building consent that includes a BuiltReady certified components.

For more information on BuiltReady please refer to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website.

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