Fees and Charges: Building Consents

Council has two key roles in Building Control. One is the processing, inspecting and certification of building work via the Building Consent process. The other is that of a Territorial Authority with the primary focus on Public Safety. With particular emphasis around Building Warrants of Fitness, Swimming Pools and Earthquake Prone Buildings. In addition to this the TA function deals with illegal buildings, enforcement actions and general guidance.

Council's Consent and Inspections role is independently assessed every two years as a Building Consent Authority.

Given the range of building project work that Council processes, a range of fees are applicable. These usually consist of an initial fee and any further fees required are charged at an hourly rate if technical advice or processing exceeds the initial fee.

These charges apply to all actions of the Council for which a charge may be levied pursuant to Section 219 and 240 of the Building Act 2004. The following outlines general fees for processing Building Consents. Further detail is provided under headings in the tables below:

Inspection Fees rate duration

All fees for Building Consent Inspections are valid for the two-year duration of a building consent. If you require an extension, any inspection carried out during the extension period will be at the rate applicable at the date and time of the inspection.

Investigation/Enforcement Fees

The Council will investigate instances of alleged non-compliance with the Building Act 2004, the Building Code and related matters. In the event that an investigation concludes that an offence has occurred, costs associated with such investigations, calculated in accordance with the hourly rate specified will be recovered from the offending party or owner of the property on which an offence has occurred. Where a non-compliance with the Building Act, Consent or Building Code requires a Notice to Fix Council will also charge for the cost of the Notice.

Please also note that:

• The standard fees in this schedule are minimum fees.
• Building consents will be granted and released once full payment of the fees has been receipted.
• Where the cost of processing significantly exceeds the fee or deposit stipulated below, then an actual time charge shall be payable at the hourly rate as set out in the schedule below.
• Fees associated with processing the building consent cover the assessment only. Inspections, lodgement, Code Compliance Certificate (CCC) and other professional fees are charged separately.
• An initial lodgement fee and other associated fees, such as levies and the online fee, are required with all Building Consent and Certificate of Acceptance (COA) applications.
• COAs require the highest level of technical input which may result in additional fees.
• Council will refund any unused portion of fees for cancelled or withdrawn consents.
• Specialist services (payable at cost) and Central Government levies payable via Council are additional to fees and charges.
• Fees are charged based on the market value of the building project or as specifically identified.
• The deposit fee is the total of the planning check fee and the processing fee, based on project value unless otherwise stipulated.

Online Fee:

All building applications are charged the applicable “online” application fee. These fees are set annually by the Objective Corporation and are on-charged to the applicant.

All fees and charges are inclusive of GST unless specified otherwise.