Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Building Act 2004

Building - Building work—Project information memoranda and building consents - Building consents

44: When to apply for building consent

You could also call this:

“You need to ask for permission before you start building something new or changing your house”

You need to ask for permission before you start building something. This permission is called a building consent. You must ask for it from a special group that can give you this permission. They are called a building consent authority.

You can ask for permission all at once or in stages. If your building project has many parts, you can ask for permission for each part separately. This means you can get approval for one part of your project and start working on it while you’re still planning the other parts.

Remember, you always need to get this permission before you start any building work. It’s the law, and it helps make sure that what you’re building is safe and follows the rules.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM306380.

Topics:
Housing and property > Home safety and repairs
Government and voting > Local councils
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43: Building consent not required for energy work, or

“You don't need permission for most energy work, but some special cases still need approval.”

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45: How to apply for building consent, or

“ You need to fill out a special form and provide plans and other important information to ask for permission to build something. ”

Part 2 Building
Building work—Project information memoranda and building consents: Building consents

44When to apply for building consent

  1. An owner intending to carry out building work must, before the building work begins, apply for a building consent to a building consent authority that is authorised, within the scope of its accreditation, to grant a building consent for the proposed building work.

  2. An owner may make a series of applications for building consents for stages of the proposed building work.

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