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Building Act 2004

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

51: Issue of building consent

You could also call this:

“When you get permission to build something, you receive a special document with important information.”

When you get a building consent, it must be in the official form. The consent will have some important papers attached to it. These include a project information memo (if there is one), a notice about development contributions (if needed), and a certificate (if one was issued).

If your building work might affect a historic place, the consent will say that Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga has been told about it.

If your building needs a compliance schedule, the consent will list the systems that must be on the schedule. It will also say how well these systems need to work according to the building code. If an existing compliance schedule needs to be changed, the consent will explain what needs to be updated.

Getting a building consent doesn’t mean you can ignore other laws about your building. It also doesn’t let you build, change, tear down, or move a building if doing so would break any other law.

If the building consent authority doesn’t get all the required documents from the local council in time, they can still give you the consent. But when they do get those documents, they must give them to you.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM306387.

Topics:

Housing and property > Home safety and repairs

Environment and resources > Town planning

50: Refusal of application for building consent, or

“Explaining when and how a building official must say "no" to someone's request to build something”

52: Lapse of building consent, or

“A building project must start within a year, or the permission becomes invalid”

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

51Issue of building consent

A building consent must—
be issued in the prescribed form; and
have attached to it a copy of—
1. the project information memorandum (if any) for the building work to which the building consent relates; and
2. a development contribution notice under section 36 (if any); and
3. a certificate issued under section 37 (if any); and
contain confirmation that Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga has been notified under section 39 (if applicable); and
if a compliance schedule is required as a result of the building work, state—
1. the specified systems that must be covered by the compliance schedule; and
2. the performance standards for the specified systems that are required by the building code; and
if an amendment to an existing compliance schedule is required as a result of the building work, state—
1. the specified systems that must be covered by the compliance schedule; and
2. the performance standards for the specified systems that are required by the building code.

The issue of a building consent does not, of itself,—
relieve the owner of the building or proposed building to which the building consent relates of any duty or responsibility under any other Act relating to or affecting the building or proposed building; or
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.

If a building consent authority does not, within the time limit for granting the building consent, receive from the territorial authority any document or information required for compliance with subsection (1)(b) or (ba), the building consent authority may grant the building consent despite that subsection.
However, the building consent authority must, on receiving the document or information referred to in subsection (3), provide the owner with the document or information.

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Notes

Section 51(1)(b)(i): amended, on 1 February 2010, by section 18(1) of the Building Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 25).
Section 51(1)(ba): inserted, on 1 February 2010, by section 18(2) of the Building Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 25).
Section 51(1)(ba): amended, on 20 May 2014, by section 107 of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014 (2014 No 26).
Section 51(3): replaced, on 1 February 2010, by section 18(3) of the Building Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 25).
Section 51(4): replaced, on 1 February 2010, by section 18(3) of the Building Amendment Act 2009 (2009 No 25).