​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Applying for a building consent

The building consent process

The Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment have released a comprehensive guide for the building consent process. Before starting any building work we suggest you check out their guide to applying for a building consent.

Some building work may be exempt from requiring building consent, however all building work is still required to comply with the New Zealand Building Code.

Examples of exempt building work.

If you think your building work is exempt, we suggest you double check with Council’s Building department and speak to Planning staff to ensure your project won’t breach rules outside of the NZ Building Act.

To apply for a building consent you will need to:

1. Obtain application forms

• Download application forms
  If your project includes restricted building work you will also need a Form 2A and a Licensed Building Practitioner notification form.
• Pick up application forms from Council or we can send or email them to you.

2. Complete the application forms

We recommend engaging a design professional to complete the application forms as some fields require knowledge of the NZ Building Act and NZ Building Code.

• Complete the application form (Form 2) – required fields include; owners name, authorisation and signature, legally established use, floor area, estimated value of building work, applicable Building Code clauses with compliance methods and proposed inspections.
• You can print forms to complete manually with your paper based application or complete forms electronically using Adobe Acrobat Reader. For electronic lodgement of building consents, you must complete the form electronically or your application may be rejected. (scanned copies of manually completed forms will not be accepted with electronic applications)
• Ensure your application form includes a detailed description of the proposed building work.
• Complete the vetting checklist at the back of the application form (note: when completing these forms the page or specification sheet number must be completed in the appropriate column)
• Complete form 2A Memorandum from Licensed Building Practitioner for Restricted Building Work. Please note that a Certificate of Design work provided by the designer must:
  
  • Identify all of the Restricted Building Work (RBW) they designed or supervised - a full and accurate description is preferable and is in the best interests of the designer, especially where other designers were involved in the project, and although it is not necessary to replicate plans and specifications on the building consent application form, you must clearly reference your design documents.
  • State that the Restricted Building Work (RBW) complies with the Building Code or, if waivers or modifications of the Building Code are needed, what they are.
  • Include the Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP) number or your registration number if you are a registered architect or chartered professional engineer.
• Complete Licensed Building Practitioner notification form for restricted building work.

3. Collate plans and supporting documents

We cannot process your application without the correct information. The plans and documents you provide should demonstrate how your building design complies with the NZ Building Code. Your application may include (but is not limited to) the following where applicable:

• Site plan with contours
• Foundation plan
• Roof framing plan
• Bracing plan
• Lintel and lintel fixing plan
• Elevations including E2 Risk assessment
• Cross sections
• Roof plan showing downpipes and gutters
• Cladding, Subfloor, Construction details
• Plumbing and drainage plan
• Electrical plan
• Engineers drawings
• H1 calculations
• Product appraisals
• Product installation manuals
• Wastewater reports
• Details
• Engineers producer statements, drawings and calculations
• Subfloor and wall bracing calculations
• Fire report for commercial buildings - List of independent fire designers
• Truss layouts and design certificates
• Application for certificate of public use for public buildings
• Geotechnical reports or good ground assessments - List of Structural and Geotechnical Engineers
• Specified systems

Geotechnical reports or good ground assessments.

Refer to Rotorua Lakes Council's Civil Engineering Standardsrequired for all building applications. For more information on geotech conditions please refer to the Proposed District Plan Maps.

4. A more robust check of your Building Consent application

This suite of processing checklists is used by Council when processing your Building Consent application. Much of the delay in consent processing can be attributed to incomplete or inaccurate applications that lead to Council requesting further information.

The lost time and additional costs in producing and assessing further information could be minimised or avoided if applicants checked their Building Consent documentation against the appropriate checklist prior to lodgement with Council.

Checklists are amended as a result of legislative changes or continuous improvement, therefore it is important that you reference this website to obtain the latest versions.

5. Lodge your application with Council

Lodging a paper application

When you're ready to lodge your paper-based Building Consent application, you will need to book an appointment with a building vetting officer. We can then check you have given us everything we need to process your application before you lodge it. This step will help make the building consent process quicker for you.

To ensure availability please phone Council for an appointment or use our online Building Application Booking Form to book your appointment.

• For paper lodgement we require 2 copies of all supporting documentation (excluding the application form and form 2A)
• For commercial and industrial building applications, one set must be provided on a USB drive.

**Note: a lodgement deposit must be submitted with your Building Consent - Building Fees

Vetting appointment times are:

Tuesdays and Thursdays

• 8 - 10am
• 10:30am - 12pm
• 1 - 2:45pm
• 3 - 4pm

We recommend that you or your designer lodge your application in person and deliver to:

• 1061 Haupapa Street, Rotorua or
• Post it to: Rotorua Lakes Council, PO Box 3029, Rotorua Mail Centre, Rotorua 3046

Lodging an electronic application

You can lodge your application electronically by emailing us your application forms and documents.

Email your Building Consent application to buildingadmin@rotorualc.nz however, if size exceeds 140MB please email and request an access code to upload your documents.

Click here for instructions on how to sign electronic application forms

File requirements:

• Form 2 application completed electronically
• Files must be in PDF or PDF/A format
• A minimum of 300 DPI
• In colour where possible
• Grouped appropriately
• Renamed (as shown in red below)
• Email is limited to 140MB in size so multiple emails may be required for large applications. However, if size exceeds 140MB please email and request an access code to upload your documents.

File names and grouping requirements:

• Application Form 2 and vetting checklist (Completed electronically via Adobe acrobat reader only)
• Form 2A Memorandum from LBP – Certificate of design work
• Plans (Architectural plans to be separate from others i.e engineers, truss design)
• Specifications, Product appraisals, product manuals, re-site reports, bracing calculations
• Engineered design, Producer statements, engineering calculations, engineers stamped drawings, truss design
• Geotech Report AND/OR Good ground assessment
• Onsite Effluent Treatment Design – (Schedule 5, wastewater report/design)
• Fire Report
• Certificate for public use application
• Compliance schedule – specified systems inspections and maintenance forms

Emailed applications will continue to be vetted to ensure adequate information has been provided for assessment.
If your application is successful, an invoice for lodgement will be emailed. Once this has been paid, Council has 20 working days to process your Building Consent.

Building Fees

If you need assistance with this process please contact our office on 07 348 4199 (8am - 5pm Mon - Fri).

Important note:

Any new work, addition to existing building, residential, commercial or industrial will require a suitable soil investigation to justify the foundation design and demonstrate compliance with the Building Code. If you would like to speak to a building officer about this requirement as it applies to your consent please contact Council on 07 348 4199.