Pre-lodgement meetings for building consent applications

The Department supports and encourages building consent authorities to provide this option to their customers. This is as long as they are used in the right circumstances and add value to the consenting process. These meetings will not always be needed to help process every building consent application, but many applicants and building officials have found them to be a big help in ensuring consent applications entered into the system have sufficient information, of adequate quality, and are processed efficiently, but also comprehensively, in terms of checking compliance with the Building Code.

Benefits of pre-lodgement meetings

Pre-lodgement meetings can benefit all parties - including applicants, designers and building officials. Some of the main benefits are noted below.

• They enable building consent authorities to clearly explain their information requirements for assessing building consent applications, the process by which they assess applications, and how they make decisions on whether to grant and issue a building consent or reject the application.
• Applicants can then do a quick status check to ensure they are on the right track and have covered off all material issues.
• They can help smooth the consenting process - especially for building consent applications containing more complex building designs or designs that are new or different from those designs typically submitted to the building consent authority (eg, large, complex commercial projects).
• They can identify potential compliance issues early in the process and consider ways of resolving them before applications are submitted. In many cases, such meetings can significantly reduce the potential for the building consent authority to have to suspend the consent process while it requests further information from the applicant.
• All parties are able to operate on a 'no-surprises' basis and foster a collaborative approach to ensuring the building design and subsequent building work is compliant with the Building Code and is appropriate for the end users of the building.

When will meetings be appropriate?

Pre-lodgement meetings may not always be appropriate or actually needed and they are a voluntary step in the overall consenting process. The important point is that the option to have the meeting is made available. Whether customers choose to take the opportunities of the meetings and get the benefits they provide is up to them. Pre-lodgement meetings should not be mandatory.

Each consent application is different and whether a pre-lodgement meeting adds value will depend on the circumstance of each case. There may be less need to hold meetings where designs are simple, designers/applicants have a very well-established relationship with the council concerned, and everyone has very clear expectations about the information that needs to be supplied for the building consent authority to make an informed compliance decision. Sometimes it will also be impractical to meet face to face - although phone conferences are a good option in such situations.

However, even in relatively simple building projects there may be a point of uncertainty or a misunderstanding that can be quickly resolved in a way that saves future time, effort, or costs. Before consents are lodged, there is usually a little more time and scope to make changes than when the clock starts ticking after lodgement, as often many applicants have arranged professionals and tradespeople to begin work based on their expected timing for the building consent to be issued.

The Department has seen many examples of building consent files that would have benefited immensely from the relevant parties meeting to discuss the proposed building project before the consent application was lodged. In most cases, common sense would suggest that the potential benefits described above justify spending an hour or so meeting with the local building consent authority before lodging a building consent application.

The Building Act 2004

There is arguably even more benefit now to having pre-lodgement meetings than there was under previous building legislation. This is because the Building Act 2004 places considerable emphasis on ensuring Code compliance is comprehensively assessed before building consents are granted and issued. Once the actual building work is completed and a code compliance certificate is sought, the Act provides that building consent authorities must issue a code compliance certificate if they are satisfied on reasonable grounds that the building work complies with the original approved building consent.

Under the former Building Act 1991, councils were required to issue a code compliance certificate if the building work complied with the Building Code. Building consent authorities are, therefore, very conscious of ensuring they get their decision-making around whether to issue the building consent right in the first place.

Summary of key messages

• Pre-lodgement meetings can add value and help ensure the consenting process goes smoothly and the right compliance decisions are made more quickly.
• The benefits are for all parties -applicants, designers and councils.
• They are voluntary and will be of more value in some cases than others - it all depends on the circumstances.
• More often than not, the potential benefits of such meetings far exceed the small amount of time and effort to have the meetings at the front end.