Completing your project

Step 10: Engage a builder and start construction

Now that you have your resource and building consents, you can get to work! The next important step is to engage the contractor(s) who will carry out the work.

Here are some other important points to note as you work on your building:

• Your building consent will lapse if you don’t start your building work within 12 months unless you have made arrangements with the council for a longer period to apply. If the building consentlapses, and you still want to do the work, you will have to apply for a new building consent.
• The Building Act anticipates that building work will be completed and a code compliance certificate applied for within 2 years of the building consent being granted. An extension to this 2-year period can be agreed with the council.
•  The council can issue a notice to fix if you don’t comply with the Building Act; for example, if you don’t follow your building consent, or you don’t comply with the inspection process. A notice to fix requires you to put right any breaches of the Building Act. You could be fined if you, or your builder, fail to comply with a notice to fix.

For more detailed information on licensed building practitioners refer to the publication Occupational Licensing in the Building Sector which is available on the Department of Building and Housing’s  website.

Step 11: Ensure inspections are carried out

Inspections are required to ensure that building is being undertaken in accordance with the building consent and to ensure that the council will have enough information to issue a code compliance certificate (see Step 13).

All the building inspections listed in your consent must be completed. These will be scheduled at key points to show that work complies with the consent – such as a prelining inspection before the wall is closed up. If work isn’t ready when the building official arrives, you may have to pay for more inspections.

Step 12: Building is complete

The building work is complete when all the work is finished in accordance with the building consent.

Step 13: Get a code compliance certificate

When you finish your project, you must arrange for a final inspection and then apply to the council for a code compliance certificate (CCC). The council has 20 working days from the date of your application to decide whether to issue a CCC. If the council requests further information, the process goes on hold until the information is received. A CCC is issued when the council is satisfied the completed building work complies with the building consent. It provides an assurance to both you and future owners that the building work was done to the appropriate standards.

If you don’t submit an application for a CCC within 2 years of being granted your building consent, and you haven’t agreed an extension with the council, the council will follow up with you and may decide then whether to grant a CCC.

Step 14: Ensure ongoing compliance

Because any resource consent you have is likely to relate not just to the activity of construction, but the on-going use of the land or buildings, there are likely to be conditions on your resource consent that require on-going compliance on your part, as well as potential monitoring obligations. Typically, these conditions might relate to such things as a requirement to seal the driveway or paint a building in certain colours. In the event that you sell your property, the resource consent (in the case of a land use or subdivision consent) along with the obligation to comply with any conditions transfers automatically to the new owner.