Read the Go Ahead newsletter to get regular updates about building consents information.

Combined inspections now live

We’ve made some changes to the way we name inspections by giving each inspection type the same name across the Greater Canterbury Region.

We’re making some changes to the way we name inspections by giving each inspection type the same name across the Greater Canterbury Region.

From today, you can book an inspection in Hurunui, Waimakariri, Christchurch, Selwyn and Ashburton using the same inspection name. We think this new approach will help give you consistency when booking inspections for your projects across the region.

Visit your local council's website for more information or if you have any questions, you can give us a call:

What we are changing

As from today, we are merging some of our inspections into a single inspection type for building projects in Hurunui, Waimakariri, Selwyn, Christchurch and Ashburton.

The affected inspections are:

  Old inspections New inspection
Changes to foundation and slab inspections 201 Pre pour foundation
202 Sub floor
203 Pre pour floor		 Foundation or slab inspection
Changes to pre cladding inspections 213 Flashings
215 Building and sill wrap or cavity batten		 Pre cladding inspection
Changes to drainage inspections 208 Drainage
212 Retaining wall drainage		 Drainage inspection

Why we are merging inspection types

Councils in the Greater Canterbury Region have recognised that some construction sequences and practices have changed over recent years. We have been working together with the industry to standardise the way we work and use the same names for the inspections across the region.

This means some building work can now be inspected with a single visit using the new combined inspection types. This will reduce the inspection cost and time to our customers without compromising the inspection service we provide.

The combining of the inspection types gives us the flexibility to inspect all items that are ready for that inspection type in one site visit and on a single site site notice.

How will this affect me?

As mentioned earlier this change will reduce the inspection cost and time for your project. Where there is an outstanding failed inspection of the superseded inspection types we will need to complete these under the old inspection types.

Where your Schedule of Estimated Specified Inspections show the superseded inspection types and no inspections have taken place, the new inspection type will need to be scheduled with our scheduling team. Our scheduling team will be able to assist you with booking the right inspection type.

Related items

LBP requirements to submit a record of work

The requirement to provide a record of work (RoW) has been in place since March 2012. However, some Licensed Building Practitioners (LBP) still seem to struggle with their understanding of when this form is required to be completed, who it should be provided to, and what their key obligations are in respect of this record.

Who must provide a RoW?

Each and every LBP must provide a RoW on the completion of Restricted Building Work (RBW) they have undertaken. Even if someone else is in charge, if you’re an LBP you must provide a RoW for your work if it is RBW.

What is a RoW for?

A RoW ensures people involved with work can be identified by the owner and the council, but it does not create any liability other than what already existed without a RoW.

On completion of RBW

Even if the overall job is not complete, if you’ve finished your work onsite or will not be going back, you still need to provide a RoW. The Building Practitioners Board suggests that “sooner rather than later” is a good approach, and even if you’re in a dispute with another party, you still have to provide a RoW.

How soon after completion of RBW?

There’s no exact rule, but “sooner rather than later” is a great approach. You can’t wait until someone asks you to provide one, be proactive! You can download the form from the Licensed Building Practitioners website(external link).

How much detail is required?

Enough detail is needed that if someone else picked it up they would understand what work you did. It is also good to be able to show what work you did not do if a dispute were to arise.

Who must a RoW be provided to?

The law says you must provide it to the owner of the property and the local council. If the owner has appointed an agent (e.g. designer or architect), you could give it to them unless the owner asks for it directly. However, it is still a LBP's responsibility to ensure both parties receive a copy on completion of the RBW.

Good reasons for not providing a RoW

There’s only been one case where The Building Practitioners Board agreed there was a good reason for not providing a RoW, and that was where the LBP’s boss was trying to get him to provide RoW for work he did not do or supervise. So it is pretty rare that someone has a “good excuse”, and the Board has said many times that payment disputes are not good reasons!

Related items

Earthquake prone buildings prioritisation consultation

On 1 July 2017 changes were introduced to the Building Act 2004 which affect the way earthquake-prone buildings are identified and managed.

One of the changes provides for public consultation, to assist Council to identify the most vulnerable buildings - earthquake-prone buildings - on routes with high vehicular or pedestrian traffic or of strategic importance.

The Act defines these buildings as priority buildings, and the timeframes for identifying and strengthening or demolishing them are shortened. Once they have been notified by Council, owners of priority buildings have 7.5 years to strengthen or demolish them. This is a significantly shorter timeframe than the Act allows for other earthquake-prone buildings (15 years).

At its meeting on 27 September 2018, the Christchurch City Council approved in principal the areas identified by staff as high traffic areas and strategic routes. Now we’re asking our community about these routes and areas.

There is an online map(external link) available to view the strategic routes that have been currently been identified. 

Submissions will open on Monday, 15 October. You can have your say online once from this date.

Related items

Go ahead building quiz

Test your knowledge on all things building related with our latest quiz!(external link)

A new way to send feedback to us

There is now a new way of sending feedback to the Consenting & Compliance Group.

It will be as simple as heading to our website and clicking on the 'Report' button at the top of the page. From here, there is a range of items you can select to provide feedback to the Council on.

Report screen shot on our ccc websiteIf you have a compliment, complaint or suggestion for the Consenting & Compliance Group, you can select the 'Send feedback' option from this list and provide your feedback using our online form. This new easy to use form allows you to relate your feedback to an application or staff member and also has the option of uploading photos or documents. 

The aim of this update is create an innovative way to engage with us and increase the ability of self-service so you can request our services online 24/7. 

How to make changes to your building consent

We have three different methods of amending your Building Consent documentation, each with a specific purpose.

  Minor variation - Building Inspector Minor variation - Building Consent Officer Amendment
How to apply Discuss the proposed change with the Building Inspector at the time of your inspection. Submitting via online services (onlineservices.ccc.govt.nz(external link)) or email (minorvariation@ccc.govt.nz) or via hard copy. Submitting via online services (onlineservices.ccc.govt.nz(external link)) or via hard copy.
Documentation required Two copies of written authorisation from the home owner, and two copies of any amended documentation 

B-007 Application for a minor variation to a building consent [DOCX, 64 KB] (also available in PDF) [PDF, 133 KB] 

Amended documentation

B-002 Application for Building Consent and/or PIM (Form 2) [DOCX, 425 KB] (also available in PDF [PDF, 257 KB])

Amended documentation
Cost Included in the inspection fee $185.00* Residential (deposit): $495.00*
Commercial (deposit): $740.00*
Examples
  • Product substitution of building wrap
  • Change of location of sanitary fixture
  • Minor changes to building design that require a technical assessment beyond what is practicable on site
  • Any alteration that increases or decreases the floor area of the building
  • Substantive changes to ground levels, resulting in changes to foundation or retaining structures
  • Changes to fire safety aspects 

*Please note: these fees are current as of 1 July 2018. View our current building consents fee schedule to check the fees are still correct.

For more information, view our change your building consent webpage.

Building consents fees and charges

We occasionally receive feedback that consent fees don’t match what has been quoted to a home owner from industry professionals.

Even for a company that submits a high number of building consents each month, it can be difficult to accurately predict what the costs may be as the type of land, specialist reviews and all sorts of complexity factors can lead to higher than expected costs.

Approved building consent image

To help avoid unpleasant surprises, we have provided a guide to building consent fees and charges on our website which is updated each financial year based on the previous year’s data. The average fees are broken up by the type and value of works for the project and underneath there is some information provided on common situations which can lead to higher value consents; some avoidable (multiple RFIs) and some unavoidable (building on a hill site).

Feel free to take a look at the fees and charges page the next time you are applying for a building consent. Although please note, as these are a guide only and based on the previous year’s data, there will be situations when consents may be out of this range.

Related items

MBIE now consulting twice yearly on the Building Code System

In the past, public consultations on changes to Acceptable Solutions and Verification Methods have been on an irregular basis with no defined timeframe year to year.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) have recently announced they will now undertake a new bi-annual consultation process to keep Acceptable Solutions and Verification Methods up to date. 

The consultation periods will be held in February/March and August/September. The new bi-annual consultation process will allow the sector, including owners, builders, building consent authorities, architects and designers, to keep up to date more easily because they will know when consultations will be issued.

The intent of setting regular consultation times is to assist MBIE to be more responsive to industry and reduce the number and scale for any changes required to maintain the system. This is expected to make the content more manageable for the sector and easier to plan for. 

You can subscribe to MBIE's Building Control updates on their website(external link).

Duty BCO

Do you have any queries for us?

We operate a Duty Building Consent Officer (BCO) service for our customers that is dedicated to building related enquiries.

Want to know if the work you want to complete falls under an exemption from building consent or what to do when substituting one building material for another?

You can contact us by calling 03 941 8999 and ask to speak to the Duty BCO or by emailing dutybco@ccc.govt.nz.