1. Applying for a building consent

Although not mandatory, we strongly recommend that applicants obtain a Project Information Memorandum (PIM) from us, as well as the relevant district or city council, before submitting a building consent application.

Information contained in these PIMs may be critical in the processing of the building consent, such as:

• Details of any stormwater systems which relate the proposal
• Potential natural hazards
• Any land classifications imposed on the property by organisations such as the Department of Conservation or the Historic Places Trust
• Any resource consents that already apply to the property

If applications are made without a PIM, it is likely that further information will be required. This can result in increased processing cost and timeframe.

An applicant can apply for PIMs at any time and should consider this information during the building design. An application for a PIM must be submitted on the prescribed form (Form F002 ) (PDF File, 512.6KB), in accordance with the Building Act 2004 and building regulations.

A natural hazard under the Building Act 2004 means land affected by erosion, falling debris, subsidence, inundation, and slippage.

Where a PIM identifies that the proposed building work may be affected by a natural hazard, the applicant will be made aware that the application is being considered under s72 Building Act 2004.

Should the hazard exist after the proposed work has been completed, this may be registered against their title.

Producer statements have no specific status under the Building Act 2004. However, they can be used as a mechanism for helping establish compliance with the Act and the Building Code.

We and our external consultants must have confidence that the engineers involved in designing a large dam have the appropriate experience and competence in their field. Producer statements are an indication of these skills and each statement will be assessed to its accuracy and content.

The Building Act 2004 provides that we may recover the costs of performing its functions under the Act.

Accordingly, the applicant must meet the costs incurred by us in processing the building consent application.

The cost of processing a building consent is generally time-based, so the quality of the information provided with your application will affect the overall fees ( poor quality drawings and details will take longer to process and will cost more). Costs include:

• Our time in processing the application
• Our actual costs in engaging external contractors with the required technical expertise to assist with processing of the application
• The building levy collected by us on behalf of the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment
• The building research levy collected by us on behalf of the Building Research Association on New Zealand (BRANZ)

All costs must be paid before the building consent is issued and may be paid using internet banking, credit card or in person.

Costs are set out in on pages 21–22 of our Fees and Charges Policy (PDF file, 468KB).

As a Regional Authority, we are not able to request development contributions or collect these on behalf of a Territorial Authority where a dam is located.

The time frames for the building consent process are:

• 20 working days for us to grant or refuse a building consent (subject to any further information requests)
• 20 working days for us to grant or refuse a code compliance certificate (subject to any further information requests)
• 12 months for the applicant to start building work from the date the consent was issued (unless this time frame is extended by mutual agreement)
• A code compliance certificate must be applied for as soon as practical after building work is completed.  If Environment Canterbury does not receive an application for a code compliance certificate within 24 months of the building consent being granted Environment Canterbury must made a decision whether to issue or not the code compliance certificate.  A request for an extension to the 24 month time frame can be made in writing to the Building Control Authority Co-ordinator.

No building work may start without building, subdivision or resource consent; however, there are some situations where building work may proceed after obtaining permission from us.

This must be discussed with our BCA co-ordinator, who will need to see details of your plans prior to any decision-making.

We may issue a certificate of acceptance in relation to work carried out that should have had a building consent. For example, a certificate of acceptance may be used for certification of work that has been carried out urgently because of safety issues, and where there was no time to obtain a consent because of that emergency.

An application for a certificate of acceptance must be submitted on the prescribed form (Form F008 ).

A certificate of title can be obtained from Land Information New Zealand. You can access copies of these and other records through a variety of methods which are explained on their website at www.linz.govt.nz.

You may also be able to get a certificate of a title from your lawyer or engineer.