Before you apply for a building consent

When you need a consent

Before you apply for a building consent, you should think about whether a resource consent and/or a building consent is required to dam water or other fluids.

When you need a resource consent

A resource consent is our approval for activities not permitted by local plans, as they may impact the environment.

Resource consents may be required under the Resource Management Act 1991 if:

• damming or diverting water or other fluids
• works associated with dam construction, such as carrying out earthworks (In this case, you will need to apply to the regional council for your area).

When you need a building consent

A building consent is a formal document issued by a building consent authority, authorising the applicant to carry out building work according to approved plans and specifications.

If you are proposing to build a dam or carry out work on an existing dam, you should first determine whether it meets the definition of a ‘large dam’. This is defined in the Building Act 2004 as having:

• a height of 4 metres or more; and
• a volume of 20,000m³ or more of water.

You should then make a building consent application for all structures that meet this definition. This includes:

• hydro dams
• flood control dams
• irrigation and storage ponds
• significantly modified natural features and canals
• appurtenant structures that form part of large dams.

We must grant building consent if we are satisfied on reasonable grounds that the provisions of the building code would be met if the building work were completed according to the plans and specifications that accompany the building consent application.

Building consent timeframes and costs

Cost of obtaining a building consent and code compliance certificate

The Building Act 2004 states that we may recover the costs of performing our functions under that Act. Accordingly, you must meet the costs incurred by us in processing your building consent and code compliance certificate applications.

Our cost assessment is time-based, so the quality of information you provide with your application will affect the overall fees (for example, 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 help us process your application
• the building levy collected by us on behalf of the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE)
• the building research levy collected by us on behalf of BRANZ.

All costs must be paid before the building consent is issued.

For fees and charges in effect from 1 July 2025, download and read our current Fees and Charges Schedule (PDF file, 948.55KB).

We do not charge for any developmental contributions or collect these on behalf of a territorial authority where a dam is located.

Building consent timeframes

The timeframes for the processing applications are:

• 2 working days to check your application for completeness and accept or return your application, depending on its size and complexity
• 20 working days for us to grant or refuse a building consent (subject to any requests for further information)
• 20 working days for us to issue, or refuse to issue, a code compliance certificate (subject to any requests for further information).

The 20-working day period for processing an application commences the next working day after the day on which a complete application is received.

The timeframes for starting and completing your building work are:

• 12 months for you to start building work (unless this time frame is extended by mutual agreement)
• 24 months after the date the building consent was granted, we must decide to issue, or refuse to issue, a code compliance certificate (unless this timeframe is extended by mutual agreement).

Project information memorandum (PIM)

We strongly recommend that you obtain a Project Information Memorandum (PIM) from the territorial authority in which the building work is to take place before submitting a building consent application. 

PIM information

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

• 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.

Territorial authorities for PIM applications

Building on natural hazard-affected land

When building your dam or altering your existing dam, you should consider the effect of the building work on the natural hazard, and how you could protect the land, building and other property when undertaking building work on land subject to a natural hazard.

The Building Act 2004 defines a natural hazard as:

• erosion
• falling debris
• subsidence
• inundation
• slippage. 

Read MBIE guidance on natural hazard provisions regarding sections 71 to 74 of the Building Act 2004.

Engaging an engineer to design your dam

It is common practice to engage an engineer to design your dam. You should check to ensure they have the necessary experience and qualifications relating to dam engineering and safety assurance.

Engineering New Zealand or the Association for Consulting and Engineering Professionals NZ can help with this.

Legal requirements

Starting without consent

It is illegal to carry out building work without the necessary consent. Penalties include:

• Fines up to $200,000 and, if work continues, a further fine of up to $20,000 for every day or part of the day during which the offence continues.
• Notice to fix for carrying out building work without consent, including instant fines of up to $1000. We may require you to remove the building work if it is dangerous or insanitary.

Urgent work without consent

If you do not obtain building consent because you need to carry out building work urgently, you must apply to us for a certificate of acceptance.

Suppose you carry out unconsented building work which was not covered by an exemption in the legislation in force at the time. In that case, you also need to apply to us for a prescribed form F008 - Application for certificate of acceptance (PDF file, 435.22KB).

When applying for this certificate, you should provide the following:

• a completed application on prescribed form F008 - Application for certificate of acceptance (PDF file, 435.22KB), per the Building Act 2004
• plans, drawings and specifications for the building work that provide sufficient detail to show it complies with the relevant parts of the Building Code
• certificates from those who carried out the building work
• an energy work certificate (if applicable)
• a copy of your certificate of title (less than 90 days old).

When your application is ready:

• Email: buildingconsents@ecan.govt.nz
• Post: Environment Canterbury, PO Box 345, Christchurch 8140
• In-person: 200 Tuam Street, Christchurch 8011 or 75 Church Street, Timaru.

Applying for an exemption

Where there is little or no value to be added by us processing a building consent application, we may be able to give you a discretionary exemption for a building consent under Schedule 1 of the Building Act 2004.

An exemption request may be granted where we consider that:

1. the completed building work is likely to comply with the building code; or
2. if the completed building work does not comply with the building code, it is unlikely to endanger people or buildings, whether on the same land or other property.

Email buildingconsents@ecan.govt.nz if you would like to discuss a Schedule 1 exemption.

When your application is ready:

• Email: buildingconsents@ecan.govt.nz
• Post: Environment Canterbury, PO Box 345, Christchurch 8140
• In-person: 200 Tuam Street, Christchurch 8011 or 75 Church Street, Timaru.