Building Consents update – December 2024

Season’s greetings from the Building Consenting Unit!

The front counter at Te Hononga will be closed from Wednesday 25 December and will re-open on Friday 3 January. If you require any building advice during this period, our friendly staff will be available to respond to any queries. Email us at dutybco@ccc.govt.nz, or call the duty phone (03 941 8999) from 7.30am–4pm.

Changes to minor variation regulations 

A "Minor Variation" is a small change in the building design made after a building consent has been issued, that does not affect compliance with the Building Code. An example of a Minor Variation would be substituting one brand of internal lining for another brand of similar internal lining, if it does not affect the internal bracing system.

On 30 September 2024, the regulations governing Minor Variations were updated to expand the definition. This change aimed to clarify the circumstances under which the substitution of a comparable product qualifies as a Minor Variation. These updates are designed to facilitate the handling of minor and straightforward product or design changes on-site.

Building consent amendments

Please remember that building consent amendments must be approved before the work is carried out.

To ensure your amendment is processed quickly and to avoid any delays or issues with your application, please take a moment to carefully complete the relevant sections of both your application form and online services form with the following information:

1.     Detailed Descriptions
Agents, please provide a clear and detailed description of each amendment. This should include:

• Clearly itemising each change and breaking it down into bullet points.
• Specifying what is being changed.
• Indicating where it is occurring.
• Explaining the rationale behind each change.

2.     Scope Clarification
It's important to clearly define the scope of the work and how it affects the original plans. This will help reduce any ambiguity and speed up the approval process. By providing this detailed information, we’ll be able to process your amendment as quickly as possible, avoiding unnecessary delays.

Building inspection failure rate: 30%

Help us reduce building inspection fails 

On average a whopping 30% of building inspections fail. With over 800 inspections booked each week, this number has a huge impact on wait times. 

Many inspections fail due to paperwork not being available on site at the time of inspection - a simple issue that can be helped by following these steps:

Step one: Book your engineer/surveyor. 
Step two: Book your inspection a day after your engineers' reports are available on site.
Step three: Ensure all stamped plans, supporting documents, engineers' reports, and BLCs are on site on the morning of the inspection.

Ready to roll? Get on the waitlist

As soon as you are ready for your inspection, give the team a quick call and ask to be put on the waitlist. We often get late cancellations and fill them with customers on the wait list. If a spot opens up, we'll give you a call between 7am-7:30am, so keep your phone close by!

Producing high-quality site reports

Earlier this year, Engineering New Zealand issued a guidance document that included a list of common issues with producer statements - construction (PS4s).

Under section 94(1) of the Building Act 2004, the regulator needs to be satisfied “on reasonable grounds” that the work completed meets the conditions of the consent. Typically, they need assurance that the work has been checked. That assurance typically means providing the construction monitoring schedule, along with the construction monitoring reports for each item (including photos).

The Engineering New Zealand website has a lot of useful information, including examples of construction monitoring reports and a template for you to use.

Double-check key info in construction monitoring site reports

As of 1 November 2024, Council inspections may not be approved until all necessary and adequate construction monitoring reports are provided. Most reports we receive are in good shape, however some are missing key information including:

• Printed name of the attending engineer(s), along with the date and time.
• The building consent number, including any amendment reference and the issue date of any approved minor variation.
• Clear reference to the consented version of the design, including revision and date.
• Comments relating to specified prior construction monitoring requirements.
• A clear description of the critical construction elements observed, with confirmation that the construction has been completed in accordance with the approved building consent.
• Adequate photographic evidence clearly showing key features and/or measurements for verifying any design assumptions and/or critical construction elements, along with clear comments explaining how the design assumptions are verified.
• Clear instructions regarding the satisfaction of the observed construction, or instruction on necessary remedial works, along with expected evidence for verifying the completion of any remedial actions.

Making changes to consented documents

It is critical that changes to the consented documents are recorded, and if they are more than minor, they must be approved by Council before that work continues.

Smoke alarm compliance update

Heads up! Are you building or renovating? You need to know that Aotearoa New Zealand’s domestic smoke alarm rules have changed.

From 2 November 2024, all building consent applications for housing will need to specify inter-connected smoke alarms. This new rule applies to both new houses and alterations to existing.

An overview of the main points concerning inter-connected smoke alarms for houses is included below. For more detail, including mounting and spacing requirements, see NZS 4514:2021.

Inter-connected smoke alarms for houses:

What are they?

These smoke alarms work together – if one smoke alarm detects a fire, all the smoke alarms in the home will sound the alarm.

Where must they be?

Smoke alarms will need to be installed in all bedrooms, living spaces, hallways and landings. Multi-level dwellings will need at least one smoke alarm on each level.

What types can be used?

The standard provides the option to use wired-in or wireless smoke alarm systems. A wireless system uses long-life batteries (minimum 10 years). The standard also has recommendations on which types of detection methods the alarms should have in different areas of a home. 

Stay safe when working near power lines

If you are planning work near power lines, be aware that touching or getting too close can be fatal or lead to serious injury. 

NZECP:34 – Electrical Safe Distances sets out the minimum distances needed between a building or structure and overhead power lines, which help with protection from electrical hazards.

The distance you need to leave to keep yourself safe depends on the type of line and voltage of the line – check the distances on the Orion website.

If you are doing any building work near or under power lines, contact your local power line company for advice before you start. 

Please note that non-compliant building work could be subject to offences and penalties under the Electricity Act 1992.

How street numbering works

The Council manages and updates street numbering. As a local authority, we're obliged to follow the National addressing standards set out by the Surveyor General at Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) and under Section 319B of the Local Government Act 1974. 

New, additional, and changed street numbers are uploaded on a regular basis to their website, and these are accessed by emergency services, NZ Post, and many utility providers to update their individual datasets.

Google gets its data from a variety of sources. This includes LINZ. We do not have any control over timeframes of updates or what Google displays as street addresses. You can request a change from Google here.

Notes and tips

• A suburb is a reference to a general area of a city. The name of the suburb is usually derived from the name of a nearby school, post office or subdivision and is often used by businesses to divide the city into administrative areas.
• Suburb boundaries are arbitrary, and the Council doesn't keep records for suburbs because there are no legal boundaries. Postcodes replaced suburbs as required information for postal delivery in 1981.
• LINZ has recently released new guidelines for addressing in-fill developments. This gives the Council guidance on allocating addresses and reduces the number of occasions that a right of way will require naming. 
• LINZ also has guidelines for addressing retirement and lifestyle villages. This means that any private roads or private ways within retirement and lifestyle villages will need naming. Once road names are finalised, street addresses can be created. Having individual addresses for each unit will allow emergency services, delivery agents and contractors to find homes easily.

We have an agreement with Enable, Orion and other utility providers that they will process any new connections without a Proposed Stamp approved plan from the Council. You can email streetnumbering@cc.govt.nz to request a plan.

How and when to apply for street numbering  

It is the owner/developer/builder's responsibility to apply for the street numbering when required. New or additional dwellings, like warehouses or retail outlets, may require street addresses to be allocated. Applications are to be made via our online form online street numbering form.

We encourage you to submit the application as soon as possible in the consenting process to avoid any undue delays. Turnaround time is generally 5-7 working days.

Any questions? Get in touch, we are here to help!

For more information on Building Consents, head to our website or email DutyBCO@ccc.govt.nz or call 941 8999.