The Building Consent Process

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Restricted Building Work

Critical building work (known as Restricted Building Work or RBW) must be done or supervised by a Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP). This applies to most residential building work or renovation work.

This map will guide you through the building consent process when doing restricted building work.

Restricted Building Work (One page 630KB PDF)

Restricted Building Work (RBW) applies to, but is not limited to:

Foundations.
Framing.
Roofing.
Cladding.
Active fire safety systems in small-medium sized apartment buildings.

Licensed Building Practitioners (LBP) include, but are not limited to:

Designers.
Carpenters.
Roofers.
External Plasterers.
Bricklayers.
Block layers.

Registered architects, chartered professional engineers and plumbers are deemed to be LBPs.

Owner-Builder Exemption

Owner-Builders are able to carry out Restricted Building Work, design or building work, on their own home. You are an Owner-Builder if you:

Live in or are going to live in the home (includes a bach or holiday home).
Carry out the Restricted Building Work to your own home yourself, or with the help of your unpaid friends and family members, and
Have not, under the Owner-Builder exemption, carried out Restricted Building Work to any other home within the previous three years.

Before you can use the Owner-Builder exemption you need to complete a statutory declaration as to owner-builder status form showing that you meet the owner-builder criteria. The statutory declaration form has to be witnessed and signed by a Justice of the Peace or someone else authorised by law to do so.

How does this affect you and the building consent process?

From 1 March 2012:

You must make sure that the practitioners you use are currently licensed by the Department of Building and Housing to carry out the building work.

To find a licensed building practitioner, visit the Department of Building and Housing website.
When you submit your building consent application, you will need to include a Memorandum (Certificate of Work) from a LBP certifying that the design work complies with the Building Code. Otherwise, your application will not be accepted.

If you are an Owner-Builder, you will need to submit a notice of owner-builder and a statutory declaration as to owner-builder status.
Restricted work can not start and inspection will not be accepted until the Council has been advised, in writing, of the relevant LBP who will be doing the work.

If you are an owner-builder and you have not provided a notice of owner-builder and statutory declaration at the time of application, you will need to submit these documents before an inspection can be carried out.

On the other hand, if you submitted all the necessary documentation for owner-builder and you have decided to use a LBP, you will need to submit another notice of owner-builder form indicating this change.
When your building work is complete, you will need to include the Memorandum (Record of Building Work) from your LBPs with your application for code compliance certificate (CCC). Otherwise, your CCC may not be issued.