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A Guide to Building and Building Consents Introduction This guide is designed to assist building owners to ensure that any work being planned on their property is done properly and in accordance with the law. The guide provides answers to commonly asked questions such as “what is building work?”, “do I need a Building Consent?”, “what do I need to do to get a Building Consent?” and “What happens to my application?” Building Work Building work is governed and controlled by the Building Act 2004 and unless specifically exempt (under the First Schedule of the Act) requires a Building Consent. Building work is defined in the Building Act as: “Work for, or in connection with, the construction, alteration, demolition, or removal of a building and includes site work and building design…” The definition also includes plumbing and drainage work. The definition is very broad and therefore covers almost anything a homeowner could wish to do. Restricted Building Work Residential building consent applications only Restricted Building Work (RBW) means the design, construction or alteration to dwellings and multi storey apartments in relation to the primary structure (e.g. foundations, sub floor framing, walls, beams, bracing, columns) and external moisture management systems (damp proofing, wall and roof claddings) and fire safety systems (emergency warning, evacuation, fire and smoke control systems). Restricted Building work must be carried out or supervised by a Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP). Licence classes for licensed building practitioners. License Class Area of practice What they can do Design Design 1 Design category 1 buildings. Design 2 Design 3 Site Carpentry Notes Chartered Professional Engineers and Registered Design category 1 & 2 Architects are treated buildings as if they have a Design category 1, 2 & design license in area 3 buildings of practice 3. They cannot be licensed. Site 1 Coordinate and oversee construction or alteration of category 1 buildings Site 2 Coordinate and oversee construction or alteration of category 1, 2 & 3 buildings Site 3 Manage some or all of the construction or alteration of category 1, 2 & 3 buildings Carpenter on category 1,2 or 3 buildings Cannot supervise or undertake Restricted Building Work. Chartered Professional Engineers are treated as if they are licensed in site area of practice 3. Carpentry LBPs can also: - Construct foundations without a foundation licence - Install lightweight profiled metal roofing without a roofing licence License Class Area of practice What they can do Notes Roofing Concrete or clay tile roof Install roofs or roof materials for category 1, 2 or 3 buildings in the licensed area of practice. Can apply for one or more areas of practice. Licensed or certified plumbers or gasfitters are treated as if they are licensed in the license classes: - Bricklaying and blocklaying - Roofing - External plastering Profiled metal roof and/or wall cladding Metal tile roof Roof membrane Torch on roof membrane Liquid membrane roof Shingle or slate roof External plastering Solid plastering Proprietary plaster cladding systems Bricklaying and blocklaying Bricklaying and blocklaying 1: brick & masonry veneer Bricklaying and blocklaying 2: Structural masonry Foundation Concrete foundation walls and concrete slab on ground Concrete or timber pile foundation Apply external solid plastering or proprietary plaster cladding systems to category 1, 2 or 3 buildings. Can apply for one or more areas of practice. Lay bricks or blocks for category 1, 2 & 3 buildings in the licensed area of practice. Can apply for one or both areas of practice. Construct or alter foundations for category 1 or 2 buildings in the licensed area of practice. Can apply for one or both areas of practice. Construction and alteration of category 3 buildings falls under a carpentry licence. Building categories in Licensed Building Practitioner scheme Building Category Description Category 1 Single household dwellings with low or medium risk envelope (risk score of 12 or less for any elevation) Category 2 Single household dwellings with high risk envelope design (risk score greater than 12 for any elevation) or any other buildings with a building height less than 10m Category3 All buildings 10m or greater in building height except single household dwellings A register of LBPs is available at www.dbh.govt.nz WARNING: A person who is not licensed and carries out restricted building work and is not supervised by a LBP licensed to carry out work of that kind commits an offence under the Building Act 2004 and is liable of a maximum fine of $20,000. A person who is a LBP who carries out restricted building work outside the scope of his/ her license commits an offence under the Building Act 2004 and is liable of a maximum fine of $20,000. Alterations to Existing Buildings When altering an existing building the applicant must demonstrate that the building will comply as is reasonably practicable with the building code relating to means of escape from fire and access and facilities for persons with disabilities. The applicant must also demonstrate that the building will continue to comply with the other building code clauses to at least the same extent as before the alteration. Change of Use This section of the application is important both to the owner and to Council. Changing the use of a building under the Building Act may have significant implications in terms of the amount of work that might be required and consequently the cost to the owner. Change of use is defined in the Building (Specified Systems, Change the Use, and Earthquake-prone Buildings) Regulations 2005. Exempt Building Work Exempt building work is set out in Schedule 1 of the Building Act 2004. Where proposed work meets all the criteria in the schedule, it does not require Building Consent. Even though building work may be exempt from Building Consent the work must be carried out in accordance with the Building Code. IMPORTANT: Some work, which may be exempt from Building Consent, may be subject to planning requirements. For further information about planning requirements check with your local Council’s Planning Department. The Department of Building and Housing have produced a guidance document entitled ‘A guide to building work that does not require a Building Consent’. This can be accessed online http://www.dbh.govt.nz/publications-about-the-building-act-2004 An application for exempt building work is only required for work defined in schedule 1(2) where the “territorial authority” (or, as the case requires, the regional authority) considers that a Building Consent is not necessary for the purposes of this Act because that building work—(i) is unlikely to be carried out otherwise than in accordance with the building code; or (ii) if carried out otherwise than in accordance with the building code, is unlikely to endanger people or any building, whether on the same land or on other property”. Applications for exempt building work defined in schedule 1(2) will be recorded on the property file. Please note that Council will not record any other exempt building work on the property file, unless requested to do so. Records of exempt building work will be accepted by Council on the prescribed form and placed on the property file as a public record only. Council does not accept any responsibility for checking or validating these records, nor does it accept liability for the content. MultiProof Building Consents MultiProof Building Consents (also known as a National Multiple-Use Approval) allow builders who replicate the same or substantially similar buildings several times, to benefit from a streamlined Building Consent process. Where a building design is intended to be replicated several times, a builder can apply to have the design pre-approved for Building Code compliance by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Building and Housing. This avoids the need for the design to be assessed and re-approved by individual Building Consent Authorities (BCA’s) each time it is proposed to be built on a different site. MultiProof approvals are issued by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Building and Housing. A building consent is needed each time you want to build a design that has been issued with a MultiProof approval. This is so that we can check that the approval conditions are met and that the site-specific features of the design (such as foundations) comply with the Building Code. As a BCA is only required to assess the Building Code compliance of site- specific features that are excluded from the MultiProof, the statutory timeframe for the BCA to issue a Building Consent for applications that rely on a MultiProof is 10 working days, rather than the usual 20 working days. For further information please refer to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Building and Housings’ website. Responsibilities under the Building Act 2004 The building owner must: 1. Obtain necessary consents, approvals and certificates 2. Ensure building work carried out complies with the building consent and building code, if no consent is required 3. Comply with notices to fix 4. Provide the Building Consent Authority (BCA) with written notice of the name of every LBP engaged to carry out or supervise the work under the building consent. 5. Advise the BCA if an LBP ceases to be engaged or another LBP is engaged to carry out the work. An Owner-builder (person who has a relevant interest in the land or building, resides or intends to reside in the household unit to which the RBW relates and carries out the RBW himself/herself or with assistance of his/her unpaid friends and family members) must: 1. Ensure restricted building work carried out under an owner-builder exemption complies with the building consent. 2. Provide a statutory declaration in the prescribed form as to owner-builder status with the building consent application. 3. Provide a notice in the prescribed form to the Building Consent authority if a statutory declaration as to owner-builder status was not provided with the building consent application or there is a change in the owner-builder carrying out the restricted building work. An Owner-builder exemption means that an owner-builder may carry out restricted building work without being supervised by a licensed building practitioner. A designer (person who prepares plans and specifications for building work or who gives advice on compliance with the building code) must: 1. Ensure that the plans and specifications are sufficient to result in building work complying with the building code. A Builder must: 1. Ensure that the building work complies with the building consent, plans and specifications. 2. Ensure that all building work complies with the building code where there is no consent. A Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP) carrying out or supervising restricted building work must: 1. Ensure the work is carried out in accordance with the Act 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Ensure that he/she is licensed to carry out the relevant class of restricted building work. Not misrepresent his/her competence Carry out or supervise building work only within his/her competence Provide a record of work (in the prescribed form) to the owner and TA in respect of the restricted building work he/she has carried out or supervised. Notify the owner and TA of any known breaches of the Building Consent. Any person can make a complaint to the Building Practitioners Board about a Licensed Building Practitioner if: 1. An LBP has failed without good reason to provide the owner with a record of work 2. An LBP has breached the code of ethics prescribed under section 314A 3. An LBP has breached section 314B by misrepresenting his/her competence or carrying out or supervising work outside his/her competence. 4. An LBP has conducted himself/herself in a manner that brings, or is likely to bring the regime under this Act for Licensed Building Practitioners into disrepute. For more information about lodging a complaint with the Building Practitioners Board please visit www.dbh.govt.nz Please refer to Commercial Applications booklet for more information relating to commercial building consents. Building Consents A Building Consent is Councils’ written authority to carry out building work that it considers will comply with the requirements set out in the Building Code provided it is completed in accordance with the plans and specifications approved with the Building Consent application. A Building Consent cannot be issued retrospectively. It is an offence to carry out building work without consent in all but a few exceptional circumstances. These circumstances, are set out in the Building Act. An example would be urgent building work required for the purpose of saving or protecting life or health, or preventing serious damage to property. Planning Rules Building work must comply with the Resource Management Act 1991, District Plan and One Plan (Horizons Regional Council). In general, these rules govern such things as how close a building can be built to a legal boundary, how much of an owners property can be covered with building work and the number of dwellings that can be built on a single property. Preparing an Application An An • • • • • • • • owner wishing to carry out building work must prepare a Building Consent application. application for Building Consent must include as a minimum: Application form completed in full Proof of ownership of the site (certificate of title, an unconditional sale and purchase agreement where property has been recently purchased, letter from a lawyer on letterhead stating detail of ownership) – Please note that rating information is not sufficient 2 full sets of plans and specifications - including site plan, floor layout, cross sections, elevations, details. Plans must be drawn to architectural standard, to scale and include all dimensions Certificate of design work if Restricted Building Work (RBW) MultiProof Certificate if applicable An Electronic copy of the plans and specifications including fire report will be required if the application needs to be forwarded to the New Zealand Fire Service Design Review Unit for comment. If applicable, structural details, calculations and producer statement• If applicable, effluent disposal design and producer statement (Producer statements must be issued by suitably qualified people to demonstrate compliance with the building code and specified standards) Fees (a Fees and Charges pamphlet is available at the Customer Service Centre and on-line). Where cable cars are proposed for dwellings, details relating to the performance requirements, standards and maintenance must be provided. A compliance schedule will be issued with the Code Compliance Certificate. The owner will be responsible for carrying out the maintenance and reporting for the cable car in accordance with the compliance schedule. A well-prepared, thorough and detailed application with good quality plans and specifications will reduce the processing cost of the consent. Application Forms Building Consent/PIM Application forms are available from the Palmerston North City Council or Manawatu District Council or they can be downloaded from the PNCC web site at www.pncc.govt.nz or the MDC web site at www.mdc.govt.nz. Applying for a PIM A project information memorandum (PIM) includes any information held by Council that may affect the proposed building project. Early knowledge of this information can assist the applicant in planning and designing their project You can apply for a PIM before or at the same time as your Building Consent. It is no longer mandatory (with effect 1st February 2010) to obtain a PIM when applying for Building Consent. However, this information still needs to be checked by officers as part of the Building Consent processing and is incorporated into the processing time. To apply for a PIM the owner does not need to provide the level of documentation required for a Building Consent, but must provide sufficient information so that Council can fully assess the project. The following is a guide to the minimum information that must be included with a PIM application. More information may be requested: • The application form completed in full • The intended use of the proposed building • A site plan identifying the location and external dimensions of the proposed building, floor plan with rooms identified and elevations • Demonstrate access for vehicles • Demonstrate disposal of stormwater and waste water • Precautions to be taken if building work is to be carried out over any existing drains or sewers, or in close proximity to wells or water mains. • Fees (a fees and charges pamphlet is available at the customer service centre or on-line) The Building Consent Application Process When an application is submitted to Council it is vetted by a Building Officer.This initial check is to ensure that all of the information required to begin the process has been submitted. This is done in an effort to avoid delays and extra costs. A Planning Officer also assesses the application for information required to ensure compliance with the District Plan. Please note that at this point the application is not being assessed for compliance, but simply to ensure that sufficient information has been provided to begin the processing of the application. Fees Fees apply to all applications. Once the application has been vetted by a Building Officer, a fee is required before Council can accept the application. Certain types of consents have set fees. These are for simple, less expensive projects. Other consents require a deposit upon application. The balance of fees must be paid when the Building Consent is issued. The fees will include mandatory building inspections, Code Compliance Certificate, scanning, processing time and building levies where applicable. More complicated applications may also have other fees associated with them. Only in circumstances where prior invoicing arrangements have been agreed with Council, will it be possible for the fees to be paid after issue. Full details of any arrangements made must be stated on the Building Consent application form. Please refer to PNCC or MDC Building Services Fees and Charges for further information. Loading the Application in Our System Once your application has been accepted, it will be loaded into our system and be assigned a unique Building Consent number. You will need to quote this number whenever you make an inquiry or submit further information to Council. The Building Act 2004 allows up to 20 working days to process an application and the “clock” starts when the application is loaded onto our system. Processing the Application for Compliance The application will be assessed by suitably qualified officers to ensure compliance with the Building Act 2004, Building Code, District Plan and any relevant legislative requirements. Your application may be assessed by various departments, including Building, Planning, Plumbing and Drainage, Structural and any other relevant departments. Further Information Required The Building Act 2004 states that a Building Consent must be granted if the Building Consent Authority: ‘....is satisfied on reasonable grounds that the provisions of the Building Code would be met if….the building work is done in accordance with the plans and specifications that accompanied the application.” Each technical officer may identify the need for further information. This may be because the information provided does not meet the requirements of the New Zealand Building Code, or the information does not sufficiently demonstrate how compliance will be achieved. If an officer requires further information the application will be suspended, the “clock” will stop and the first point of contact specified on the application form, will be advised of the information required to continue processing. An application that has been suspended for further information will continue through the process as far as possible until the information is provided, however, the period that the application is suspended will not be counted in the 20 working day timeframe. When the information had been provided to Council, the suspension status will be lifted and the statutory processing time clock restarts. When the processing of the Building Consent is complete, the consent is ‘granted’ and the person specified on the application form will be notified. Following payment of any outstanding fees, the Building Consent is ‘issued’ and building work may begin unless the consent has been issued with a’ Building Consent restriction’ under the Resource Management Act 1991. In this instance, work is not permitted to commence until the restriction has been lifted by Council. The owner/agent will be advised in writing and work may commence at this stage. Beginning Work Building work cannot begin until the Building Consent is granted. The Building Consent documents include stamped approved plans and specifications (site copies), the Building Consent and any attached forms where applicable, an application for Code Compliance Certificate form and information booklets. IMPORTANT: you must read all documents provided with the issued Building Consent thoroughly before work commences. A Code Compliance Certificate will only be issued when building work has been completed in accordance with the approved plans and specifications. The Building Consent will advise you of: • Any conditions or endorsements. These are important as they may require some form of action, for example engineer checking of foundations or provision of Producer Statements. • • • A number of mandatory inspections required. Attached compliance schedule and statement if a cable car is included in the project. Any other information or action that you must comply with. Failure to comply with any of the conditions or inspections specified will contravene the Building Act 2004. This would also jeopardise the issue of the Code Compliance Certificate following completion of the building work. Building Inspections A building inspection can be booked during normal working hours by phoning Palmerston North City Council or Manawatu District Council to arrange a time. Please have the Building Consent number ready and contact details of the person who will be on site at the time of the inspection. There may be some delay when booking an inspection so plan to allow a minimum of 48 hours before an inspection is required. Inspections cannot be booked until the Building Consent has been issued. Time Frames Building work in conjunction with a Building Consent: • Must commence within 12 months after the date of issue of the Building Consent or the owner must apply in writing for an extension of time. If no work has commenced after 12 months and no extension of time granted the consent will automatically lapse and will be of no effect. • Must be completed within 2 years after the granted date of the Building Consent or the owner must apply in writing for an extension of time. Council will confirm agreed extensions of time in writing. Beginning Work A building owner must apply for a Code Compliance Certificate as soon as possible following completion of all building work and inspections in accordance with the consent and within two years after the date of granting of the Building Consent, or apply in writing for an extension as stated. This may be done by the builder on the owners’ behalf but this remains the responsibility of the owner. An application form for the Code Compliance Certificate will be provided with the Building Consent documentation. Copies of the form are also available on the Palmerston North City Council and Manawatu District Council websites and at the Customer Service Centre. The form must be completed in full and provided to the Council together with any other necessary documentation (for example electrical certificates, warranties, etc.) identified on the Building Consent. Issuing a Code Compliance Certificate Council has 20 working days to issue a Code Compliance Certificate.The Code Compliance Certificate will only be issued when Council is satisfied that the building work has been completed in accordance with the approved plans and specifications and on payment of all charges by the BCA and TA including development contributions. Building Consents issued under the Building Act 1991 – Council may issue Code Compliance certificates only if Council is satisfied that the building work concerned complies with the building code that applied at the time the Building Consent was granted. Amendments An amendment to the Building Consent is: • where a change is made to the plans and specifications without prior approval or assessment by PNCC or; • any change to the approved plans and specifications that were identified and assessed by a Building Officer during an inspection and found to be of such a significant nature that approval cannot be given immediately. Therefore, an application for amendment to the Building Consent must be submitted and processed. An example of an amendment may be: • the removal, alteration or addition of a wall or walls that now means the building layout differs from the approved fire analysis. • addition of a room in the roof space where the foot print of the building doesn’t change. • installation of a new or additional window in a wall within a ‘Yard’ which requires an Instant Resource Consent and neighbour’s consent, plus lintel and weatherproofing details. • change in the cladding system which in turn would require a full set of weatherproofing details and possibly bracing recalculated. • change of a roof cladding which in turn may require amended flashing details and possibly bracing recalculated. • Any increase in the approved footprint of the building, which may conflict with the conditions of a Resource Consent or may now require Resource Consent. An amendment to a Building Consent must be submitted to Council and must be granted in writing by Council before any work relating to the amendment can commence. Amendment to Building Consent Application Forms can be obtained from the customer service centres or downloaded from the websites. If you have any questions or require further information please contact: Palmerston North City Council Phone 06 356 8199 or visit www.pncc.govt.nz General information can be obtained from Department of Building and Housing – www.dbh.govt.nz VERSION 5 Manawatu District Council Phone 06 323 0000 or visit www.mdc.govt.nz