Exemptions from a building consent

The Building Act 2004 has a list of building work that doesn't require a building consent. This information is contained in the 1st Schedule of the Act. The contents of schedule 1 can be located on the New Zealand Legislation website.

View New Zealand Legislation website

Section 17 of the Building Act 2004 states that all building work must comply with the Building Code. Independent legal or technical advice should be sought to establish whether proposed building work is exempt. Professionally prepared plans of completed, exempt work, complete with a covering letter including a list of contractors, should be submitted to Council to update the property file.

This report, if deemed acceptable, will be lodged on file on receipt of the appropriate fee.

While the Building Act provides for exemptions there might be other laws that you need to comply with. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

• the Building Code
• the Resource Management Act 1991
• the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Act 1976
• the Electricity Act 1992
• the Health Act 1956
• any local government bylaws.

These are the exceptions listed in the Building Act. Please ask a Council Building Officer for advice.