When your building consent is issued you will receive a list of inspections required. These are carried out over the course of the work and at the end.
The building consent process is about protecting people and property. When you book and then pass each inspection, and are issued a code compliance certificate, you will have documented assurance that you have met the Building Act requirements. The type of inspections will depend on the nature of your building work.
Most inspections require on-site representation. Please check this when booking your inspection and make sure you can be around. The approved consent plans and associated documents must be on-site for all inspections.
Booking an inspection
Please phone Council's building inspections team on 07 577 7334 between 8am and 4.30pm, Monday to Friday, and five to ten days before your preferred inspection date.
If you are applying for a minor variation, please let us know when you book the inspection.
More information on minor variations
A failed inspection
Failed inspections are due to one or more non-compliances being found. The areas of non-compliance will be discussed with the site representative. These will generally result in varying levels of site instruction such as conditional continuation or a stop work. Serious breaches can result in a notice to fix.
Please note that deviations to the plans require amendments and that you will need discuss this with your designer at the earliest opportunity. Amendments can be minor or major depending on the nature of the change.
Self-certified inspections
Councils Building Consent Authority (BCA) has introduced self-certified inspections to help alleviate the inspection waiting times.
Self-certified inspections must be carried out by licensed building practitioners (LBP’s). LBP’s can now self-certify inspections for pre-plaster, pre-stopping/bracing, R1 single story with no tile showers or firewalls and block foundations (no more than 3 blocks high).
How this works:
- Request the inspection as usual on the Form 5 of your building consent
- Licensed Building Practitioner to call our inspection booking line on 07 5777 334 to book inspection. It is imperative that the LBP calls for each inspection to be self-certified so we can confirm if there are any outstanding failed inspections and update our system with a file note. Council also need to be aware of when the inspection will happen as we can carry out random, spot audits on self-certified inspections (no charge to the customer) Note that if a LBP fails three audits their ability to self-certify these inspections will be withdrawn
- Once the inspection has been called for, you can download a copy of the self-certified inspection form, but remember to phone in before proceeding
- The LBP must complete the form and return to council by uploading to the Alphaone portal. All building elements need to be confirmed as completed. Note that rechecks will be required and charged for if there are any outstanding items. Failure to do this may result in delays or refusal of the Code Compliance Certificate (CCC)
- Keep a copy of the completed form on-site as it forms part of the consent documents
Self-certified inspection form (355kb word)
Note when the Building Consent officer – inspections checks and accepts the LBP completed self-certified inspection form, they will then pass the required post line inspection on the building consent.
Pre-purchase inspections
Before buying a property it is a good idea to arrange a pre-purchase inspection to confirm that any alterations have the appropriate permit and that the structure is sound. There are private companies which offer this service. You can check whether an inspector is accredited on the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors website.
Other application forms