Owners should commence building work within 12 months of a building consent being issued.
If building work has not commenced within 12 months from the date of a building consent being issued, the building consent will lapse under section 52 of the Building Act 2004. Any building work carried out after the lapse is considered illegal.
For this reason, Building Services sends out letters at 11 months advising that the deadline is near, and there is no record of the work commencing. The letter will ask you to either advise that work has commenced or apply for an extension.
If you do not respond, the consent is considered lapsed. A new building consent is required for the work to take place.
Extension of building consent timeframe
Council can extend the period allowed for work to start after a consent is issued. You must apply before the building consent has lapsed because extensions are not always granted.
T414 Application for extension of time starting the building work (112kb pdf)
An extension does not affect the Code Compliance Certificate application timeframe. If you need an extension to the Code Compliance Certificate timeframe it will require a separate application.
Process for completing building consents brochure (851kb pdf)