Building Inspections

When your application is processed, the building officer will decide what inspections you need. Inspections required will be identified in your consent documentation. Inspections may include but are not limited to: foundations, concrete masonry, concrete floor slab, pre-cladding, cladding, pool fencing, wet area membranes and fireplaces, pre-line building and plumbing, post-lining, drainage and a final inspection.

Sometimes specialists need to do inspections in addition to the inspections done by the Building Consent Authority (BCA). Generally, these inspections are needed to confirm ground stability or specific design by a registered engineer.

It’s the owner’s responsibility to make sure that the BCA is contacted at the appropriate times to undertake the required inspection. You will receive a site notice informing you of the inspection outcome. Please make sure you read the inspection requirements and are familiar with them before continuing work. If in doubt, please ask. Missed inspections might mean that a Code Compliance Certificate (CCC) can’t be issued.

Building inspections are booked through the Building Administration team by phoning 06 370 6300. Inspections are done Monday – Friday, 9am to 3pm (excluding public holidays). Fixed time inspections are completed in special circumstances.

You need to give the following information (in order) when you book an inspection:

• building consent number;
• site address;
• type of inspection, i.e. plumbing, drainage, foundation, pre-slab, pre-line, etc.
• date and time the inspection is required;
• name and telephone number of contact person on site; and
• email address of where the site inspection notice will be sent to.

If it is Restricted Building Works (RBW) please provide the names of any relevant Licensed Building Practitioners (LBP’s) including licence number.

It’s you or your builder’s responsibility to request inspections from Council. To minimise the impact on your work please book inspections one week in advance. Inspections are allocated based on availability. At times you may not be able to get the inspection time requested.

Building consent documents must be onsite for the inspection. No plans and documentation onsite = No inspection. Building control officers may also refuse to complete the inspection if the site is unsafe.

During the inspection the building control officer reviews the consent documents and completes an electronic inspection sheet of the work. This is the recording of the inspection findings. The building control officer will discuss their inspection results with the available onsite representative and email a copy through to the relevant contacts on the consent.

If the inspection fails, the work that needs to be fixed will be recorded on the site inspection sheet. Another inspection will be needed to check the remedial work. In some cases work will have to stop, in others some work may be allowed to continue or an amendment might need to be applied for. If the work is not fixed to the satisfaction of the building officer, a Notice to Fix (NTF) could be issued.

An NTF is a formal notice issued by the BCA to say that some work hasn’t been done in line with the building consent or the Code/Act. If an NTF is issued you must fix the issues within the given timeframe to prevent further action from being taken. Normally an NTF will be issued for serious or ongoing breaches.

Yes, all building consents need a final inspection. This is because the BCA needs to make sure that all the work is completed to the level required by the building consent.

Although there is no imposed time frame to complete the work, on the 2-year anniversary of granting of your consent, the BCA has to decide if a Code Compliance Certificate (CCC) can be issued. If you can’t complete the work in this time, you need to contact us to talk about timeframes.

An owner needs to apply for a CCC once all the work in their building consent is finished. To apply you need to complete a Code Compliance Certificate including filling in details of who did the work and when the work was completed.

Once the application has been made, the BCA has 20 working days to decide whether to issue a CCC. The BCA will do an inspection if a final inspection hasn’t been done and make sure all the documentation has been received. The documentation you need to provide will be listed on the building consent. If all the building work complies and the correct documentation is supplied, a CCC may be issued. If a CCC can’t be issued the 20 working day clock is stopped and more information will be requested or the CCC will be refused.

The CCC can only be issued where the BCA is satisfied on reasonable grounds that the work complies with the consent.