All About Consents

All About Consents

Updated December 2024

The consent process for minor dwellings (AKA Granny Flats) has been brought to the spotlight recently due to proposed new legislation from the national government to streamline the building of small dwellings by removing the requirement for Building Consent. This legislation has yet to come to law so we have put together the following information to answer all your questions about what needs Building or Resource Consent currently and how this could be affected by the proposed new laws. If you're not clear or just want some reassurance feel free to get in touch for personalised advice.

  • Will I Need Building Consent?

    Currently, all buildings with plumbing services and/or exceeding 30m2 require building consent. 


    If your proposed project is less than 30m2, is further from any boundary than its own height, and does not have any plumbing, you are able to build this without Building Consent so long as it is designed by an LBP (Licensed Building Practitioner) Designer or CPEng (Chartered Professional Engineer) and to be constructed out of lightweight materials. Construction must be supervised by an LBP builder and adhere to the NZ Building Codes.


    Though you do not need Building Consent you still need to notify council of your new structure and submit an updated site plan and working drawings.


  • Will I Need Resource Consent?

    Resource Consent is required when what you wish to build or where you wish to build it does not fall within what is allowed in your regional district plan.


    Some of the typical rules that effect small dwellings include:

    • Site Coverage

    • Offset from Boundary

    • Height to Boundary Recession


    These rules vary from region to region so it’s best to get in touch for personalised advice.


    Note that the proposed new laws surrounding 'Granny Flats' may affect this by looking to create blanket rules for all of New Zealand but these have yet to confirmed.


  • How Will New Granny Flat Legislation Affect My Plans?

    While there is no guarantee on what will be included in the final legislation that is made into law this is the latest information available on what the proposed new rules allows.


    The general idea is that you will be able to build one detached self-contained home on your land near your main dwelling without needing resource consent or building consent. This streamlines the process of building a granny flat saving you time and money.


    There are, of course, criteria that need to be met such as:

    • The new home must be 60m2 or less (this is measured by the internal footprint).
    • The new home must be in common ownership with the principal residential unit.
    • The new home must be designed and built in accordance with the NZ Building Codes
    • The new home must not exceed one storey.
    • The new home must be set back minimum (or possibly it’s own height) from any property boundary or other buildings on the property.
    • The new home must have interconnected smoke alarms.
    • New homes must be heated by either gas or electricity.
    • The new home must be located in a wind zone no greater than high.
    • Any plumbing and drainlaying work must be completed by the appropriately licensed tradespeople.
    • Where possible new homes must be connected to mains water, wastewater and stormwater systems. Alternative solutions available for situations where such is not possible. Each council also has their own rules for disposal of stormwater – reference your zone and local district plan to determine this, or contact us for assistance.
    • Owners must notify council of their plans to build a ‘granny flat’ and provide indicative plans; they will also need to request any information about the property that is relevant to the works being carried out. This will incur an administrative fee.
    • Owners must also notify council once work is completed.

    These changes are slated to come into effect mid 2025.


  • What are Development Levies?

    When a new house is built it increases the density of whichever city it’s built in. This adds to the load on public infrastructure, community services and the need for recreational spaces. 


    To help cover the cost of these investments (and relieve other ratepayers from covering them) some councils will charge development levies. For councils who do enforce development levies these are typically calculated based on how your property is zoned and the size of your new home. 


    In our experience development levies often come as a surprise to customers so it’s best to talk with your local Pzazz Homes builder about these in the early stages. They will be able to give you an indicative range you can expect to pay in development levies for your new home.


    As an example, Hutt City Council has a district-wide minimum development contribution of $13,984 incl. GST for each new dwelling on a site. Based on your suburb you then may pay additional fees; currently, rural residents have no additional fees, however if you are a resident of Wainuiomata you have an additional $24,514.00 to pay, bringing your total development contribution to $38,498.00 incl. GST. Not exactly loose change!


    Development levies are typically triggered during the building consent stage so it is yet unclear how/when they will be triggered in the proposed new ‘Granny Flat Legislation’


  • How Long Do Consents Take?

    The first step of both building and resource consent is typically to have a qualified draftsman or architect generate and collate the necessary drawings and documents based on the desired design. Depending on the complexity of your project this could take between 3 weeks and 3 months.


    If you need both a resource consent and building consent it is prudent to work through the resource consent process first to ensure the feasibility of the project and understand any parameters the design needs to work within.


    Once your application has been submitted there may be some back and forth between the council, your draftsman/architect and yourself to ensure that the design meets all the requirements of the building codes and other relevant regulations. 


    For new small homes we estimate an average council processing time of four weeks. This will vary from council to council and their current workload.


  • How Much Do Consents Cost?

    In most instances building consent fees are calculated based on the value of the project. Again, this will vary from council to council but in our experience for a small self-contained dwelling we would expect these to be in the range of $3-4,000. Resource consent vary a lot in terms of their complexity so the fee structure is typically based on the hourly fees for the council expertise involved + administrative costs. These fees are usually available on your local council’s website.


    Keep in mind that these are only the fees payable to council, in association with this work you will likely also have draftsman/architect fees and may also need to engage other specialists such as geotechnical engineers, surveyors, the design of trusses, and, if the geotechnical report requires it, specially engineered foundations.


Share by: