New building consent exemptions approved by Government

We are pleased to confirm that new building consent exemptions are being added to the Building Act. This means that more building work will be able to take place without needing a building consent. The Minister announced the new package of exemptions on Sunday 24 May.

Most of the new exemptions are expected to commence at the end of August. The new exemptions for LBPs will commence once changes are made to the Building Act, which is expected later this year.

Allowing more building work to take place without a building consent makes the building process quicker and easier. It is expected that the changes could save building owners up to $18 million a year in consenting costs and if lodged separately could reduce the number of consents issued by councils by up to 9,000 per year. While many of the new building consent exemptions can be done without the help of a professional, some will require the involvement of a Chartered Professional Engineer or Licensed Building Practitioner.

During our consultation process last year, we received positive feedback from a range of stakeholders including councils, industry organisations and building owner groups about increasing the number of building consent exemptions, covering work carried out in both rural and urban areas. Following Government decisions, the scope of the single-storey detached building exemption has been expanded and there is now more building work, which can be supervised and signed off by a Licensed Building Practitioner.

Read an overview of the new exemptions.

All exempt building work must meet the Building Code as well as other relevant legislation.

New guidance will be issued before the exemptions commence, and we will update the sector when this becomes available.

View the current building consent exemptions guidance.

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