How it works
Pre-application meetings are strongly recommended for complex projects involving:
- commercial, communal residential, or short-term sleeping accommodation with an estimated value of work over $2 million
- residential building work with an estimated value over $1 million or where there are three or more adjoined units
- remedial weathertightness recladding
- a site located within a specific design wind speed or where the risk score under E2/AS1 (acceptable solution for external moisture) is over 20
- work staged over more than one building consent
- a change of use or the creation of additional household units
- existing buildings where full compliance to C/AS1-2 (acceptable solution for the protection from fire) is not demonstrated and CVM2 (fire safety design) is not proposed.
Building consent applications for these types of projects are more likely to be rejected if a pre-application meeting hasn't been held.
How to book
Book a meeting online
Include:
- advisors you want to bring with you
- information about your proposal – you can upload your supporting documents to the booking form
- any particular issues you'd like to discuss.
Supporting documents for a building consent application
After you submit the form, we'll:
- check we have all the information we need (if we don't have enough information, we can decline your request for a meeting)
- organise the right people to consider your proposal
- contact you within 5 working days to make an appointment.
Note: If your supporting documents exceed the size limit for attaching to the form, email it to bccpre-app@wcc.govt.nz after you've submitted the form. Make sure your email includes:
- your full name or your company's name
- the property address.
At the meeting
At the meeting, you and/or your agent (usually an architect or engineer) will receive preliminary advice on the technical requirements of your project, based on the information you've provided.
Please note:
- your application won't be assessed in detail until you submit it
- we don't assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, correctness, completeness or use of any information we give as part of the pre-application process
- you're still responsible for getting your own professional building and legal advice.
Meetings are confidential, but we may have to disclose any information you provide to us if another person requests it under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.
Building consent pre-application meeting fees
The first 2 hours of a Council officer's time is free.
After this, we charge for our time at $217.00 per hour. If additional specialist advice is needed, this will also be charged to the applicant.
If you have a technical query
As a homeowner, you can book a free, 30-minute chat with a consenting officer by calling 04 801 4311 or emailing bcc@wcc.govt.nz. Consenting officers can help you understand the process, where to go for more information, and what you might need when you apply.