All building consent fees

The full list of building consent fees and when they apply.

All fees include GST.

Hourly rates are set to allow the Council to recover reasonable costs incurred through inspections. This is done on a yearly basis and is based on the current operating environment. Inspections are then charged at this rate on the time they occur.

Fees for all applications except minor works

1. Lodgement fee

Description Fee
All applications (except minor works) $171.50

2. Plan check fees

Residential 1, 2 and 3 buildings – by project value

Description Fee
Under $10,000 $608.50
$10,001–$20,000 $1351.50
$20,001–$100,000 $1486.50
$100,001–$500,000 $1621.50
$500,001–$1,000,000 $3782.50
Over $1,000,000 $4999.00
For each 500,000 or part thereof over 1,000,000 $1284.00
Consent suspend fee (to review additional information) – per additional hour of officer re-assessment time $271.50

Commercial 1 and 2 buildings – by project value

Description Fee
Under $10,000 $946.00
$10,001–$20,000 $1351.50
$20,001–$100,000 $1486.50
$100,001–$500,000 $2432.50
$500,001–$1,000,000 $4322.50
Over $1,000,000 $4999.00
For each 500,000 or part thereof over 1,000,000 $1284.00
Consent suspend fee (to review additional information) – per additional hour of officer re-assessment time $271.50

Commercial 3 buildings – by project value

Description Fee
Under $10,000 $1216.00
$10,001–$20,000 $1351.50
$20,001–$100,000 $1486.50
$100,001–$500,000 $2342.50
$500,001–$1,000,000 $4862.50
Over $1,000,000 $4999.00
For each 500,000 or part thereof over 1,000,000 $1284.00
Consent suspend fee (to review additional information) – per additional hour of officer re-assessment time $271.50

3. District Plan check

Description Fee
Building consents with a project value under $20,000 $135.00 for 30 minutes
Building consents with a project value over $20,001 $261.50 for 1 hour
Additional processing time $261.50 per hour

4. Inspection fees

Description Fee
Per hour $271.50

5. Code compliance certificate

Description Fee
Residential 1, 2 and 3 $171.50
Commercial 1 and 2 buildings $171.50
Commercial 3 buildings $215.00

Minor works fees

Description Fee
Freestanding fireplace – 1 inspection up to a maximum of 1 hour inspection time $338.50
Inbuilt or any wetback fireplace – up to a maximum of 2 hours inspection time $712.50
Additional inspection fees – per hour $271.50
Drainage/plumbing, value under $5,000 
- Residential – detached – up to a maximum of 1.75 hours of inspection time: $510.00
- Commercial or Multi-residential – up to a maximum of 2.5 hours of inspection time: $1,561.00

MultiProof plan check fees

Description Fee
Plan check – estimate 3 hours at $271.50 $811.50
Additional time per hour $271.50

Other fees that may apply

A building consent application may also incur some or all of the following charges, depending on the work involved.

Administration and pre-application meetings

Description Fee
Pre-application meetings: consent officer/expert/compliance officer (2 hours total officer time free, then charged per hour) $271.50
Administration fee for refunds on cancelled, lapsed or superseded consents $171.50
Administration fee (other), hourly rate $171.50

Building consent amendment

Making an amendment to a building consent after it's been issued.

Description Fee
Lodgement fee $127.50
Initial fee (includes 1 hour processing) $271.50
Processing over 1 hour – per hour $271.50

Lodging a change to a record of title

When building work requires a change to a property's record of title.

Description Fee
Processing time per hour $271.50
Preparing legal documents (first 2 hours processing) $511.00
Legal costs for registering certificates against titles Actual cost
S77 building over two or more allotments – legal costs Actual cost
S72 land subject to hazards – LINZ lodgement Actual cost

Development contributions

If additional household units or additional commercial, retail or industrial spaces are created, you may need to pay development contribution fees.

These fees are assessed after the application is lodged. They must be paid before we can issue the code compliance certificate for the work.

Development contributions

Fast-track consents

You may be able to ask for a fast-track building consent if your project meets our criteria – for example, the work isn't subject to specific engineering requirements or District Plan rules.

Applications are accepted on a case-by-case basis. Book a lodgement meeting to discuss by phoning 04 801 4311.

Description Fee
Consent issued within 10 working days 2 x all consent approval charges
Consents issued within 5 working days 3 x all consent approval charges

Levies

We collect building levies on behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), and building research levies on behalf of the Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ).

The levies apply to building consent applications with a project value of:

  • $20,000 and above for the BRANZ levy
  • $65,000 and above for the MBIE levy.

For staged projects, levies are assessed on the total project value.

Wellington City Council collects an accreditation levy to maintain compliance as a building consent authority under the Building Act 2004. This levy sustains high-quality regulatory services, covering compliance costs, industry standard adherence, and process/service enhancements. Levies are calculated upon building consent application and are non-refundable.

Description
BRANZ levy – $1.00 per $1,000 of project value
MBIE levy – $1.75 per $1,000 of project value
Accreditation levy – $0.50 per $1,000 of project value

Simpli online application fee

Description Fee
Including building consent applications, amended plan applications or Project Information Memorandum (PIM) applications. $51.75

Restricted building work

Description Fee
Restricted building work check (per building consent) $86.50

Structural design check

These fees may apply for checking elements of specific engineering design on projects involving structural works, when supported by a producer statement from a chartered professional engineer.

Description Fee
Residential 1, 2 and 3 structural work (on plan reviews) $727.50
Commercial 1, 2 and 3 structural work (on plan reviews) $970.00–$1212.50 (confirmed on acceptance of consent)
Residential 1, 2 and 3 structural work (for amended plans) $485.00
Commercial 1, 2 and 3 structural work (for amended plans) $485.00–$727.50 (confirmed on acceptance of consent)
Engineer’s hourly charge (including internal overheads) over and above deposit $407.50
Contract management hourly charge, over and above deposit $232.50
Deposit for all levels of buildings requiring structural checking not supported by a producer statement from a chartered professional engineer $1212.50

Time extension

This fee applies if a consent needs to be extended because building work hasn't:

  • begun within 12 months, or
  • been completed after 24 months.
Description Fee
Initial fee (30 minutes admin, 30 minutes inspector) $177.00
Additional inspector’s time, per hour $271.50

Vehicle access

Description Fee
Plan check linked to a building consent or resource consent $522.50
Received independently (small) $530.00
Received independently (multiple) $892.50
Initial inspection fee $261.50
Vehicle crossing inspection fee over 1 hour $261.50

Commercial building project fees

These fees only apply to building consent applications for commercial buildings.

Certificate for public use

Description Fee
Lodgement fee $127.50
Initial fee (includes 1 hour processing time) $271.50
Additional processing time per hour $271.50

Certificate for Public Use

Compliance schedule fees

Description Fee
New compliance schedule (linked with building consent or where there is an existing cable car). Minimum charge based on one hour processing $406.50
Additional charge per hour for new compliance schedule (linked with building consent or where there is an existing cable car) $271.50
Alterations and amendments to existing compliance schedule (linked to building consent) charged per hour $271.50
Minor compliance schedule amendments:
- change of owner/agent
- minor changes requested by owner/agent
Minimum charge based on 15 minutes processing.
$69.00
Additional processing time per hour $271.50

Specified systems and compliance schedules

Health assessment

Description Fee
Building consent base fee $431.50
Additional charge for over 2 hours processing time $216.00

Fire service review

When a fire service review of a building consent is required, it's conducted directly by Fire and Emergency New Zealand. There's no charge for this.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand website

Trade waste management

Description Fee
Assess building consent including trade waste element $223.50