Working out the cost of your building consent
The cost of your building consent is based on:
- how complex your project is
- the overall value and type of work
- how many inspections you'll need.
Ways to keep costs down
- Have a technical or pre-application meeting with us to help you make informed decisions about your application.
- Make sure your application includes all the relevant information and reports so we can process it quickly and efficiently.
- Make sure you collect documents and certificates from your tradespeople while building work is under way.
1. Initial estimate
When your building consent application is submitted, we calculate an estimate of the fees you'll need to pay.
This usually includes:
- a lodgement fee
- an online application fee (Simpli)
- a plan check fee – based on your total project value and the type of work you're doing (for example, residential or commercial)
- a District Plan check – to check for resource consent or confirm one isn't required
- inspection fees – based on the size and scope of your project
- a code compliance certificate fee.
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.
Depending on your project, you may also need to pay other fees – for example, government levies or development contributions.
See all building consent fees
You can work out your own estimate using our calculators.
Estimate your building consent fees
Paying your estimate
We'll send you an invoice for payment before we begin assessing your application. To make the online payment, you will need enter your Council-issued consent number and the payment amount. You can also use the SR (Service Request) number, or TW (Team Work) number on the invoice, as a reference.
Pay building consent fees
2. Your application is assessed
When we've processed your building consent and it’s ready to be issued, we check the fees you've paid against the work we've done.
There could be a difference because:
- information was left out of your application and we had to make a request for information (RFI)
- additional structural assessment fees or other assessment fees were incurred
- there’s a significant difference in the inspection time we originally estimated, and how many inspections we now think will be needed.
If the fees paid don’t cover the work we’ve done so far, you’ll need to pay the difference before we can issue the building consent.
If the fees are correct, we issue the building consent straight away.
3. Final fee reconciliation
After you've been issued your building consent and you start your building work, extra costs will apply if:
- you need additional inspections – for example, if we need to re-inspect any work or you need third-party inspections from an engineer
- you failed an inspection and/or received a Notice to Fix
- you need to amend your original building consent.
Once work is finished, we have all the documentation and your final inspections have been passed, we'll review the fees you've paid.
If there are any outstanding fees, you'll need to pay these before we can issue your code compliance certificate.
If we spent less time than we estimated, we'll refund any difference less any administration costs.
How refunds work
You may receive a refund if:
- we've spent less time on your building consent than estimated (for example, we carried out fewer inspections)
- you cancel your consent
- your consent has lapsed
- your application was refused
- you paid too much.
We'll email or phone the person who paid the application fees to let them know about the refund and to request their bank account details. Refunds are paid by direct credit.