NZ Building Consent: Exemptions, the 20 Day Clock, the CCC

Last updated 26 October 2026. Checked against the Building Act 2004 as at 8 October 2026.

The default is that you need one

The Building Act 2004 requires a building consent for building work unless the work is exempt. That is the right way round to think about it. You are not looking for a rule that says your job needs consent, you are looking for an exemption that covers it, and if you cannot find one clearly then you need the consent.

Schedule 1 exemptions

Schedule 1 to the Building Act lists work that does not need a consent. It is genuinely useful and genuinely narrow, and it has three parts. Part 1 is the general list, though a few of its clauses apply only when a Licensed Building Practitioner carries out or supervises the work. Part 2 is sanitary plumbing and drainlaying, exempt only when it is done by someone authorised under the Plumbers, Gasfitters, and Drainlayers Act 2006. Part 3 is work that is exempt only when a chartered professional engineer has designed or reviewed it and it is built to that design.

The clauses builders rely on most:

The setbacks changed on 23 October 2025. The Building (Exempt Roof-mounted Solar Panel Arrays and Building Work) Order 2025 removed the setback from clause 3 altogether, set the 1 metre setback now in clauses 3A, 3B and 43, and added the solar array clauses, so check the date on any guidance you are reading. Clause 4, for unoccupied buildings such as those housing fixed plant, still keeps the building at least its own height from residential buildings and legal boundaries.

Three traps inside it are worth naming.

• Exempt does not mean unregulated. Exempt work still has to comply with the Building Code, the building has to comply at least as well afterwards as it did before, and the work must not breach any other law (section 42A). You simply do not need a consent to prove it. If it fails, it is still non compliant building work.
• Like for like has limits. Clause 1 covers repair, maintenance and replacement with comparable materials or components in the same position. It does not cover complete or substantial replacement of a specified system or of anything that contributes to structural behaviour or fire safety, sanitary plumbing or drainlaying, or replacing anything that has failed the durability provisions of the Building Code. The Act gives a failure to meet the external moisture requirements as its example, so replacing cladding that let water in is not exempt under clause 1, even when the new cladding is identical.
• Other rules still apply. A resource consent under the Resource Management Act, and district plan rules on height, coverage and boundary setbacks, are separate from building consent and are not waived by a Schedule 1 exemption.

Granny flats: the Schedule 1A exemption

Since 15 January 2026 a small stand-alone dwelling, usually called a granny flat, has not needed a building consent if it meets every requirement of Schedule 1A and section 42B of the Building Act. The exemption came in with the Building and Construction (Small Stand-alone Dwellings) Amendment Act 2025. The dwelling has to be:

• Wholly new and stand-alone, not an addition to or alteration of an existing building.
• No more than 70 square metres of floor area, measured between the finished inside faces of the external walls.
• Single storey with no mezzanine: the floor no more than 1m above the supporting ground, and no more than 4m high above the floor.
• Framed in lightweight timber or steel, or built from a certified composite structural building product.
• At least 2m from any other residential building and from every legal boundary.
• Roofed in products of no more than 20kg per square metre, and clad in products of no more than 220kg per square metre.
• Plumbed and drained to E1/AS1, E1/AS2 or E1/VM1, G12/AS1 or G12/AS3, and G13/AS1 with G13/AS2 or G13/AS3.
• Connected to the network utility services where they are available, and otherwise to new or existing on-site systems that comply with the Building Code.
• On its own electricity supply, and its own gas supply if it uses gas, with only electric or gas heaters and no level entry shower that needs a waterproof membrane.

The water supply, plumbing and drainage of the dwelling have further limits, which do not apply to an on-site system: no more than 30 fixture units, no pumped systems inside the dwelling, a main drain of at least DN100 at a grade of 1:60, branch drains of at least DN65 at 1:40, upstream vents of at least DN65, and no uncontrolled water heating. Connecting to the network or to an on-site system needs no building consent of its own. A garage with internal access can be part of the dwelling if the whole building stays inside these limits.

Section 42B then sets conditions on the build itself:

• The work has to comply with the Building Code. Exempt is not unregulated.
• All of it, including the design of restricted building work, sanitary plumbing, drainlaying, electrical work and gasfitting, has to be done by people authorised to do that work. The owner builder exemption does not apply.
• No work can start until the council has issued a project information memorandum (PIM) for the dwelling on its final site, and work can only continue while that PIM is current. The council has 10 working days to issue it, and it lapses if the work is not finished within 2 years of issue unless the council allows longer.
• Where a natural hazard is present or likely, or the build would accelerate, worsen or cause one, work cannot go ahead until adequate provision has been made to protect the land, the building work and other property.
• It cannot be built across a boundary on land made up of two or more allotments.

Within 20 working days of completion the owner must send the council the record of work from each Licensed Building Practitioner, plumber, gasfitter and drainlayer, the electrical and gas certificates, a set of final design plans, and a certificate of work for a non-consented small stand-alone dwelling. The Act treats the work as complete when the owner has all of those documents. Failing to send them is an infringement offence carrying a fine of up to $1,000, and the council has no duty to assess what it receives (section 42C), so lodging them is not an approval.

Development contributions still apply. If the council considers one is payable when it receives the PIM application, it must issue a development contribution notice, and the contribution is due within 20 working days after completion.

You can still choose to apply for a building consent for a granny flat that would qualify (section 42B(2)). Only the consent route ends in a code compliance certificate. The Schedule 1A route ends with the documents you lodged with the council.

The planning half

Schedule 1A deals only with the building consent. Whether the district plan allows a second dwelling on the site is a separate question, answered since 15 January 2026 by the Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Detached Minor Residential Units) Regulations 2025. They make one detached minor residential unit per site a permitted activity in residential, rural, mixed use and Māori purpose zones, so it needs no resource consent if it meets these standards:

• No more than 70 square metres of floor area, and at least 2m from the main house.
• Residential zone: at least 2m from the front, side and rear boundaries, and no more than 50% building coverage on the site.
• Rural zone: at least 10m from the front boundary and 5m from the side and rear boundaries.
• Mixed use and Māori purpose zones: the setbacks in the district plan.

Setbacks are measured to the outside face of the external wall, and outside residential zones building coverage follows the district plan. District plan rules still apply to subdivision, to matters of national importance under section 6 of the Resource Management Act such as natural hazards and historic heritage, to earthworks, to non-residential use and to infrastructure, and regional plan rules apply in full. A district plan can be more lenient than the standard, but otherwise a unit that misses a standard needs a resource consent.

The 20 working day clock, and how it stops

Once it has an application that meets section 45 of the Act, the building consent authority must grant or refuse it within 20 working days (section 48). That is a statutory clock, not a service target. Two cases get 10 working days: plans with a national multiple-use approval (MultiProof), and a whole building made of a single modular component from a registered, certified manufacturer whose certificate covers everything except the site work.

What everyone discovers is that the clock stops. A request for further information suspends it, and it restarts when the information is provided. An application submitted with gaps can therefore take months while formally staying inside the 20 days, and the authority has done nothing wrong. The single most effective thing you can do for your programme is submit a complete application.

Working days also exclude weekends, public holidays and every day from 20 December to 10 January, so 20 working days is never 20 days, and the clock stands still for about three weeks over the summer break.

Code compliance certificate at the end

When the work is finished you apply for a code compliance certificate. The authority again has 20 working days to decide, and again the clock stops for further information. It must issue the certificate if it is satisfied on reasonable grounds that the work complies with the building consent (section 94).

The clock also starts without you. If nobody applies, section 93 makes the authority decide anyway once 2 years have passed since the consent was granted, unless a longer period has been agreed. Unfinished work cannot satisfy that test, so on a long job agree an extension with the authority before the 2 years are up.

A CCC is what tells a future buyer, a bank and an insurer that the work was completed to the consent. A house with consented work and no CCC is a problem at sale, and chasing one years later, once the builder has moved on and the producer statements are in someone else’s filing cabinet, is far harder than getting it at the time.

Restricted building work and LBPs

Restricted building work is the work that affects a home’s primary structure or weathertightness, and it has to be carried out or supervised by a Licensed Building Practitioner. Each LBP who carried out or supervised it gives a record of work to the owner and the council on completion (section 88).

The owner builder exemption lets a homeowner do restricted building work on their own home, and section 90B sets four tests. You need an interest in the land or building, such as ownership or a right of occupancy. You must live in it, or intend to. You must do the work yourself, or with unpaid help from friends and family. And you must not have used the exemption on a different home in the previous 3 years. It is not a way around using an LBP on a project you are building for someone else, and it does not apply to a Schedule 1A granny flat at all (section 90D).

What happens if you build without consent

Carrying out building work other than in accordance with a building consent is an offence under section 40 of the Building Act. That covers building with no consent and building something different from what was consented. The maximum fine is $200,000, plus up to $10,000 for every day the offence continues. The prosecution is rarely the worst part.

The worst part is the certificate of acceptance route. Unconsented work discovered later is regularised through a CoA rather than a consent, and a CoA is explicitly a weaker document: it records what the authority was able to inspect, which by then is usually much less than a consent process would have seen. Work that is closed up may have to be opened. The CoA follows the property, shows up in a LIM, and gets negotiated against at sale.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a building consent in New Zealand? Assume yes unless the work is clearly covered by a Schedule 1 exemption, or by Schedule 1A for a granny flat of up to 70 square metres. The Building Act 2004 requires a consent for building work unless it is exempt, so the exemption is what you have to find.

How long does a building consent take? The building consent authority must grant or refuse the application within 20 working days, or 10 for a MultiProof design. The clock suspends whenever further information is requested, and working days exclude 20 December to 10 January, so an incomplete application can take far longer while formally staying inside the 20 days.

What is a code compliance certificate? It is the authority’s confirmation that the completed work complies with the building consent. You apply for it when the work is finished, and the authority has 20 working days to decide. If nobody applies, the authority must decide anyway once 2 years have passed since the consent was granted, unless a longer period was agreed. Banks, insurers and buyers all look for it.

What is exempt under Schedule 1? The main clauses cover detached single storey buildings up to 10 square metres, or up to 30 with conditions, carports up to 20 square metres or 40 with an LBP or engineer, retaining walls holding up to 1.5 metres of ground with no surcharge, fences up to 2.5 metres other than pool fences, decks you cannot fall more than 1.5 metres from, roof solar arrays up to 40 square metres, and like for like repair or replacement. Exempt work still has to comply with the Building Code.

Can I build a granny flat without a building consent in New Zealand? Since 15 January 2026, yes, if it meets Schedule 1A of the Building Act: a new, single storey, stand-alone dwelling of up to 70 square metres, at least 2 metres from other residential buildings and boundaries, built by authorised people after the council has issued a project information memorandum. The documents have to be sent to the council within 20 working days of completion. It can still need a resource consent if it misses the national planning standards for minor residential units.

What is restricted building work? Work affecting a home’s primary structure or weathertightness. It must be carried out or supervised by a Licensed Building Practitioner, who gives a record of work to the owner and the council on completion. A limited owner builder exemption exists for a home you live in, but not for a Schedule 1A granny flat.

What happens if I build without a consent? It is an offence under section 40 of the Building Act, with a fine of up to $200,000 plus up to $10,000 for each day it continues. The work is then regularised through a certificate of acceptance, which is a weaker document than a consent, may require closed work to be opened up, and appears on the property record at sale.

Is a resource consent the same as a building consent? No. They are separate. A Schedule 1 or Schedule 1A building consent exemption does not exempt you from district plan rules on height, coverage and setbacks, or from needing a resource consent. A granny flat in a rural zone, for example, has to sit 10 metres from the front boundary and 5 metres from the side and rear to be permitted under the national planning standard, against the 2 metres Schedule 1A asks for.

Related calculators and guides

• NZS 3604 explained
• Lintel loaded dimension calculator
• All New Zealand calculators

Sources

• Building Act 2004, as at 8 October 2026: sections 7, 34, 34A, 36, 40, 42A to 42C, 48, 88, 90B to 90D, 93 and 94, and Schedules 1 and 1A.
• Building and Construction (Small Stand-alone Dwellings) Amendment Act 2025, Building (Exempt Roof-mounted Solar Panel Arrays and Building Work) Order 2025 and Building (Exempt Small Stand-alone Dwellings) Order 2026.
• Resource Management (National Environmental Standards for Detached Minor Residential Units) Regulations 2025, as at 11 September 2026.
• New Zealand Building Code, Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations 1992.
• building.govt.nz, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.