The Westland District Council is a Building Consent Authority and is charged with many tasks and responsibilities under the Building Act 2004, and as a Territorial Authority, the Council has further responsibilities for functions directly related to building under the Local Government Act and other relevant statutes. This legislation gives rise to many documents which are relevant to the functions of the Council acting as a Building Consent Authority.
Territorial Authority (TA)
The roles and responsibilities of the Westland District Council as a Territorial Authority which are directly related to building control functions include the following:
Issuing project information memoranda, building consents subject to waivers or modifications, certificates of acceptance, compliance schedules and amendments and certificates for public use;
Administering audits, and enforcing building warrants of fitness;
Undertaking functions in relation to dangerous, earthquake-prone and insanitary buildings; and
Determining exempt works under schedule 1 of the Building Act 2004.
Building Consent Authority (BCA)
The roles and responsibilities of the Westland District Council as a BCA include the following:
Receiving, considering and making decisions on applications for building consents within set time limits;
Undertaking inspections of building work to ensure it is compliant with the Building Code and Building legislation; and
Issuing building consents (except consents subject to waiver or modification), code compliance certificates, compliance schedules and notices to fix.
Building and Compliance Staff
Although the Building and Compliance staff have an inspection role to undertake, they will provide as much assistance as possible.
Customer Guides
There are also a number of “Customer Guides” available that cover a wide range of building construction. The Council/Building Consent Authority also has a number of trade publications that could be helpful
Building Consent Applications and other forms:
The following forms and checklists are provided for your assistance:
A Building Consent is required for all new dwellings, alterations to existing dwellings, garages, sheds and other accessory buildings (farms sheds excluded). If you have any doubt as to whether a refurbishment or maintenance job requires a Building Consent, please contact the Council staff.
A Building Consent is required for all new commercial and industrial buildings, alterations to commercial and industrial buildings, farm buildings, alterations to existing farm buildings and cowsheds. The Building Act requires that where a “change of use” occurs to a commercial or industrial building then a building consent is required.
A Building Consent is required for installing new or second-hand appliances or replacing existing fire installations (eg: yunca, masport, wood, pellet, gas or multi-fuel). There are significant safety issues associated with the installation of fire places and it is essential that the manufacturers recommendations are followed.
At any stage during the construction of a building it is possible make any number of changes to the work. Such changes need to be approved and documented prior to the “change” being started.
Where a premises has an existing Compliance Schedule and a change needs to be made to the Schedule because of building work undertaken or changes to the way the building is used, it is likely that a change could be required to the Compliance Schedule.
Temporary buildings, particularly temporary buildings with a high public usage, can be the source of significant safety issues. Marquees are “temporary buildings” and it is important that they are well provided with safety equipment. A temporary building is a building designed to be used for no longer than one month.
Backflow Preventers are specialist devices that must be installed correctly and continue to work. The Building Act and Code provides specific standards for backflow prevention devices
You must apply for a Code Compliance Certificate on completion of building work. There are restrictions on the Council relating to the issue of Code Compliance Certificates and generally such a certificate cannot be issued after two years from the date of the Building Consent. Council staff will assist you with further explanation as to time frames and the importance of a Code Compliance Certificate.
You must apply for a Code Compliance Certificate on completion of building work. There are restrictions on the Council relating to the issue of Code Compliance Certificates and generally such a certificate cannot be issued after two years from the date of the Building Consent. Council staff will assist you with further explanation as to time frames and the importance of a Code Compliance Certificate.
Often a building that is to be used by the public will only be partially completed before being opened. A Code Compliance Certificate can not be issued until all the building work has been issued and so the Building Act requires a Certificate of Public Use to be issued for either the whole premises or part of the premises while waiting for the building work to be completed to Code Compliance Certificate standard.
Where work has been undertaken without a Building Consent having been uplifted and certification is required as to the apparent standard of the work, application can be made for a Certificate of Acceptance. It is likely that a Certificate of Acceptance would be associated with other legal proceedings relating to the unlawful building work. It may be necessary for you take legal advice.
