By law, a council has 20 working days to grant or refuse a building consent once it receives a complete application. In practice, many commercial consents take longer, because the clock stops every time the council asks for more information. The good news is that most delays are avoidable.
How the clock works #
- The 20 working days start the day after the council accepts a complete application.
- If the council needs more information, it issues a request for information (RFI) and the clock stops.
- The clock restarts only when the full answer is provided. A weak answer can trigger another RFI.
- Some commercial fire designs are sent to Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s engineering unit for review.
- The consent is only issued once fees and levies are paid.
- If resource consent is needed, building work can’t start until it’s granted.
Where delays usually come from #
- missing or inconsistent drawings, such as a door shown in different places on different sheets
- missing producer statements, especially the engineer’s design statement (PS1)
- geotechnical information not provided for the foundations
- fire, energy (H1), accessibility or drainage details left until the council asks
- a resource consent issue that wasn’t spotted early
- slow answers to RFIs
How to avoid them #
- Do the design properly first. A complete, consistent set of drawings, specifications and calculations is the single biggest time saver.
- Gather the specialist reports up front: structural, geotechnical, fire, H1 and drainage.
- Check the planning rules before lodging, so resource consent issues don’t appear mid-process.
- Consider a pre-application meeting with the council on larger or unusual projects.
- Answer RFIs fast and fully, from someone who knows the design.
After the consent #
During construction, the council inspects at set stages, and contractors provide construction producer statements (PS3) with engineers’ observation statements (PS4) where required. When the work is finished, you apply for a code compliance certificate, which the council also has 20 working days to decide. Keeping inspection records and producer statements organised as you go stops this last step dragging on.
How Steelspan keeps consents moving #
On design & build projects, our detailed design stage pulls together the engineering, fire, H1, drainage and geotech before we lodge. We handle the council’s questions, and during construction our project manager makes sure every inspection and producer statement is collected for the code compliance certificate. Every commercial consent is different, so we’ll give you a realistic timeframe for your project.
Talk to Steelspan #
Planning a commercial building and working to a deadline? Talk to us early so the consent timeline is built into the programme. Use our Easy Shed Quote or call 0800 787 726.
