“DIY is a favourite hobby of many New Zealanders.  Plenty of kiwis will be using their time off from work during summer to get stuck in to work around the house including renovations,” Local Government New Zealand Vice President Brendan Duffy says.    

“Councils help by providing advice about what sort of projects will or will not require consenting.”  

The Building Act 2004, NZ Building Code and Resource Management Act require home owners to apply for resource consents processed by their local council for many aspects of renovations.  

Councils will process building consents within 20 working days.  

Most councils have a statutory shut down period during December and January, so members of the public are encouraged to complete applications for projects to be done during summer as soon as possible.  

Councils can help with signing off most building work, including:

• Structural - additions, alterations, re-piling, demolition;
• Plumbing and drainage;
• Relocating a building;
• Installing a solid or diesel fired heating unit;
• Retaining walls higher than 1.5 metres or taking building/vehicle loading surcharge;
• Fences or walls higher than 2.5 metres and all swimming pool fences;
• Swimming pools;
• Decks, platforms or bridges more than 1.5 metres above ground level; and
• Sheds greater than 10 square metres in floor area.  

Work that does not require council assistance includes:

• Decks, platforms or bridges with a fall height of less than 1.5 metres;
• Garden trellis or fences less than 2.5 metres high;
• Installing kitchen cupboards;
• Small garden ponds less than 400mm depth;
• Maintenance of homes, for example, replacing spouting or a piece of weatherboard; and
• Building a garden shed or outbuilding less than 10 square metres in floor area and greater than its own height from a boundary and any residential building.  

Full information about consenting can be found here.  

Local government also supports summer festivities by holding and supporting public events including festivals, parades and other celebratory events.  Councils enable safe, happy summer holidays across all of New Zealand by providing support around a number of activities including camping, fires, beaches, alcohol and DIY.     

For more information about building consents and other local summer activity, please contact us.