Kia ora   

With the holiday season almost upon us I wanted to highlight a few key issues for working with you over the holidays.  

Council offices will be closed from 1200 Friday 23 December and re-open on Wednesday 4 January. We will be operating with reduced staffing levels during this period.  

The processing clock we use to calculate working days will stop on the 20th of December and re-start on 11 January. I would encourage you to only submit applications between now and the 20th that meet your quality standard to avoid delays for applications that require large numbers of RFIs when you and your teams are on leave during January.  

We will be working hard during January to return to acceptable levels of service delivery for our processing of building consents.  

Have a great holiday and I look forward to working with you all in the New Year! 

Ngā mihi,
Chris Scott
Building Compliance Consents Manager

Summer is coming—make sure your pool or spa is compliant  

Whether you own or rent a property with a pool, it’s your responsibility to make sure it has a barrier that complies with the Building (pools) Amendment Act 2017.  

A pool is any structure or product that is used for swimming, wading, paddling, or bathing and can be filled with at least 40cm of water. This includes your summer para pools and inflatable pools. (temporary) 

You must tell the Council if you have a pool or are intending to get or build a pool.  A building consent is required for construction of some pools and is always required for pool fencing. All pools must be fenced to the standard set out in the Act.  If a pool is not fenced to this standard, the owner must ensure that the pool is kept empty.  

It pays to check with Council, but you may not need fencing if:   

• The pool sits above ground with smooth vertical walls that are 1200mm or more high, with no permanent steps for children to climb over into the pool  

• The pool is less than 400mm deep and is not capable of being deeper  

• You have a spa pool with a compliant lockable lid and fits within the other criteria making it exempt 

Further information can be found here. 

Keeping your site “right” over the holidays 

With the shutdown over the holiday period it’s important that your building site has controls to remain secure and  keep sediment on site.

Site security 

Council officers often have to respond to complaints during the break where construction, materials or site fencing have been affected by the weather. Remember you have a responsibility to ensure that appropriate controls are in place to keep your site safe and secure.  

Run off and sediment control is another area that can cause issues while sites are not attended while contractors are away. Sediment run-off can destroy aquatic habitats and smother native plants and animals.  If you are developing or building, use methods in the checklist below to ensure that sediment stays on your site. 

• sediment fence 

• secured stockpiles (wind factor) 

• secured waste 

• stabilised access 

• footpath vegetation 

• sediment sock filter 

New MBIE Guidance on the Building Consent Process 

MBIE has produced updated guidance on the building consent process that is useful for both homeowners and building practitioners.  The guide covers the building consent process for applications for new residential building work, however the principles can be applied to all building consent applications, including those for large and/or complex commercial projects. 

You can find the guidance here.