Nelson City Council

February 2010

• New process for commercial building consent
• New customer centre hours
• Pre pay consents
• Inspections
• Compliance schedule and building warrant of fitness fees and charges
• Building Unit Statistics
• Contacts 

New process for commercial building consents

With the new changes to our Commercial Building Consent Process we would like to remind everyone of new procedures in place now.

Step 1 - Pre-lodgement meetings

Pre-lodgement meetings for commercial projects and/or a change of use will be required a minimum of 3 weeks before the formal lodgement of the building consent with Duty Building Officer.The aim of this process is to make gaining a building consent more efficient by ensuring any foreseeable issues with the project are identified and discussed.

Step 2 - Lodgement of Commercial Building Consents

All commercial building consents will require a booked appointment time with Duty Building Officer.  This will ensure a technical staff member from the Building Unit can carry out the initial pre-vet of documentation.

 We believe this will make the building project more efficient from start to finish.  Please contact the Duty Building Officer on 546 0200 to make an appointment.

Commercial building consent applications

A new checklist and Building Consent application form has been developed and is now available online at the council website. Advice notes are also available for alterations (section 112, BA 2004) and change of use (section 114, BA 2004). These outline our expectations on how you should evaluate your project to allow for a smooth process when your Building Consent is lodged. Click here for all building consent forms and guides. 

New customer centre hours

The Customer Centre Opening hours have recently changed to allow time for staff development and training. New Opening hours are: Monday – Friday, 8.30am – 5.00pm. 

Pre pay consents

Recently we have been receiving Building Consent applications as pre-pay consents that don’t meet the pre-pay consent criteria.  A pre pay garage consent for example should be of the off the shelf variety from a specialist company as listed below. Mixing up claddings and details for standard to non standard designs for a garage will take the Building Consent out with the scope of a pre pay application and therefore will need to be applied for using a Residential Building Consent application.  If you don’t know if your application qualifies as a pre pay consent ask the Building Duty Officer at the Customer Service Centre or read the criteria below:

Bathroom alteration

• Minor alterations to sanitary plumbing and drainage only – as per NZ Building Act Schedule 1 (but can include a replacement or relocation of a hot water cylinder).
• Note that any new walls or walls removed will incur additional fees for processing time and additional inspection(s) and inspection fee(s).
• Waterproofing of tiled areas, such as a wet area shower, will require an additional inspection and inspection fee.

Demolition

Removal of a building or drainage or part thereof.

Proprietary Garage

• National chain ie; Skyline, Ideal, Versatile etc.
• Less than 50m2
• No sanitary plumbing and drainage.
• Not insulated and lined.
• Non habitable
• Note that fire rated walls will require an additional (fourth) inspection and inspection fee.

Marquee

Consent required if greater than; 100m2 for private use, or less than 100m2 but for longer than 1 month or 50 m2 for public use, or less than 50m2 but for longer than 1 month.

Solar Water Heater

Note that a building consent required for all solar water heaters (can include a replacement or relocation of a hot water cylinder).

Swimming Pool Fence

• For a swimming or spa pool fence only, but can include the backflow provisions for a spa pool.
• A backwash discharge point such as a gulley trap must be provided for a spa pool.
• The construction of a swimming pool is outside the scope of this pre-paid consent.

Spaceheater

• No demolition works for chimneys on exterior walls.
• Internal demolition works will require an additional inspection and inspection fee. 

Inspections

Code Compliance Certificates

When submitting an Application for a Code Compliance Certificate please check all information is correct before signing it and submitting to council. 

Inspection requests

All building consents (residential and commercial) are given a category of work at the time of granting.  In many instances the category of the consent dictates how many Inspectors are required on site for a particular type of inspection.  Most commercial buildings category is between 3.0 and 3.3 which requires two inspectors on site to carry out the inspection the timeframe required for these inspections are 4 – 5 days notice. We are currently running at 3 – 4 days notice on all other inspections.  

Compliance schedule and building warrant of fitness fees and charges

The Nelson City Council Building Unit has set fees and charges under the Building Act 2004 to carry out its Building Consent and Territorial Authority functions. These allow the Building Unit to carry out its regulatory activities and meet Councils funding policy for the unit. The Building Unit is expected to achieve self funding of 80+% which is recovered through these fees.

Fees and charges were approved by Council on the 1st March 2009. These included the fees and charges for compliance schedule and building warrant of fitness activities. Due to staffing and system changes over the past 6 months, invoicing for compliance schedule and building warrant of fitness activities was delayed and will be implemented from early February 2010. Note these are the 2009/2010 approved fees and charges.

Fees and charges

• Compliance Schedule $125.00 each
• Compliance Schedule amendment $125.00 + any additional time to review if applicable
• Building Warrant of Fitness $150.00 each renewal + any additional time to review 12A forms
• Administration $75.00 (per hr)
• Audit / inspection / technical assessment $90.00 (per hr)

Please contact Nick Watson, Compliance Officer if you have any queries. Email Nick here or phone 546 0741. 

Solar Saver Scheme

Nelson City Council’s Solar Saver Scheme is now up and running and residents who have already made the change love it.

The Solar Saver scheme allows home owners to install a solar hot water system (including a new cylinder if required) and pay back the cost, including interest at 7.8% per annum, as part of their rates over ten years or pay it back sooner if they prefer. It makes the most economic sense to take up the scheme when building a new home.

If you would like more information or you have clients who may be interested, Council is now taking registrations for the next 500 installations, which will begin in July.  Click here for more information about the Solar Saver Scheme. 

Building unit statistics year to date 

Contact and subscriptions

If you have feedback on Building Nelson please contact: Tracy Quinton-Boundy on 03 546 0248 or Dawn Rosie on 03 545 8839.

To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, contact Dawn Rosie.

Building Nelson is a publication of the Nelson City Council.

Nelson City Council
PO Box 645
Nelson
+64 3 546 0200