Consent is where New Zealand builds stall — and it is rarely because the council is slow. Councils must decide a building consent within 20 working days under the Building Act, but the clock pauses every time they ask for more information. MBIE data analysed by Infometrics shows 64.3% of applications receive a request for further information (RFI), and that applications without one were processed in a median of six working days against 25 working days elapsed for those with one.
That is the whole story of consent delay in two numbers. The applications that sail through are the complete ones. This guide covers who is involved, the two different consents people confuse, what actually triggers the delays, and the extra layer that applies in character and heritage areas.
Who is involved in getting a new home approved in NZ
Most homeowners expect one relationship — the builder — and discover a committee. A typical new build needs some or all of:
- Designer or architect — the drawings the whole application is built on.
- Structural engineer — specific design for elements outside standard NZS 3604 solutions, with producer statements.
- Geotechnical engineer — ground investigation and foundation recommendations, required on many sites.
- Surveyor — boundaries, levels and set-out.
- Planner — where a resource consent or a district plan assessment is involved.
- The council — wearing two separate hats, as Building Consent Authority and as planning authority.
Every handover between those parties is a place documentation can drift out of alignment — and misaligned documentation is what an RFI is.
Building consent vs resource consent: two different approvals
These get used interchangeably and they are not the same thing.
| Building consent | Resource consent | |
|---|---|---|
| Law | Building Act | Resource Management Act |
| Tests against | The Building Code — structure, weathertightness, fire, services | The district plan — zoning, height, coverage, heritage and character rules |
| Statutory timeframe | 20 working days, paused by each RFI | 20 working days non-notified; 60+ working days if notified |
| When it applies | Almost every new build | Only when the proposal breaches a district plan rule |
| Order | Usually after resource consent, where both are needed | First, where required |
Statutory timeframes are the legal maximum for processing, not a prediction of elapsed time — and in busy districts non-notified resource consents commonly run past the statutory figure.
Why consents run past the statutory clock: the RFI mechanism
The 20-working-day limit measures council processing time, not the time from your lodgement to your approval. Each RFI stops the clock until you answer in full. The published numbers make the cost of an incomplete application unusually clear:
| Application | Median council processing | Median elapsed to decision |
|---|---|---|
| No RFI issued | 6 working days | 6 working days |
| RFI issued (64.3% of applications) | 11.4 working days | 25 working days |
An RFI costs roughly four times the elapsed time, and the applicant's own response time — a median of 11.6 days — is a large part of it. This is why the preparation that happens before lodgement matters more than anything that happens after it.
Character and heritage areas: the extra consent layer
Building in an established character street adds a planning dimension that a greenfield section does not have. Working within a heritage or character area is a recognised trigger for resource consent, and in many councils — notably parts of Auckland under special character overlays — demolishing or substantially altering a pre-1940s home generally requires resource consent, which can be declined.
For a new character home this cuts both ways. Where a district plan seeks to protect a period streetscape, a design that genuinely reflects the era's proportions and detailing is answering the planning question rather than arguing with it. That does not make consent automatic — nothing does — but a proposal that fits the character of its street is a more straightforward planning conversation than one that does not. If a demolition is involved, read our renovate-or-rebuild guide before committing either way, and check the overlay before you buy, as covered in choosing a section for a character home.
The consent timeline, stage by stage
| Stage | Typical duration | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Design and documentation | 2–4 months | Brief, concept, developed design, working drawings, engineering input |
| Resource consent (if triggered) | 20 working days statutory, non-notified; often longer in practice | Assessment against the district plan; 60+ working days if notified |
| Building consent | 20 working days statutory; 1–3 months in practice | Building Code assessment; clock pauses for each RFI |
| Pricing and pre-start | 1–2 months | Final pricing, contract, long-lead joinery ordered, site scheduled |
| During and after the build | Ongoing | Council inspections at set stages, then the code compliance certificate (CCC) application at completion |
All durations are indicative and move with council workload, site complexity and how quickly decisions get made. For the construction side of the programme, see how long it takes to build a house in NZ.
How Heritage Homes manages the consent process
Heritage Homes onboards the project and runs the consent process as part of the build. In practice that means one point of contact instead of a committee: coordinating the designer and the engineers, assembling documentation that agrees with itself, lodging the application, and answering any requests for further information.
Two things genuinely help on a character build. The plan range has been documented and built before, so the details going into an application are resolved rather than invented — and building character homes as a specialism means the planning questions that come up in older streetscapes are familiar ones.
What no builder can offer, and it is worth being straight about: nobody can shorten the statutory clock or guarantee a consent outcome. Councils are statutory decision-makers and assess every application on its own merits, against the Building Code and their district plan. What preparation does is reduce the RFI cycles that cause most of the delay — and on the published numbers, that is where almost all the time is won or lost.
Frequently asked questions
Why do building consents take longer than 20 working days in NZ?
Because the statutory clock stops. Councils must decide a building consent within 20 working days under the Building Act, but that clock pauses the moment they issue a request for further information (an RFI) and only restarts when you answer in full. MBIE data shows 64.3% of applications receive an RFI, and applicants take a median of 11.6 days to respond — which is how a 20-working-day statutory limit becomes a two- to three-month reality.
What is the difference between building consent and resource consent?
They are separate approvals under different laws. Building consent is granted under the Building Act by a Building Consent Authority and checks the design against the Building Code — structure, weathertightness, fire, services. Resource consent is granted under the Resource Management Act and checks the proposal against the district plan — zoning, height, coverage, heritage and character rules. Many builds need only building consent; some need both, and the resource consent must usually be sorted first.
Do I need resource consent to build in a character or heritage area?
Often, yes. Working within a heritage or character area is one of the common triggers for resource consent, and demolishing or substantially altering an older home in those areas frequently requires it. Rules differ by council and by street, so the check is always the district plan for that specific address — ideally before you buy the section.
What causes requests for further information on a consent application?
Gaps. Missing or inconsistent detail across drawings, specifications not matching the plans, producer statements or engineering design not supplied, and unclear compliance pathways are the usual causes. MBIE data shows applications without an RFI were processed in a median of six working days, against 25 working days elapsed for those with one — so completeness at submission is the single biggest lever on consent time.
Who arranges the architect, engineers and drawings for a new build?
On a full design-and-build, the builder coordinates them. A typical new home needs a designer or architect for the drawings, a structural engineer for specific design elements, often a geotechnical engineer for foundations, and sometimes a surveyor or planner. Left to the homeowner, keeping that group aligned is where documentation gaps — and RFIs — tend to appear.
Does Heritage Homes manage the consent process?
Yes. Heritage Homes onboards the project and manages the consent process as part of the build: coordinating the designer and engineers, assembling the documentation, lodging the application and responding to any requests for further information. No builder can shorten the statutory clock or guarantee an outcome — councils assess every application on its own merits — but a complete, well-documented application is what measurably reduces the RFI cycles that cause most delay.
Let us handle the consent process
Prefer to talk? Call Heritage Homes on 0508 40 30 20 or email sales@hhomes.nz.