The Westland District Council is a Building Consent Authority and is charged with many tasks and responsibilities under the Building Act 2004.
As a Territorial Authority, the Council has further responsibilities for functions directly related to building under the Local Government Act and other relevant statutes.
This legislation gives rise to many documents which are relevant to the functions of the Council acting as a Building Consent Authority.
The roles and responsibilities of the Westland District Council as a Territorial Authority which are directly related to building control functions include the following:
- Issuing project information memoranda, building consents subject to waivers or modifications, certificates of acceptance, compliance schedules and amendments and certificates for public use;
- Administering audits, and enforcing building warrants of fitness;
- Undertaking functions in relation to dangerous, earthquake-prone and insanitary buildings; and
- Determining exempt works under schedule 1 of the Building Act 2004.
Building Consent Authority (BCA)
The roles and responsibilities of the Westland District Council as a BCA include the following:
- Receiving, considering and making decisions on applications for building consents within set time limits;
- Undertaking inspections of building work to ensure it is compliant with the Building Code and Building legislation; and
- Issuing building consents (except consents subject to waiver or modification), code compliance certificates, compliance schedules and notices to fix.
Although the Building and Compliance staff have an inspection role to undertake, they will provide as much assistance as possible.
If any residential building work is structural and/or affects the weathertightness of the building, it is classed as Restricted Building Work. This means you must employ a Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP) to design and undertake the work. The LBP engaged must either do the work themselves or supervise the work being undertaken by others.
Further information is available on the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website, by phone 0800 242 243 or email info@mbie.govt.nz
There are also a number of “Customer guides” available that cover a wide range of building construction.
The Council/Building Consent Authority also has a number of trade publications that could be helpful, such as The New Zealand Homeowner’s Building Guide, and so much more!
From 1st January 2017, pools are required to meet the Building (Pools) Amendment Act 2016.
Pool safety barriers are now regulated by the Building Act 2004, under provisions of Clause F9 of the New Zealand Building Code (Building Regulations)
Please refer to the legislation and check with your local council for full details.
Swimming Pools and Spas Pools require a building consent to install. This will require a pool fence to comply with the Act. "Pools" are all pools that have the capability of water depth greater than 400 mm
Gates or doors entering the immediate pool area must have self closure devices.
Please refer to the Pool Safety Checklist for further details.
Earthquake prone buildings in the West Coast region
The Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016 (the Act) came into force on 1 July 2017 and contains major changes to the current system of identifying and remediating earthquake-prone buildings under the Building Act 2004 including a new national system for building identification and assessment and a publicly available national register of buildings that are earthquake-prone.
Building consent applications and other forms
Getting Started with AlphaOne:
Click here to access the portal and start your application.
The following forms and checklists are provided for your assistance:
- Application Documentation
- Customer Guides
- Further Information
For further enquiries, please contact the Building Inspection Team at council@westlanddc.govt.nz
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