Commencing construction, inspections and certification

Large dams and building consents

On this page:

When a consent lapses •
When building work can begin •
When premises for public use can be occupied (including Certificate of Public Use process) •
Information on how consents are inspected •
What to expect on inspection day by WRC consultants •
Notices to Fix •
Information on how consents are certified

When a consent lapses

(Section 52)

You must start construction work within 12 months of receiving building consent otherwise the consent will lapse. If you do not commence the building work within this period and still wish to proceed with this work, then you may contact the Waikato Regional Council to seek an extension of the lapse period.

When building work can begin

Building work must not can commence until the building consent has been issued by WRC. Should there be any additional RMA requirements that prevent the work from proceeding, WRC will provide a section 37 to the effect ascertained in the certificate. i.e. no building work may proceed; or building work may proceed to the extent stated in the certificate.

When premises for public use can be occupied (including Certificate of Public Use process)

(Section 363)

The Building Act defines circumstances where buildings (dams) are allowed to be occupied by the public during construction before it has issued a code compliance certificate. Typically a certificate for public use (CPU) can be issued where the council is satisfied on reasonable grounds that members of the public can use the dam safely.

People who own, occupy, or control a dam may apply in the prescribed form to their regional authority for a certificate for public use for the dam or part of the dam if a building consent has been granted for dam and no code compliance certificate has been issued for the work.

While the issuing of a certificate of public use (CPU) is a function that your local regional/unitary authorities’ are responsible for, it is not a BCA functions. However as WRC are the BCA responsible for compliance with the approved building consent, WRC are required to provide advice through to the local council.

i.e. While it's your local councils responsibility, they typically engage WRC to process the application (in the same manner as other building consent applications) and make recommendations back to the local council to enable them to make a CPU decision.

Information on how consents are inspected

When you have obtained an approved building consent for a dam or associated appurtenant structure, it is the consent holder’s responsibility to ensure the building work (e.g. inspections) is undertaken in accordance with the consent documentation. This will enable Waikato Regional Council to confirm the work complies with the approved consent documentation and the Building Code.

A schedule of inspections, producer statements (if required), and consent conditions will be provided with the building consent. All building consent inspections will be planned, performed and managed by either consultants engaged by Waikato Regional Council OR alternatively the applicant's CPEng consultant where WRC determines that they have the appropriate expertise to undertake these inspections (This decision will be identified in the building consent conditions).

Where significant non-compliances are identified during an inspection, WRC may issue a Notice to Fix.

The matters that require inspection may include the following, although the specific requirements will be determined on a case by case basis:
- siting of dam components
- footings, foundations or underpinnings
- findings from excavations
- compaction and strength certificates
- placement of framework, steel, conduits, drainage
- appurtenant structure or specified systems details
- site hydraulic conditions
- post construction hydraulic conditions
- routing of peak flood and super-design flows
- documentation evidence of design process including dam design QA process.
Where WRC consultants are undertaking site inspections, these will need to be booked three to five days in advance. However, this is dependent on locality and proximity of dam construction site to the consultants. A list of required inspections and an indication of booking times for inspections will be included in documentation, with each approved building consent.

Where non-compliance is identified during the inspection process, the non-compliance may be resolved through the inspector simply requesting the dam owner/builder to rectify the matter and/or may include a Notice to Fix issued by WRC.

What to expect on inspection day by WRC consultants

(Should these inspections be undertaken by applicant's CPEng engineer, similar requirements may apply)

On inspection day, you or your agent need to be on site with consented plans and associated documentation. Building consent authorities can refuse to undertake an inspection if a copy of the approved consent documentation is not available. These should always be on site anyway to be used as the 'building plans' by your builder and other contractors.

You, or your representative, need to:

respond to any requests from the inspector, so that they can give you approval to proceed.
arrange for access to the building, or building work, so that the person inspecting can carry out the inspection. This includes safe access to ‘off-the-ground’ and “normally inaccessible” areas should that be required.
minor issues might be easily fixed or approved, and noted on the inspection record - i.e. part of the building consent documentation. Note: these "minor variations" all require approval from WRC.
major problems will require a formal amendment through the council before work can proceed (stop-work).
the inspector will advise whether the extent of the stop-work applies to the full building consent, and if a conditional continuation of work applies to unaffected areas.
following an inspection, check the inspection record to see whether the work passed and that all inspections performed are listed.
if the work passed, continue with your work.
if the work failed, fix all areas of non-compliance and arrange another inspection within advised timeframe.
where there is a material non-compliance, the inspector will advise WRC, who will decide whether to issue a Notice to Fix.

Building consent authority inspection requirements will vary with the size and complexity of each project.

WRC consultants are required to provide a copy of the full inspection records to WRC within two working days of completion of the site inspection. WRC will provide a copy of this inspection report (which may include further action required such as a Notice to Fix) to the applicant's representative within two working days of receipt of inspection report from the consultant. This is recorded on WRC’s “Summary of Inspection” form F28.

Notices to Fix

(Section 163 – 168)

Where material non-compliance is identified during the inspection process, Waikato Regional Council may issue a notice to fix. Follow up inspections regarding the matters covered by the notice will be undertaken by Waikato Regional Council as required. If you have not met all the requirements of the notice to fix, Waikato Regional Council can require removal, demolition or alteration of the building work at the expense of the consent holder.

If a notice to fix results in new work being required, an amendment to the building consent may be necessary. The consent holder will be advised accordingly.

Information on how consents are certified

The CCC confirms that the completed building work has been built in accordance with the approved Building Consent documents and complies with the Building Code. A CCC is issued by the Building Consent Authority as requirement under section 95 of the Building Act 2004 at the end of the building consent process
An owner must apply to a Building Consent Authority for a CCC after all building work to be carried out under a building consent granted to that owner is completed.
As WRC are responsible for “dam” building consents for the North Island, your CCC application should be submitted to WRC electronically. If this is not suitable, please contact WRC to arrange an alternative means of submitting your application.

We strongly recommend that you check that you have all the documentation required and that it is complete prior to making the application for CCC see below
- Complete the CCC application form (Form 6). The application must be made by the owner as soon as possible after the project has been completed. Passing the final inspection signals that all the work required by the building consent has been completed.
- Supply all of the third-party certification paperwork (if relevant) that has been requested as a condition of the building consent e.g. producer statements, specified system installation/certification certificates. These documents provide additional information that the officer considers in making the CCC decision.
- All energy certificates (electrical and/or gas) must be included with the CCC application, otherwise Council can refuse to issue a CCC under section 94(3) of the Building Act 2004
Note: The building code is non-specific in regard to dam design. For this reason, all “large” dam building consent applications will have been assessed using the New Zealand Society of Large Dam (NZSOLD) guidelines as an alternative solution.

Module 4 – Construction and Commissioning clause 2.6, include specific recommendations on information that may be taken into consideration by Building Consent Authorities when making their CCC decision.

The Building Act does not allow these NZSOLD Guidelines to be included as conditions in your granted building consent, however these NZSOLD Guidelines may be included as “Advisory Notes” with your approved building consent certificate letter.
If no application for CCC has been made within two years since the building consent was granted, the Council must decide within 20 working days of the 2-year deadline whether to issue or not issue a CCC. However, if the owner realises that they are not going to complete the project before the two-year anniversary they can apply for an extension of time.
After lodging your application for CCC, Council will check that the documentation required by the building consent has been received and is complete. The application for CCC can then be formally accepted and processed.

During the processing of a CCC application, the Council may request further reasonable information regarding the building consent through the request for information (RFI) process. Where a RFI is made, the Council stops/suspends counting of statutory working days in which it is required to process a consent from the day after the RFI is made.

The Council will restart the counting of the statutory working days from the next working day after the requested information is received once all of the information requested in an RFI has been received and the information is sufficient and adequate to support a decision being made by the Council.

WRC must issue a CCC within 20 working days of receiving the application if it is satisfied on reasonable grounds that building work complies with the approved building consent before section 94. This may include that where a “compliance schedule” is required as a result of the building work, the specified systems and the building are capable of performing to the performance standards set out in the building consent.
Obtaining a CCC is very important as
- Sale and purchase contracts are often conditional on a CCC having been issued and the deciding factor in the sale and pictures of a property
- Not having a CCC may also affect your household insurance
Buyers who obtain a LIM will check whether or not the building(s) matches the information in the LIM
- Has further work been carried out?
- Is the word consented or illegal?
- Has the work been signed off as compliant with the building consent?
- If the work does not have a CCC, there will be no CCC recorded on the LIM
If you want to sell your property, check that any turning consent projects have been completed, inspected and that asked has been obtained for that properly. If you haven't checked these when you originally bought the property without him, you may not realize there is an outstanding pullers consent listed against the property.