Building Services fees and charges

Here are the fees we charge for Building Services, including building consent, building warrant of fitness and compliance schedules, and engineering checks.

All fees and charges include GST. Effective 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023.

Building Services charges are imposed under the Building Act 2004 to recover the cost to Council for processing applications, carrying out inspections, and related work.

Fixed building consent fees

Demolitions
K1 Residential: Demolition/ removal of existing residential building or outbuilding. A separate consent is required to replace. $769
K2 Commercial: Demolition/ removal of existing commercial building or outbuilding. A separate consent is required to replace. $867

 

Conservatories
N Conservatory (proprietary). Conventional construction placed on existing deck or platform only. No foundations included. $730

 

Fast-track minor consents
These are available to approved customers only. An "approved customer" must be pre-approved by Palmerston North City Council Building Services. Approved customers are those who submit applications within agreed construction parameters using a refined method, to Council's satisfaction.
F1 Freestanding solid fuel heater $594
F2 Inbuilt solid fuel heater $808
F3 Proprietary garage $1,248

 

Project information memorandum
PIM fixed fee work  $134

Processing fees

Private building consent authorities
BCA filing fee  $114
Warrants of fitness and compliance schedules 
Annual building warrant of fitness renewal  $104
 New compliance schedule  $192
 Alteration to existing compliance schedule  $123
 Building WoF site audit and reinspection  $211 per inspection
 IQP registration for new IQPs  $424
 IQP annual renewal  $118
Engineering checking
Structural engineering checking  Actual cost as charged by the consultant engineer
Fire engineering checks sent to the New Zealand Fire Service  Actual cost as charged by the Fire Service

 

Advisory service
This applies when staff provide information in response to customer queries.
For enquiries received from staff in our customer service centre No cost for an individual enquiry of up to 30 minutes, whether this is in person or in writing. If the enquiry is for longer than 30 minutes, this will be charged based on the relevant officer's hourly rate (listed below)
 
For enquiries received by staff who are not based at our customer service centre  Charged based on the relevant officer's hourly rate (listed below)

 

Pre-lodgment vetting
This applies when staff vet information before an application is lodged Charged based on the relevant officer's hourly rate (listed below)

Other fees

Code of compliance certificate
 Residential  $165
 Commercial  $534
Building inspection
Standard inspection $211
Third-party report  $601
Section 72 certificate condition  $736
Section 75 certificate condition  $812
 Application fees
Extend timeframe for building consent or code of compliance $93
Building consent application, amendment to building consent, certificate of public use, exempt building work, waiver and modification applications Charged based on the relevant officer's hourly rate, plus any additional applicable fees and charges. Officers' rates are listed below

   

Licensed building practitioner registration 
This is an additional fee for all restricted building work projects $153
Certificate of acceptance
 Lodgment fee (non-refundable) $750 
 Processing fee Charged based on the relevant officer's hourly rate, plus any inspections, planning, checks and other applicable fees and charges. Officers' rates are listed below.

 

BCA accreditation fee
 Per $1,000 of project value  $1.65

  

 Scanning fee, digital storage and file management
This fee is for all building consent applications other than fixed fee applications. Online building consent applications or lodging additional information online in a format that meets Council requirements does not attract scanning, digital storage and file management charges.
 A0-A2  $3.75 per page
 A3-A4  $2.25 per page

 

 Online consenting service charge
This is a charge to use the online system. It is charged against all applications processed by Council.
 Value of work less than $125,000 $86 
 Value of work between $125,000 and $2.5 million 0.0748% 
 Value of work more than $2.5 million  $1,868

 

 Earthquake-prone building charges
These charges are to recover the cost Council has incurred in implementing the legislative requirements under the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016.
 Extension of time  $93
 Determine earthquake rating  $1,229
 Exemption  $376
 Alterations to EPB. This is added to building consent fees and charges  $541

Charges for Council staff

Charged for processing consents that don't have a set fee.
 Council officers Hourly rate 
Team Leader Building $220
Senior Plumbing and Drainage Officer and Advanced Building Officer $220
Building Officer $202
Senior Planning Officer $219
Planning Officer or Graduate Planning Officer $206
Monitoring and Enforcement Officer $181
Principal Environmental Health Officer $217
Environmental Health Officer and Environmental Technical Officer $194
 Senior Business Support Officer $175
 Division Head $240
 General Manager $256
Technical and professional staff from other parts of Council $235
Administration or committee administration staff $125

Levies

Additional to Council charges are levies imposed by the Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ) and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) on all building consents that have a building work value of $20,000 (BRANZ) or $20,444 or more (MBIE). BRANZ levies contribute to the cost of testing and certifying building materials for use while MBIE levies contribute to the cost of building consent administration at the national level.

Current levies (subject to change)
 Building (MBIE) levies per $1,000 of project value, over the threshold of $20,444 (GST inclusive)  $1.75
 BRANZ levies per $1,000 of project value (no GST) $1