Unauthorised or illegal building works can be categorised as construction that is completed without a building consent where one is required under the New Zealand Building Act.

The most common situations can often involve:

• conducting alterations to your building and afterwards discovering a building consent was required
• discovering a newly purchased property has unauthorised building works, or
• during the sale process you discover your property has unauthorised building works.

It is an offence under the New Zealand Building Act to undertake construction work without a Building Consent and in certain cases can lead to prosecution by your local council. Unless your construction is exempt under Schedule 1 of the New Zealand Building Act 2004.

Discovery of unauthorised building works by council will lead to the owner being issued a Notice to Fix. This notice will list the deficiencies of the work and will provide the owner a set period of time to either; make the work compliant, or where this cannot be achieved then demolition is required.

The owner must apply for a Certificate of Acceptance which is submitted to council for approval. Where remedial work is needed a separate building consent is required.

Call us to discuss your needs and we can provide you with advice, recommendations and a proposal with a detailed scope of work for your project.