Building consents

We're responsible for issuing building consents within Christchurch and Banks Peninsula.


18 March 2024 update

The information below is updated at the beginning of the week and is accurate as of that time.

Our current wait times to start processing a consent application are:

  • Residential: All applications within 15 working days. 
  • Commercial: All applications within five working days. 

For February 2024, we processed applications (including amendments) within 20 working days:

  • Residential: 80.6% (for March to date 80.4%)
  • Commercial: 70.9% (for February to date 70.5%)

We thank you for your patience and understanding.

What we're doing

  • Upskilling our current staff to process higher complexity applications.
  • Continuing to use contractors to process applications.
  • We are continuing to investigate other initiatives to help get us through the amount of work in front of us.

What you can do to help

  • Where possible, get relevant approvals from other areas of the Council, such as resource consent and three waters, before applying for building consent.
  • Please complete all fields and provide the required supporting documents when completing your application.

In response to a request for information (RFI):

  • Include a list of the changes you have made.
  • Include only the relevant pages.
  • Mark all changes with a cloud for easy identification.

Find out more

You can apply for building consent online. For advice before applying for building consent contact DutyBCO@ccc.govt.nz

For more information about inspections, or to book, please phone our Inspections Support Team on 03 941 8222 or 0800 800 169.