You must apply to build or do earthworks near our water, wastewater and stormwater networks. Please read the below information for more details.

Our network can include but is not limited to pipes, drains, manholes, access chambers, valves, connection boxes, meters, reservoirs, pump stations, odour treatment units, sumps and rain gardens and wellheads.

For advice on building near waterways or open drains, please email stormwater.approvals@ccc.govt.nz

Apply to divert or build within the maintenance access corridor

Approval under the relevant bylaws does not constitute approval under the Resource Management Act 1991 or the Building Act 2004. Approvals under these acts equally do not provide approval under the bylaw. Separate consents or approvals may be required.

We have two bylaws prohibiting building or performing earthworks in a Maintenance Access Corridor (the corridor) as defined in the two bylaws, unless authorised by the Council.

The bylaws are:

The Water Supply and Wastewater Bylaw 2022

The provisions are:

“Maintenance Access Corridor means the land required to access any part of the water supply system or the wastewater system for maintenance purposes.”

Clause 7:
Where the Council’s infrastructure or asset is a pipe, the Maintenance Access Corridor width is calculated by the Council as the greater of either:

(a) twice the buried depth of the pipe (surface to trench base), plus the outside diameter of the pipe; or
(b) 1.5 metres from either side of the centre of the pipe.

Where the infrastructure or asset is not a pipe, the Maintenance Access Corridor is one metre from the asset’s border in all directions (e.g. a manhole)”.

The Stormwater and Land Drainage Bylaw 2022

The provisions are:

“Maintenance Access Corridor means the land required to access any part of the underground stormwater network for maintenance purposes.”

Clause 16:
Where the Council’s infrastructure or asset is a pipe, the Maintenance Access Corridor width is calculated by the Council as the greater of either:

(a) twice the buried depth of the pipe (surface to trench base), plus the outside diameter of the pipe; or
(b) 1.5 metres from either side of the centre of the pipe.

Where the infrastructure or asset is not a pipe, the Maintenance Access Corridor is one metre from the asset’s border in all directions (e.g. a manhole)”.


The corridor clearance requirements in the bylaw are measured horizontally from the nearest part of our network to your buildings/earthworks/improvements and also prohibits aerial encroachments such as gutters, building eaves and cantilevered structures.

Some houses, garages, and other buildings have in the past been built within the corridor. In such a situation, you may not be able to rebuild your house, garage or other building in exactly the same place or to the same design.

Private improvements such as minor landscaping structures, private services, decorative hardstand/paving, trees/tree roots are also controlled in this maintenance access corridor along with earthworks such as gravel raft foundations etc.

You should also check the title of the property for any relevant easements. You will need to design any new structure so it also complies with any easement and, as a minimum, is located so every part of the structure (including overhangs and other private improvements) complies with the corridor clearance requirements in the bylaw.

For more detailed information please refer to Check where the network is located.

Keeping Council assets working for you is an important part of our job.

We need to protect our network so that we can inspect, repair, maintain and replace infrastructure quickly and efficiently, without causing damage to private property.

It also protects our network from excessive loads which could cause damage.

The pre-design stage is the best time for you to check possible restrictions or encumbrances and alter your plans without spending a lot of time, effort and money.

It is the property owner's responsibility to ensure that any structure is not within a corridor, and is fully compliant with any easements.

In Christchurch City, if you locate the network at the site by visual means, including digging if necessary, you may build up to the corridor as set out in the bylaw. If you are not able to locate the network visually you may not build closer than three metres from the network position shown on the Council plans.

In Banks Peninsula, the network at the site must be located by visual means, including digging if necessary.

View drainage plans

If during the processing of your building consent application it is identified that you are proposing to build within the corridor, you will be notified to either redesign the building work or obtain authorisation under the bylaw.

If you believe you are building too close to the network you can:

  • Have the distance physically verified by a qualified person such as a licenced surveyor or Council authorised drainlayer(external link), or
  • Re-design or relocate the works so that there is a minimum of three-metre separation from the edge of the network, or
  • Refer to the 'What to do if my plans don’t comply' section below.

If your planned building or private improvements are too close to the network you can:

  • Select an alternative location on the site or redesign the building footprint.
  • In some cases diverting our network around your building site may be possible.
    • Diversion is dependent on the alignments and grades of the existing network and is not always possible.
    • All costs (legal, survey and construction) involved with the diversion will be the applicant’s responsibility.
  • As a last resort, you can apply for authorisation to build within the corridor, subject to specific conditions imposed by the Council.

Apply to divert or build within the Maintenance Access Corridor of our network(external link).

For example:

  • You apply to replace an old garage which was originally built within the clearance requirements of a Council drain.
  • The bylaw requirement applies regardless of existing use rights.
  • You would need to rebuild the new garage in a different location where it is outside of any easement and complies with the corridor requirements relating to the drain.

We will only give the approval to build/do work within the clearance requirements of our network in exceptional circumstances, and where no suitable alternative exists.

We will decide if there are exceptional circumstances and no suitable alternative.

We will consider:

  1. Whether compliance with the bylaw/the location of the infrastructure limits the property to such an extent that makes it unusable. Examples where this may be the case include:
    • A complete rebuild is required for a parcel of land which previously contained a property and an unattached single car garage.  If it isn’t possible to construct the new house and garage comprising the same floor area as the original an alternative solution can be considered.
    • Repair or replacement of an existing retaining wall which is already spanning a Council pipeline.
    • Vehicular site access is not possible or is unsafe without engineered land stabilisation such as the construction of a retaining wall on a hillside property. 
  2. Our ability to maintain, repair or replace our network will only be compromised to a minor extent by the redevelopment of the site.
  3. Whether any conditions can be imposed (that are not already offered within an application) that will support the application being granted.

In cases where an application is granted, all costs must be met by the applicant. These costs can be significant and may include:

  • Changes to an easement document or new easement and associated survey, legal costs.
  • Design and construction work to move or change the assets in any way.
  • Engineering reviews.
  • Council construction supervision.