Partners need to commit to the partnership by meeting our partner criteria and programme expectations.

In return, we’ll also make a commitment to our partners to help ensure the success of the programme.

We’ve outlined these below.

Partner criteria and expectations

CriteriaExpectations

You will need to:

  • Follow the documentation submission order
  • Hold a valid LBP licence for at least 5 years
  • Work within the limitations of your LBP licence
  • Have a good track record with us of:
    • quality applications
    • low RFI numbers
    • inspection passes (where companies carry out design and build)
  • Have no building industry practitioner transgressions on our records within the past 2 years
  • Partner with professional engineers who also meet the partner criteria and expectations (assessed as part of your application review)

You will commit to:

  • Consistently submit quality building consent applications that meet our application criteria
  • Meet the consent application expectations
  • Give feedback and suggestions to help with programme success and continuous improvement
  • Stay current with technology and innovation in the industry and adopt relevant changes efficiently
  • All applications complying with the Building Act and building code to ensure that:
    • people who use buildings can do so safely and without endangering their health; and
    • buildings have attributes that contribute appropriately to the health, physical independence, and well-being of the people who use them; and
    • people who use a building can escape from the building if it is on fire; and
    • buildings are designed, constructed, and able to be used in ways that promote sustainable development

Consent application expectations

 DesignerCompany
Submit complete and project specific applications ✔ ✔
Check your applications fully meet all district plan requirements (ie no resource consent approvals needed and after s224 is issued) ✔ ✔
Provide all applications via our online consenting system ✔ ✔
Apply for a BC only consent ✔ ✔
Add PPP in the description of your application to allow easy identification of the application you want to fast track
eg PPP – New detached dwelling with 3 bedrooms and attached garage		 ✔ ✔
Compile all documents as PDFs in the set  document submission order ✔ ✔
Load all documents to the correct file locations in our online consenting system ✔ ✔
Submit applications only once all relevant information is included (the intent is to have no RFIs) ✔ ✔
Ensure any fire appliances fully comply with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Emissions Standards ✔ ✔
Fully complete the LBP Design Memorandum specific to the project ✔ ✔
Provide all LBP details before works start on site n/a ✔
Ensure all records of work are provided as part of the code compliance certificate application n/a ✔

Applications that don’t meet the criteria

Where applications don’t meet the above consent application expectations

  • they will be returned for you to correct and resubmit as a new application, and
  • will incur additional cost.

We understand that not all resource consent issues may be known before our planning team do their Resource Management Act check.

If your application has outstanding resource consent issues your options are:

  • For a minor resource consent issues (eg driveway crossing location, fencing locations)
    • submit your application as a PPP application, and
    • your building consent will be issued with a section 37 attachment.
  • For more technical resource consent issues
    • put the building consent application through the as a standard application to be processed as a normal building consent, or
    • wait with submitting your application until the resource consent issues have been resolved and then submit as a PPP application.

Our process

We will:

  • Identify qualifying consents via PPP added in the notes field at application and cross reference our register of partners
  • Check at loading and vetting that the legal allotment aligns with councils’ files and rate records
  • Allocate qualifying building consents to experienced processors
  • Use prepopulated entries to most of the checklist at vetting and processing to:
    • reduce time and effort put into processing your application
    • ensure appropriate inspection prompts are created
  • Make a decision to grant by focussing our review of your documentation on:
    • site specific constraints including site loadings (wind, snow, earthquake) and site fill, and
    • suitability of foundation design, and
    • identification and review of high risk cladding junctions, high span structural elements or specific engineered design (SED) elements
  • Stamp your documentation in the expected order you provided at submission
  • Audit a sample of your PPP applications every 6 months at a minimum to:
    • Check you continue to meet the programme criteria and expectations
    • Your applications meet the PPP criteria
    • Provide you with feedback and guidance to make the partnership effective.

Our commitment

We will:

  • Follow our process outlined above to help fast track building consents that meet the partnership programme criteria
  • Keep invoicing, inspection and certification unchanged
  • Manage our risks through routine quality audits of partners and monitoring the frequency of auditing
  • Provide ongoing open communications and feedback to partners
  • Aim for continuous improvement by:
    • continuing to look for smarter innovate ways of doing things
    • welcoming any improvement suggestions or ideas from our partners
    • communicating any new developments or changes to programme partners
    • working with our industry partners to test new idea where needed.