So you have had the building work done or it was done before your purchased the house and now you need consent. Unfortunately building consents cannot be issued to you in retrospect. All is not lost, do not fret. If the building work was completed and although a consent was required it was never obtained, you can apply to the council for a “Certificate of Acceptance”. To obtain the “Certificate of Acceptance” or COA, the council will need to inspect the property and the building work carried out. They will then determine if the work complies with the building code. As long as the building work has been carried out to a satisfactory level and complies with all codes then the COA should be issued without too much hassle.
Remember that any building work that was carried out prior to 1992 will not be issued a COA, as the was no building code before this date and therefore COA cannot be granted.
In New Zealand it is common place to find work carried out n building with consent or work which had a permit but was never completed, or if it has been completed the council have never approved the final building. Again this is not a reason to tear your hair out, if the work was before the 1st of January 1993 and as long as the building work is not dangerous or unsanitary then the council cannot take any action which would require the owner to complete the work or to alter the building to the original building permit.
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