Main findings of the review
Criterion 3 - Use of the processing clock
Purpose
To assess the Council's use of the processing clock and how well the Council is meeting the statutory timeframes for processing applications for building consents.
Background
The Building Act 1991 specifies a range of requirements for a territorial authority when it processes applications for building consents.6 In particular, a territorial authority must grant or refuse applications within a prescribed timeframe. This timeframe may be suspended if insufficient information has been supplied by the applicant. The applicant must be notified of this in writing.
The prescribed time period at the time of this review was contained in clause 6 of the Building Regulations 1992. Building consents under the value of $500,000 were required to be granted or refused within 10 working days. The building consent had to be granted or refused within 20 working days if it was valued at over $500,000.7
Findings
The initial review found that the Council's use of the processing clock was sound and the majority of building consent applications were being processed within the prescribed timeframes. The Department did not make any recommendations during the initial review and so the use of the processing clock was not considered at the follow-up stage of the technical review.
Conclusion
The Department is satisfied that the Council is using the processing clock correctly.