Certificates of Acceptance

A Certificate of Acceptance provides some verification for a building owner or future building owners that part or all of specified building work carried out, complies with the Building Code.

A Certificate of Acceptance can be issued where:

• Building work has been carried out in urgency to avoid health and safety risks.
• Work that required building consent was carried out after 1 July 1992 without first obtaining building consent.
• A private Building Consent Authority (approved under the Building Act 2004) or a private Building Certifier (approved under the Building Act 1991) is unable to issue a Code Compliance Certificate for work carried out under a building consent.
• A Code Compliance Certificate cannot be issued for work carried out to a building that is open to members of the public and the building consent was issued prior to 31 March 2005.

A Certificate of Acceptance (COA) can only be issued if the work complies with the Building Code at the time the COA application was made.  (This differs from a Code Compliance Certificate which is issued if the work complies with the Building Code at the time the building consent was issued).

When a Certificate of Acceptance is issued, it will list the work Council inspected and may also list items that Council could not verify as complying with the Building Code.  These are called exclusions.

Your application will need to provide evidence of how the work complies with the Building Code, including those parts of the work that Council cannot inspect.
Council cannot issue retrospective building consents for work that has already been completed.

Building work carried out after 1 July 1992

A Certificate of Acceptance may be issued for building work that has been done without a building consent or in special circumstances, when a Code Compliance Certificate (CCC) cannot be issued.

Once Council has received an application and all of the information including plans, specifications and appropriate reports, the project is reviewed by Building and Planning staff.  At this point, further information may be required to ensure processing is completed.

If the plans are accepted for the structure thus meeting all the requirements for building and planning, a Certificate of Acceptance may be issued.
Council may choose to certify an entire structure or only a portion of the structure that meets the Building Code.

• Certificate of Acceptance Application Form (PDF 92kB)

All applications need to include the following:

• Detailed plans and specifications
• Design and/or supervision certificates for:
  • Trusses
  • Engineering
  • Electrical
  • Plumbing
  • Drainage
  • Roofing and cladding installers
• A current Certificate of Title
• A report from a suitably qualified consultant on the applicable construction and compliance with the Building Code.
• A letter from the present owner explaining why a building consent was not obtained (if applicable) prior to construction.

Submit the completed application forms by one of the following methods:

• Drop the application at our reception desk on level 2, 207 Lyndon Road East, Hastings. These applications will be handled in the same way as mail applications.
• Mail the application to the Building Team, Hastings District Council, Private Bag 9002, Hastings 4156.  We aim to check mail applications within two days of receipt.

Refer to the COA Fact Sheet for further information.

• Certificate of Acceptance fact sheet (coming soon)

Guidelines

• Fees payable are as per Council’s Fees and Charges Schedule.
• Fees and Charges Schedule
• If extra costs are incurred when processing an application, these costs will be passed on to the applicant.
• Council must, within 20 working days after receiving an application for a Certificate of Acceptance, grant the application or refuse the application.  Council may, within the prescribed period, require further information.  If it does, the time period is suspended until it receives the information.

Building work carried out before 1 July 1992

A Certificate of Acceptance can not be issued for building work identified as having been completed prior to 1 July 1992.  Owners finding themselves in this situation (without the necessary consents), will need to employ a private building consultant to prepare a Safe and Sanitary Report on the unconsented building work.

The report will need to cover the structural integrity of the building, along with reporting on the following:

• That the building work is considered safe.
• That the building work is sanitary, e.g.:
  • Positioned or constructed in such a way as to not be a health risk or offensive.
  • Building does not allow ingress of water causing dampness.
  • Building has adequate potable water supplies for the intended use.

Hastings District Council will review the Safe and Sanitary Report and, if accepted, will place a copy on the property file along with sending a letter to the applicant acknowledging that the report has been accepted. 

This information will be shown on any subsequent Land Information Memoranda. The report could identify work that will require remedial work and that it may be necessary to apply for a building consent for this work.