Building consent tracker for NZ builders

Get a read on whether the work needs a consent — before you start

Open a job and Toolie runs a Consent-Ready check. It reads the job type, description and details and gives you a red / amber / green readiness verdict with a plain-English summary. It’s deliberately conservative: it never tells you “no consent needed” unless the work clearly maps to one of the three Schedule 1 exemptions it knows — everything else is treated as consent likely required. It’s decision-support to help you prepare, not a determination.

Schedule 1 exemptions it checks (with the clause cited)

When the job clearly fits, it flags a likely exemption and names the clause, and reminds you the work still has to meet the Building Code:

• cl 3 — detached building ≤10m², single-storey, no sleeping, sanitary or cooking facilities.
• cl 20 — retaining wall ≤1.5m not carrying a surcharge.
• cl 25 — fence or wall ≤2.5m, not a pool barrier.

Those are the three clauses Toolie codes — it doesn’t cover the many other Schedule 1 exemptions, and it infers the exemption from the job’s text and the dimensions you type (area, height, retaining height, surcharge flag), not from a site plan or boundary setbacks. Anything outside those three clauses is treated as consent likely required so you don’t get caught out. Restricted Building Work still needs a Licensed Building Practitioner — check that separately and record it on your LBP record of work.

See the RFIs coming before you lodge

A council RFI can add real time and cost to a consent. Toolie flags the RFIs a council/BCA is likely to raise, grounded in the common consent-RFI causes, and lists each risk with its Building Code clause and a concrete fix:

• B1 Structure (B1/AS1, NZS 3604) when the work is structural.
• E2 External moisture (E2/AS1) for cladding, envelope, coastal or high-wind work.
• H1 Energy (H1/AS1) for new habitable or heated space — see H1 6th edition.

It also detects when extra documents are likely to be needed and lists them as Documents to attach — a PS1 from an engineer (retaining over 1.5m or with surcharge, 2+ storeys, steel/beam/pole), a geotechnical report or good-ground statement (sloping, filled or poor soil), an E2 cladding certificate or BRANZ appraisal, an E3 wet-area waterproofing detail, and product specs and warranties. The card only shows up when it has something to say — on an invoice-only job with nothing consent-relevant, it stays hidden. It infers all of this from the job’s text and typed dimensions, not from a site plan, so double-check against your drawings.

Track the consent through to CCC

Once a consent is granted, the Building Consent Tracker tab holds the details for the job: consent number, the granting BCA/council, the consent-granted date and the CCC-issued date. From there it tracks the build through six BCA inspection milestones:

• Pre-pour, Pre-wrap, Pre-line, Pre-cladding, Wet-area waterproofing, and Final/CCC.
• Each stage carries a status — pending, passed, conditional or failed — plus a booked inspection date, inspector name, notes and an attached inspection-certificate photo.
• A progress bar and percentage show how far through you are (passed and conditional stages count as cleared) and switch to “CCC obtained” at 100%.

If a stage has a booked date that’s arrived or passed and it isn’t cleared, Toolie raises a due / overdue / failed alert, works out the days overdue, and prompts you to phone the BCA. When a stage passes, a “book the next inspection” nudge appears — with the consent number and a reminder that most councils require 2–5 working days notice — and it sticks around rather than expiring on a stalled build. Dates and inspector names are typed in by hand; the alerts and nudges are in-app prompts, not automatic emails or bookings. Attach a photo of each inspection result to build up your CCC evidence pack — the CCC can only issue once all stages pass and as-built plans are lodged.

Consent tracking sits alongside the rest of your job: keep the paper trail in your site diary, work through what to have ready for each visit on the building inspection app, and if a council RFI lands on a lodged consent, track the 20-working-day clock with construction RFI software. It all lives inside Toolie’s construction management software.