New Zealand

Dealing with Construction Permits in

New Zealand

Listed below is detailed summary of the procedures, time and costs to build a warehouse —including obtaining necessary licenses and permits, completing required notifications and inspections and obtaining utility connections. 

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Building a warehouse

  • Estimated Warehouse Value: NZD 360,000
  • City: Auckland

About This Topic

To see indicator data for all economies, see the Dealing with Construction Permits page. To see how economies rank, see the Rankings page.

No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Obtain Resource Consent (planning) from District Council

If the warehouse in the case considered here does not comply with zoning regulations, this procedure would take 100 days and cost NZD 15,000.

Agency: District Council
30 days NZD 3,150
* 2 Obtain Water Consent (Planning) from Regional Council

If the warehouse in the case considered here does not comply with zoning regulations, this procedure would take 100 days and cost NZD 15,000. This procedure may not be required, depending on the warehouse location.

Agency: Regional Council
30 days NZD 1,000
3 Obtain building consent from District Council



Agency: District Council
30 days NZD 4,137
4 Receive inspection by public inspector from the District Council

Private certified inspectors were abolished in 2006. Because of the current lack of experienced certifiers at the local government’s district council level, there may be delays in obtaining Council Inspectors.

Agency: District Council
1 day NZD 5,512
5 Obtain water connection

All utilities are obtained immediately. The installation is done on schedule when requested.
1 day NZD 1,500
6 Obtain phone connection

All utilities are obtained immediately. The installation is done on schedule when requested.

Agency: Telecom New Zealand Ltd.
1 day no charge
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.