Change the use of a building
An owner of a building must not change the use of a building unless written notification is provided to Council about the change and Council is satisfied that the new use will comply with the building code.
What is a change of use?
The term is specifically defined in the Building Act 2004, which includes regulations assigning a ‘use’ to every building or part of a building (schedule 2 of the regulations).
Schedule 2 divides the uses of all or parts of buildings into four broad types - crowd activities, sleeping activities, working/business/storage activities, and intermittent activities – and more specific use categories under each (15 in total)
A change of use occurs when both the following conditions are met:
What must an owner do?
If you want to change the use of your building, or part of it, you will need to let us know. This is a requirement under Section 114 of the Building Act 2004. Please fill in the document below.
You cannot make the proposed change until we give written confirmation that the requirements of the Building Act have been complied with.
The requirements will vary. Council will need to be satisfied that the building in its new use will comply with the Building Code as near as reasonably practicable (also known as ANARP). The parts of the Building Code which need to be complied with will depend on the change of use. Often a building consent will be required.
A change of use to your building may also require a resource consent to permit the new activity.
If a Resource Consent, Building Consent, application for service connection or Certificate of Acceptance are required for the change in use of the building, there is also the potential that development contributions will be required. Development Contributions are a means of contributing to the greater demands on water, wastewater and roading networks that are the result of growth in the population and economic activity of the district.
With this, for example, if a house is converted to a café or restaurant or accommodation or garage into accommodation for air-b-n-b, this change of use will trigger the assessment and likely requirement for development contributions.
If you make the change without advising the council, you could be liable for a fine of up to $5000.
Every building is designed for a specific use and has to meet Building Code requirements that ensure it will be safe, healthy, and durable when used in the way it was designed. If that use changes, the building may need to be altered to support the new use.
Find out more information regarding change of use on the MBIE website.