Getting a building warrant

If the building work you're doing needs a building warrant, you must get one before you start.

A building warrant gives you legal permission to carry out building work.

It’s an offence to start building work without a warrant when you need one. If you do, you could be fined.

Check if you need a building warrant

You need a warrant for work including:

If you’re not sure if you need a warrant, check with your local council’s building standards department:

Find your local council's building standards department

You can hire an agent to help you check your plans meet building regulations. This could be an architect, a building engineer or a building surveyor.

Check that your plans meet building regulations. Your local council’s building standards department can help if you’re not sure.

Include a copy of your plans. These should say:

You’ll also need to pay a fee. What you pay depends on the value of the work you're doing. Use the building standards fee calculator on the eDevelopment portal to check what you’ll pay.

Your local council’s building standards department will assess your application.

They’ll decide if it meets building regulations. If not, they’ll ask you for more information.

The building standards department will give you:

The CCNP tells you:

Once you have your building warrant, building work can begin.

A building warrant is valid for 3 years from the date it was granted. You should complete your work in this time.

Tell the building standards department if you will not complete the work in time.

You must apply for an amendment to your building warrant. You must get approval before making any changes.

Thanks for your feedback