What to do if you do not want to proceed with an issued building consent or application

Refused or lapsed building consents

Under the Building Act 2004, a building consent application can only be refused (if it has not been granted) or lapsed (if building work has not commenced within 12 months of issue).

An applicant may also choose not to complete some of the work associated with a building consent. In this case, an amendment is required to remove the uncompleted building work from the consent.

When you should request a refusal of a building consent application

You might want to do this if your consent was lodged but has not been issued yet and you do not want to continue with the application (Refusal of Building Consent).

If you are acting on behalf of the owner, the owner must provide a written statement agreeing to withdraw the application or consent.

If your building consent has been issued and you do not wish to continue, it will automatically lapse 12 months after it was granted (or longer if you have been granted an extension of time for your consent).

Refund of charges

When a issued building consent lapses or you request a refusal of a building consent application during processing, we will charge an administration fee and pay you back the fees that were charged but not used.

If your application has not been issued yet, we will deduct the processing charges from the deposit paid. If the charges (administration and processing) are more than the deposit you paid, you will receive an invoice for the outstanding amount.

If your building consent lapses and you have not had any inspections, we will refund the inspection charges that were included in the deposit once the administration fee is deducted.

Refunds will only be issued to the person who made the payment.

You will need to provide a printed bank deposit slip or bank statement to enable electronic refunds.

How to lapse an issued building consent or application

​Online

To request us to refuse your building consent, you will need:

• your building consent number and the date it was issued
• name and contact details of the person who paid for the application. 

We only accept online applications for this service.