Submit a building consent online

You'll need a registration code to create your account and access online services.

If you don't have a registration code, please contact our Customer Service team.

Before you start your application, make sure you have the information and documents you'll need to complete the online process.

Pre-application meeting

If your project involves a complex addition, an architecturally designed dwelling or a commercial building, we recommend arranging a pre-application meeting with our team.

During the meeting, we can:

• review the information you've prepared
• confirm whether your application is ready to be submitted
• identify any additional information that may be required
• provide guidance on consent requirements.

Depending on your project, staff from building, planning, engineering and environmental health teams may attend.

Before you apply

To help make the application process as smooth as possible, have the following information ready before you begin:

Property details - you'll need to know the location of the property where the work is being carried out.

If the property is part of a subdivision that has not yet been completed, submit your application against the parent parcel and provide the proposed lot number and DP number, if available.

Proof of ownership - you must provide evidence of legal ownership.

The owner is listed on the Certificate of Title or on the rates assessment record. If required, we can provide a copy of the Certificate of Title as part of your application for an additional fee.

Plans and drawings - all plans must include the drawing size, show the sheet size and be clear and legible.

Specifications - submit all project specifications as a single PDF document. Specifications should be project-specific and include only information relevant to the proposed building work.

Supporting documents - submit these in PDF format, limited to a maximum of 5 files where possible, include Optical Character Recognition (OCR) so the content can be searched electronically. See tip below.

Before you start, make sure you've read

• First-time users information
• The online building consent process guide above.

Through the online portal you can submit, manage, share and track your application at any time.

Submit the application

A building consent application can be submitted by the property owner or an authorised agent. Before submitting:

• Make sure you have identified the relevant Building Code clauses your project complies with.
• Pay the required application deposit online.
• Check that all documents have been uploaded correctly.

Once submitted, you'll receive an email confirmation and application reference number.

Share your application

You can share your application with other people involved in the project, such as designers, builders or consultants. To share an application:

1. Log in to the portal and open the application you want to share.
2. Select Share
3. Open the User Permissions tab.
4. Enter the person's email address and an optional message.
5. Select the permissions you want to grant and click Send.
6. The recipient will receive an email invitation with instructions to access the application.

Note, if you'd like someone else to make payments or update the application, you'll need to give them permission to view, update and submit the application.

After accepting the invitation, users can access the application through their portal account. If they have editing permissions, they'll need to select Edit to make changes or complete payments.

Upload your documents

To avoid delays, make sure your files meet the following requirements:

• All plans, specifications and supporting documents must be PDF format.
• Upload plans as a single PDF document
• Upload specifications as a single PDF document
• Supporting documents can be uploaded as multiple PDF files.
• Include the drawing scale and sheet size on every plan.
• Upload documents to the correct folder or document category.

Supporting documents may include:

• Bracing calculations
• H1 calculations
• Truss design
• Lintel and beam designs
• Engineering reports
• Geotechnical reports

Make documents easy to review

Before uploading your documents, ensure all PDF files:

• include bookmarks for key sections
• Have OCR applied. See Tips to prepare your documents for smoother processing for more information.

Important: The consent holder must keep a copy of the building consent and approved plans on site at all times during construction.

You can view all submitted applications in the My Account section of your online services account.

From there, you can:

• View your applications and their current status at a glance.
• Track progress throughout the consent process.
• Duplicate a previous application to create a new submission.

If your application is incomplete, you'll receive an email explaining why it was refused. To proceed, you'll need to submit a new application. You can either:

• Duplicate your existing application and update the information or documents as required.
  To duplicate an application, select the Duplicate button next to the application.
• Start a new application or complete it from the beginning.

Duplicating an application can save time, as much of the information form the original application can be carried over.

Help us process your application by making information easy to find. Well-organised documents can reduce the need for requests for additional information and help keep your application moving.

Adding bookmarks to a PDF document

Bookmarks make it easy for our team to quickly navigate large documents and find key information.

To add bookmarks:

• Open your PDF document.
• Go to the page you want to bookmark.
• In your PDF software, open the Bookmarks panel (usually found under the View menu).
• Add a bookmark and give it a clear, descriptive name.

We recommend adding bookmarks for important sections such as:

• Site plans
• Floor plans
• Specifications
• Structural drawings
• Producer statements

Use Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

ORC enables text within a document to be searched electronically. This allows our team to quickly locate words, sections and information helping us process your application more efficiently.

Many PDF creation tools, CAD software and Word-to-PDF converters automatically apply OCR. However, documents that have been scanned are often saved as images and may not contain searchable text.

Check if your document has ORC

To test whether your document has OCR already, try searching for a word in the document by pressing CTRL + F on your keyboard. A search box will pop up where you can type in a word. If your document scrolls down to a place where the word has been used, your document has OCR.

Some PDF software tools, including the latest versions of Adobe Acrobat, will allow you to enhance scanned documents with features like OCR. Adding OCR usually takes just a few minutes and saves lots of time.

We recommend high accuracy and a minimum of 300 dpi quality for scanned documents.

To see whether OCR has been applied:

• Open the document
• Press Ctrl + F (Windows) or Command + F (Mac)
• Search for a word that appears in the document

If the document finds and highlights the word, OCR has been applied.

Adding OCR to scanned documents

Many PDF editing tools, including Adobe Acrobat can convert scanned documents into searchable PDFs using OCR. This process usually only takes a few minutes and can significantly improve document accessibility and processing times.

Scanning recommendations

For the best results, we recommend:

• A minimum scan resolution of 300 dpi
• High accuracy OCR settings where available
• Clear, legible scans with no cut-off text or pages
• Saving documents as searchable PDFs whenever possible

Tip: Creating bookmarked, searchable PDF documents helps our team find information quickly and may reduce delays during the application review process.