School boards must engage professional project managers for school property projects. The project manager is responsible for getting all necessary council approvals for the project before building starts.
What approvals are needed
School sites are generally designated for educational purposes. This means zone rules of the district plan do not apply to the school site.
While school property projects do not need resource consents under the district plan, they may require a resource consent under the regional plan.
For example:
- stormwater discharge
- wastewater discharge
- bulk earthworks
- disturbance of contaminated soil.
Outline Plan of Works
Construction on sites designated for educational purposes in the district plan requires an Outline Plan of Works (OPW). This must be submitted to the council so they can review and request changes before works start on site. This is in accordance with Section 176A of the Resource Management Act.
Resource Management Act – New Zealand Legislation
Building consent
Most school property projects require formal approval to conduct building work under the Building Act 2004.
Building Act 2004 – New Zealand Legislation
The project manager must apply to the local council for building consent after the board has approved the project designs. It is also the project manager's responsibility to apply for the code compliance certificate (CCC) and the compliance schedule (CS). They must obtain the CS once the project is completed.
The board cannot use the building until it has the CCC. An exception is if the project already has a certificate for public use for the finished part of the building.
The project manager must also share the CS information with our property advisors and Argest. The project manager must work with the school to register with Argest to manage the future annual building warrant of fitness process. This can be done via Argest's website.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment are included in the approval process.
Building consents – Fire and Emergency New Zealand
Building and construction – Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Contact a property advisor
Every school has a property advisor, based at one of our regional offices. You can contact them for advice on Resource Management Act requirements and outline plan of works processes.
You can also talk to your property advisor if the project requires any additional approvals. For example, if a building sits over 2 or more sections and you need our approval to get a section 75 certificate under the Building Act.
Construction of building on 2 or more allotments – New Zealand Legislation
