Building and property terms, in plain English.

The words you meet in contracts, council letters and listings, explained the way a smart friend would. Where we have a deeper answer, it is linked.

LBP (Licensed Building Practitioner)

A person licensed by the government to do or supervise restricted building work, like structural or weathertightness work. You can look any LBP up by name on the official register. How to check a builder

Restricted Building Work (RBW)

Work critical to a house's structure or weathertightness. By law it must be done or supervised by an LBP.

Building consent

The council's formal approval to carry out building work, checked against the Building Code. Most structural work needs one before it starts.

Resource consent

A separate council approval about land use rather than construction quality: things like boundaries, height limits and zoning rules under the District Plan.

CCC (Code Compliance Certificate)

The council's sign-off at the END of consented work confirming it matches the consent. A missing CCC on past work is a question worth asking before you buy.

COA (Certificate of Acceptance)

A council certificate for work done WITHOUT a consent when one was needed. It accepts what can be seen, but it is not the same assurance as a CCC.

PIM (Project Information Memorandum)

A council report about a site requested before building: known hazards, drainage, and requirements that may affect the project.

LIM (Land Information Memorandum)

The council's file on a property: consents, known hazards, drainage, rates. Buyers usually order one before going unconditional. What a LIM covers

NZBN

The New Zealand Business Number, a unique identifier every registered company has. It is the cleanest way to be sure which company you are actually dealing with.

Record of title

The official ownership record for a property held by LINZ: who owns it, the title type, and any registered interests like mortgages or easements.

Freehold (fee simple)

You own the land and what is on it outright. The most common and simplest form of ownership in NZ. Freehold vs leasehold

Leasehold

You own the buildings but lease the land underneath, paying ground rent that can be reviewed sharply upward. Banks treat it differently; read the lease before anything else.

Cross-lease

You co-own the land with neighbours and lease your dwelling from the group. Alterations can need the neighbours' consent, and an out-of-date flats plan can complicate a sale. Cross-lease explained

Unit title

Common in apartments and townhouses: you own your unit and share the body corporate, its rules, fees and long-term maintenance plan. Unit titles explained

Easement

A registered right for someone else to use part of the land, like a shared driveway or a council pipe run. It stays with the property when it sells. Easements explained

Covenant

A rule on the title limiting what can be built or done on the land, often set by the original developer. It binds future owners too.

Producer statement

A formal statement from an engineer or specialist that part of the design or build meets requirements. Councils rely on them during consent and sign-off.

Implied warranties

Protections written into the Building Act for residential work: it must be done properly, with suitable materials, on time. They apply even if the contract does not mention them.

Defects liability period

An agreed window after completion, often 12 months, in which the builder must come back and fix defects from their workmanship.

Retention money

Part of each payment held back until the work is confirmed complete and defects are fixed. The rules for holding it are set by the Construction Contracts Act.

Variation

Any agreed change to the contracted work or price. Get every variation in writing; disputes love verbal variations.

Provisional sum / PC sum

Estimated allowances in a quote for items not yet finalised, like tapware or excavation. The final cost can move, so ask what is allowed for.

Practical completion

The point where the work is essentially done and usable, minor items aside. It often triggers the final payment and starts the defects period.

Snag list (defects list)

The list of small fixes agreed at the end of a job. Walk the site, write everything down, and tie it to the final payment.

Section 72 / 73 notice

A tag on a title noting the land has a natural hazard, like flooding. It warns future owners and can affect insurance. Hazard notices explained

Gazette notice

An entry in the official government journal. For companies, it is where liquidations, receiverships and strike-offs are formally published.

Liquidation

A formal end of a company where a liquidator takes over to pay creditors what can be paid. Deposits held by a liquidated builder usually rank as unsecured debts.

Receivership

A lender appoints a receiver to recover what they are owed from a struggling company. The company may keep trading while it happens.

Phoenix company

A pattern where a failed company's people start a fresh company doing the same work, leaving the debts behind. The directors' history is checkable even when the new company looks clean.

Weathertightness (leaky home)

The building's ability to keep water out. The mid-1990s to mid-2000s era combined untreated framing with risky cladding details, and some homes from then still carry the consequences. Spotting a leaky home

Monolithic cladding

Smooth plaster-look cladding common in the leaky era. Not bad by definition, but direct-fixed versions without a drainage cavity deserve careful inspection. Monolithic cladding explained

Natural Hazards Commission (Toka Tū Ake, formerly EQC)

The Crown scheme that covers homes for natural hazard damage like earthquakes, accessed through your private insurer. What it covers

Master Build / Halo guarantee

Third-party guarantees offered with builders who belong to the major associations. Meaningful only if the guarantee is actually issued for your job, so confirm it in writing.

Body corporate

The collective of unit owners in a unit-title property. It sets levies, keeps a maintenance plan, and its minutes tell you the building's real story.