January to March 2026, MBIE data
Building consent, council by council
A building consent takes a median of 9 working days of council processing and 16 working days in total across New Zealand, once the time you spend answering the council's questions is counted. The legal maximum is 20 working days of processing time. Every council's actual median is below, with verified fees for 15 of them.
These are measured medians from MBIE's quarterly monitoring of every building consent authority, not estimates. Pick your council for the full picture: processing time, your own response time, total elapsed days, the share of consents that met the statutory limit, and what a consent costs there.
| Council | Total elapsed | Council processing | Met 20 days | Fee verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kawerau | 5 | 3 | 100% | Not yet |
| Ruapehu | 6 | 5 | 98.1% | Not yet |
| Waitomo | 7 | 5 | 100% | Not yet |
| Wellington City | 7 | 4 | 96.3% | Yes |
| Kaikōura | 8 | 5 | 100% | Not yet |
| Manawatu | 8 | 4 | 98.4% | Not yet |
| Kāpiti Coast | 9 | 6 | 98.4% | Not yet |
| Carterton | 10 | 2 | 94.3% | Not yet |
| Clutha | 10 | 7 | 97.9% | Not yet |
| Far North | 10 | 7 | 99% | Not yet |
| Invercargill City | 10 | 6 | 98.2% | Yes |
| Tararua | 10 | 8 | 98.6% | Not yet |
| Tasman | 10 | 6 | 98.8% | Not yet |
| Waimate | 10 | 10 | 76.3% | Not yet |
| Buller | 11 | 6 | 95.9% | Not yet |
| Dunedin City | 11 | 10 | 98% | Yes |
| Marlborough | 11 | 7 | 93.2% | Not yet |
| Rangitikei | 11 | 8 | 96.3% | Not yet |
| Rotorua Lakes | 11 | 7 | 100% | Yes |
| Selwyn | 11 | 7 | 98.4% | Not yet |
| Whanganui | 11 | 6 | 100% | Not yet |
| Gisborne | 12 | 3 | 98.3% | Not yet |
| Waipa | 12 | 6 | 98.4% | Not yet |
| Waitaki | 12 | 9 | 100% | Not yet |
| Whakatāne | 12 | 5 | 100% | Not yet |
| Christchurch City | 13 | 6 | 99.5% | Yes |
| Gore | 13 | 7 | 100% | Not yet |
| Grey | 13 | 9 | 98.7% | Not yet |
| Nelson City | 13 | 7 | 99.3% | Yes |
| Taupō | 13 | 9 | 100% | Not yet |
| Waikato | 13 | 9 | 97.6% | Not yet |
| New Plymouth | 14 | 9 | 98.5% | Yes |
| Waimakariri | 14 | 9 | 97.5% | Not yet |
| Westland | 14 | 8 | 100% | Not yet |
| Whangārei | 14 | 8 | 97.9% | Yes |
| Napier City | 15 | 3 | 100% | Yes |
| Palmerston North City | 15 | 6 | 97.3% | Yes |
| Hutt City | 16 | 11 | 97.8% | Yes |
| Kaipara | 16 | 9 | 100% | Not yet |
| Timaru | 16 | 3 | 95.3% | Not yet |
| Central Hawke's Bay | 17 | 14 | 81.5% | Not yet |
| Central Otago | 17 | 11 | 88.3% | Not yet |
| Masterton | 17 | 14 | 98.1% | Not yet |
| Porirua City | 17 | 13 | 98.6% | Not yet |
| Southland | 17 | 10 | 96.3% | Not yet |
| Stratford | 17 | 9 | 98.3% | Not yet |
| Thames-Coromandel | 17 | 9 | 96.4% | Not yet |
| Hurunui | 18 | 13 | 96.2% | Not yet |
| Mackenzie | 18 | 6 | 87.3% | Not yet |
| Matamata-Piako | 18 | 12 | 97.3% | Not yet |
| Queenstown Lakes | 18 | 7 | 90.3% | Not yet |
| Western Bay of Plenty | 18 | 15 | 98.5% | Not yet |
| Ashburton | 19 | 13 | 89% | Not yet |
| Hamilton City | 19 | 12 | 98.1% | Yes |
| South Waikato | 19 | 13 | 98.9% | Not yet |
| Upper Hutt City | 19 | 15 | 90.9% | Not yet |
| Hauraki | 20 | 14 | 97.3% | Not yet |
| Horowhenua | 20 | 16 | 96.2% | Not yet |
| Tauranga City | 20 | 10 | 91.3% | Yes |
| Wairoa | 20 | 12 | 100% | Not yet |
| South Wairarapa | 21 | 9 | 96.1% | Not yet |
| Ōtorohanga | 21 | 8 | 83.3% | Not yet |
| Hastings | 22 | 7 | 98.7% | Yes |
| South Taranaki | 22 | 11 | 97.2% | Not yet |
| Ōpōtiki | 22 | 8 | 77.8% | Not yet |
| Auckland | 28 | 15 | 86.2% | Yes |
Sorted fastest first by total elapsed time. Source: MBIE Building Consent System Performance Monitoring, Q1 2026 (MBIE). Private consent authorities (Consentium, BCAL) are excluded: they are not councils. Regional authorities are excluded by MBIE due to low application numbers.
The number that matters is not the council's
Councils are measured on the statutory clock, which stops the moment they ask you a question. The total elapsed time is what your project actually experiences, and the gap between the two is your own response time. MBIE attributes about 66% of requests for information to missing documents, 10% to incorrect documents and 5% to misalignment between architects and engineers. Lodging a complete application is worth more than choosing a fast council.
Related: what a consent costs by council · all 68 consent authorities ranked · when you need no consent at all · how much building is happening
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