January to March 2026, MBIE data
Building consent at Invercargill City Council: how long it takes, what it costs
Invercargill City Council processes a building consent in a median of 6 working days, and 10 working days in total once the time you spend answering the council's questions is counted. The national medians are 9 and 16 working days, so Invercargill City is 6 working days faster than the national median, the 11th fastest of 66 councils.
| Measure | Invercargill City | National median |
|---|---|---|
| Council processing timeThe statutory clock, max 20 working days | 6 days | 9 days |
| Your time answering questionsMedian applicant response to an RFI | 10 days | 9 days |
| Total elapsed timeLodgement to decision, the number that matters | 10 days | 16 days |
| Met the 20-day timeframeShare of consents processed within the statutory limit | 98.2% | 94.5% |
| Code compliance certificateMedian days to process the CCC at the end of the job | 7 days | 4 days |
Source: MBIE Building Consent System Performance Monitoring, Q1 2026 (MBIE), January to March 2026. MBIE calculates each column's median separately, on different sets of applications, so the columns do not add up.
What a consent costs at Invercargill City Council
For a residential alteration around $200,000, Invercargill City Council charges $29 per m² + $172.50 lodgement upfront. Priced per square metre for interior alterations and extensions ($29/m²), not by project value, plus a 0.08625% lodgement fee on a $200k job. Mostly fixed (per m²); extra time only after the second round of RFIs at $226/hr. Hourly rate: $226/hr additional processing.
On top of the council's own fees, two statutory levies apply everywhere: the BRANZ research levy (about $1.00 to $1.15 per $1,000 of work over $20,000) and the MBIE building levy ($1.75 per $1,000 over $65,000). On a $200,000 job that is roughly $550 to $580.
Read from icc.govt.nz building control fees 2026/27, 2026/27 schedule. Councils revise fees each July, so confirm before you budget.
What actually slows a consent down
The gap between Invercargill City Council's 6 processing days and the 10 days a consent really takes is mostly your own time answering requests for information. The statutory clock stops the moment the council asks a question and does not restart until you answer in full. MBIE attributes about 66% of those requests to missing documents, 10% to incorrect documents and 5% to misalignment between architects and engineers. A complete, internally consistent application is worth more than picking a fast council.
Compare with other councils
Far North District Council
10 working days total, 10th of 66
Tararua District Council
10 working days total, 12th of 66
Every council, ranked: consent processing times · consent fees compared · all 66 councils · what we can check in Invercargill City
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