Building Inspections

Booking Building Inspections

Building Inspectors will inspect your building activities to ensure they comply with the approved plans. Some consents will require several different inspections depending on the nature and purpose of the building. The number of inspections required will depend on the complexity of the building and the systems within it.

Once your building consent has been granted and issued, we will send it to your digitally, allowing you to book inspections. Your building consent contains valuable information, such as advice notes, conditions and the list of inspections that will be needed for your project.

If it is determined that a resource consent is needed to undertake the activity, a certificate is issued under Section 37 of the Building Act. This certificate prohibits work commencing until resource consent issues have been resolved, even if your building consent has been issued. A building inspection will not be able to be booked until the Section 37 has been lifted. If you are unsure why you require a resource consent, please contact resource.consents@codc.govt.nz

Building Inspection Waiting Times

Updated: 22 June 2026

To help you plan your projects, here are the current waiting times for building inspections across our district. This information is updated weekly.

There are some upcoming delays, for more information see here: Delays to building inspections and enquiries due to staff training - Central Otago District Council

Inspection waiting times:

• Cromwell - 5 Business Days
• Queensbury/Tarras - 3 Business Days
• Alexandra - 5 Business Days
• Maniototo - 3 Business Days
• Roxburgh - 3 Business Days

Final inspection waiting times:

• Cromwell - 7 Business Days
• Queensbury/Tarras - 3 Business Days
• Alexandra - 6 Business Days
• Maniototo - 3 Business Days
• Roxburgh - 3 Business Days

What we are doing to reduce wait times

We are required to complete at least 80% of building inspections within 3 workings days after the date the inspection is requested.

Following a recent audit by the national building authority regulator, CODC had to prioritise improvements to building consent processing. This has temporarily reduced inspection availability. We have now rebalanced our approach and increased capacity to bring wait times down. National Processing Limited is supporting consent processing, which allows our staff to spend more time on inspections. We are arranging short, targeted blocks of extra inspector support, subject to competency and accreditation requirements. We have also recruited additional staff (who start this month) to strengthen delivery across building consenting.

These changes are already helping. We are seeing inspection times begin to decrease and, where possible, we are working with customers to bring inspections forward when sites are ready. We appreciate your patience and want you to know we are working hard to restore normal timeframes.

We will continue to update this page weekly with progress.

How you can help avoid delays

• Book only when the site will be ready.
• Be on site or have an authorised representative present.
• Have approved plans and any producer statements on site.
• Tell us early if you need to cancel so we can reallocate your slot.

For questions about booking, please contact the building team.

Types of Inspections

While we are processing your building consent application, we will determine what inspections will be necessary for us to be satisfied on reasonable grounds that compliance with the NZ Building Code will be achieved.

Each inspection will be identified along with the requirements for that particular inspection. A list of the inspections we need to carry out will be attached to your building consent. Your building consent must be available on site if requested for inspections. It is not necessary for someone to be on site providing the inspector has full access to the site.

If non-compliant work is discovered during an inspection a site notice will be issued. If it is a serious non-compliance, then a Notice to Fix may be issued requiring all work to stop or a conditional continuation of work until the non-compliance is resolved.

Some of the things we will be checking for include:

• drainage, including drains under buildings
• excavation for a foundation
• reinforcing steel for a foundation
• any other steel to be embedded in concrete
• any damp proof membrane or tanking to be covered (including tiles over a membrane)
• any flashing/sill wrapping/cavity batten that will be concealed on completion
• lintels and half high veneer
• coating of any monolithic cladding
• pre-wrap - where structure is to be enclosed
• pre-lining - plumbing, timber framing and insulation
• post-lining but before plaster stopping - firewalls and bracing walls
• heating appliance clearances
• a final inspection to confirm all work as complete

Specialist Inspections

In addition to the inspections by Council inspectors, inspections may be required by specialists including structural, geotechnical and fire engineers. You will need to liaise directly with your specialist about the inspections he/she will need to make. Your specialist may not be able to give you the required Producer Statement if you have failed to arrange for inspections at the appropriate times.

Book an Inspection

For Restricted Building Work (RBW) you must notify Council in writing of the Licensed Building Practitioner(s) (LBPs) who will be doing the work before you can book the first inspection. (If you filled them in on the building consent application form in the first instance and they have not changed you are able to book an inspection.)

Key Personnel and Licenced Building Practitioners Form - PDF

Request an inspection – online form

Phone (03) 440 0056 to arrange an inspection. Please note that the more notice you can give us the better, as inspection capability can vary as the demand for inspections vary. We need a minimum of 72 hours' notice but are currently booking inspections a week out. Due to the size of the Central Otago district, our building inspectors are only in some areas on certain days of the week (e.g., Roxburgh and surrounding areas we visit on a Wednesday and the Māniototo we visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays).

Cancel a Building Inspection

We understand that things change, so if you need to cancel an inspection, please phone us on (03) 440 0056 to cancel your building inspection.

You need to cancel your inspection by midday the day before it is scheduled if you want to avoid a fee.

If you cancel on the day of the inspection, you will still need to pay a full inspection fee.

Inspection Process

The Building Inspector will check that the building work is in accordance with the building consent documents. For Restricted Building Work, the LBP on site must be able to prove he is licensed by showing his card to the Building Inspector (if requested to).

Each inspection must be passed by the Building Inspector before the work can continue. The owner/agent is responsible for ensuring that all inspections identified on the site inspection sheet are approved.

For off ground areas that cannot be easily accessed and/or seen from ground level, you will need to provide the inspector with a safe and suitable method for accessing the area.

What happens next?

The Building Inspector can either pass or fail the on-site inspection.

For a pass - this will be recorded by the Building Inspector and shared with you digitally (if requested).

For a fail - this will be recorded by the Building Inspector and shared with you digitally. This will mean a re-inspection is needed once the work in question has been rectified. A letter may also be sent confirming what re-work is required. If additional inspections are required, we may have to charge a fee, as re-inspections are not provided for in the initial building consent fees.

If the work is not remedied to the satisfaction of the Building Inspector, or is in serious breach of the Building Act, a notice to fix may be issued.

A notice to fix is a formal notice issued by the Council advising that certain works have not been carried out in accordance with the Building Act. If a notice to fix is issued, you must address the issues identified within a prescribed time frame to prevent further action being taken. Enforcement of a notice to fix is undertaken by Council.

If you wish to make changes to the consented plans during the construction process, you can do so by following our process on the Minor Variations and Amendments page.