What happens if you don't get building consent. We look at the options.

Legal obligations

You have a legal obligation to comply with the Building Act. In particular, you must not start work before obtaining a building consent. If you do not comply with this requirement, you will be committing an offence under the 2004 Act and may be liable for a fine of up to $100,000, plus up to $10,000 for each day the offence continues.
The BCA could possibly make you pull something down or make changes if it was built or altered without a building consent, but they do have some discretion here. They will look at whether it is dangerous or unsanitary (i.e. likely to cause injury, death or be offensive to people or likely to damage other property) before deciding.

Certificate of Acceptance

Under the Building Act 2004 there is a way to partially-legitimise unconsented building work. In exceptional circumstances a council may issue a certificate of acceptance if it is satisfied on reasonable grounds that, insofar as it was able to ascertain, the building complies with the Building Code. A certificate of acceptance will certify only the part of the building work that the council could inspect.
Certificates of acceptance may also be issued where building work had to be carried out urgently for health and safety reasons and there wasn’t time to get a building consent, and where a private Building Consent Authority can no longer complete certification of the building for any reason.

We are responsible for controlling the standards of buildings to ensure they are safe, contribute to people’s health and well-being and are designed, constructed and able to be used in ways that promote sustainable development. An important job is deciding whether to grant consents to people wanting to construct buildings.
Almost all building work requires approval by us through a building consent. A building consent is confirmation that the proposed building, plumbing, drainage and safety requirements comply with the building code.
We are moving to a more consistent approach to processing building consents and you are now able to use standardised application forms.
Auckland Council has transferred its powers for issuing building consents on large dams to Environment Waikato. Please contact Environment Waikato if you intend to apply for a building consent for a large dam.