The Building Levy

Review of the building levy

The building levy supports investment in and development of Aotearoa New Zealand’s building sector. The levy is used to fund a range of functions and activities under the Building Act 2004, including information and guidance, compliance, enforcement, monitoring and reporting. The building levy threshold has not changed in the 30 years since it was set up and has not kept up with the increasing value of building works.

The building levy Review sought feedback on:

• increasing the building levy threshold and rate
• the date that any changes to the building levy would become effective from.

A total of 59 submissions were received from a broad range of submitters including BCAs, industry bodies and various individuals.

Two thirds of the submissions supported increasing the levy threshold to $65,000 including GST of building work value. Most submitters who supported increasing the levy threshold thought it went some way towards aligning with increases in the cost of building and construction.

There was mixed feedback to the proposal to change the levy rate, with just under half in in favor of a reduction and just over half in favor of maintaining the existing rate and improving the regulatory services the levy funds.

Building Consent Authorities also told us they expected building consent customers would be satisfied with a reduction in costs, albeit a minor reduction.

Next steps

The Building Levy Regulations have now been amended to reflect the new threshold. We will publish a new version of the building levy guidance document and information for Building Consent Authorities, including information on how to calculate the building levy over the transition period.