- Do you need body corporate approval when renovating an apartment in NZ?
- What's the difference between your unit and common property?
- Which renovations need a body corporate resolution, and what majority?
- Do you still need a building consent?
- How do you get body corporate approval smoothly?
- Frequently asked questions
Renovating an apartment or unit-title home in New Zealand runs on two approvals, not one. Before a bathroom is stripped or a wall comes out, an owner needs the body corporate's consent to touch anything that is shared, and — separately — a building consent from the council for the work the Building Code covers. Miss either and the renovation stops, or has to be undone.
That two-approval reality is what makes renovating an apartment different from renovating a standalone house. Under the Unit Titles Act 2010 you do not own the whole airspace inside your walls the way a freehold owner does; you own a defined unit, and the structure, the exterior and the shared services around it belong to the body corporate. So the first question is not what you want to change. It is what you are allowed to touch, and who has to say yes.
What follows is the approval stack in the order it actually bites: whether you need body corporate consent, where your unit ends and common property begins, which resolution and majority a bigger change triggers, whether a building consent still applies, and how to get the whole thing signed off without stalling.
Renovating an apartment runs on two approvals: your body corporate's consent to touch shared property, and the council's consent to touch the Building Code.
Do you need body corporate approval when renovating an apartment in NZ?
Often, yes. Under the Unit Titles Act 2010, an owner must notify the body corporate of an intention to carry out additions or alterations, and where the work affects any other unit or the common property, you need written consent from the body corporate and from any affected owners. That duty is set out plainly in the government's unit titles guidance: the moment your project reaches beyond your own unit, consent stops being a courtesy and becomes a requirement.
Work that stays entirely inside your unit — repainting, replacing a benchtop or tapware in the same position, new floor coverings, non-structural joinery — often does not need the body corporate's formal consent. But "often" is not "never," because the body corporate's operational rules can still restrict what you do inside your own walls: many buildings require acoustic underlay under hard flooring, set permitted work hours, and control access and the protection of common areas. Read your operational rules before you design, not after a neighbour complains.
What's the difference between your unit and common property?
This is the distinction the whole approval question turns on. As a unit owner you own your principal unit — the apartment itself — plus any accessory units such as a car park or storage cage, and an undivided share of the common property. Common property is everything that is not a unit: the structure, the exterior envelope and roof, the lobbies and lifts, and the services that run between units.
The boundary between the two is usually the median line — the mid-point of the walls, floors and ceilings that enclose your unit. Inside that line, the linings, non-structural partitions, fixtures and finishes are yours to renovate. On or beyond it — the structural framing, the exterior cladding, the fire-rated separations between units, and the pipes, wiring and ducts that serve more than your apartment — is common property owned by the body corporate, and touching it needs their consent. The unit plan is the document that decides exactly where that line sits, and it is not always the middle of the wall; older developments vary. Get a copy of the unit plan through a title search at Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) before you finalise a design, because it tells you which side of the line each change falls on.
Know the number before you apply for anything
The free Renovation Cost Calculator gives you a trade-by-trade estimate in under 5 minutes — before your first trade conversation. In a unit-title build, knowing the number early is what lets you present a credible scope to the body corporate and the council at the same time.
Which renovations need a body corporate resolution, and what majority?
Not every approval is a vote. For most alterations that touch common property, written consent from the body corporate and any affected owners is what the Act requires, and the committee can often give it. But bigger changes trigger a formal resolution, and the majority depends on how far the work reaches.
An ordinary resolution passes on a simple majority of the votes cast, and covers routine body-corporate business. A special resolution requires 75% of the eligible voters who vote, and is reserved for significant decisions. The most consequential category is the designated resolution under section 68 of the Act — the one that governs additions to or changes in the common property, changes to the unit plan, and redevelopment. A designated resolution needs the written consent of every owner materially affected and a special resolution passed, after which affected parties have 28 days to object. If your renovation encloses part of a corridor, adds to the building footprint, or reconfigures the boundary between your unit and common property, this is the threshold you are working to — and it is why a scope that quietly annexes shared space is the slowest kind of apartment renovation to approve.
The practical rule is to keep as much of the work as possible inside your own unit. A scope that stays inside the median line, uses the existing service points, and does not alter the unit plan is a scope the body corporate can consent to quickly. A written scope also lets you agree, up front, how a variation that later reaches common property would be handled, rather than discovering the extra approval halfway through.
In a multi-level building, the floors and walls between units are fire-rated separations, and the pipes and wiring inside them are common property. Moving a bathroom or kitchen is rarely a private matter — it can mean penetrating a fire separation and tapping shared services.
That single fact is why an apartment bathroom move needs both the body corporate's consent and a building consent, where the same move in a house might need neither.
Do you still need a building consent?
Body corporate approval is not a building consent, and the two are decided by different bodies for different reasons. You will usually need both. A building consent is the council's approval under the Building Act 2004 that most renovations require, and Building Performance sets out where it applies.
For apartments, Auckland Council's guidance is specific and worth reading whichever council you are under. You will generally need a building consent to install a tiled wet-area shower, because it involves a waterproof membrane and carpentry rather than sanitary plumbing alone; to move a vanity, bath or shower within a multi-level building, because it can create new penetrations through a fire separation; and to add sanitary fixtures such as a new ensuite. Repositioning or replacing fixtures in the same spot within an existing bathroom is often exempt under Schedule 1 of the Building Act — but only if an authorised person, meaning a registered plumber or drainlayer, carries out the plumbing and drainage. Whether your specific scope needs one is set out in the guide to building consents, and either way the work must meet the Building Code and finish with a Code Compliance Certificate.
Cost follows scope. A consented apartment bathroom carries the council fees on top of the build, prices are quoted GST-inclusive at 15%, and a job of $30,000 or more including GST must be under a written contract — the same consumer protection that applies to a house. The room-by-room numbers behind a wet-area fit-out are set out in the bathroom renovation cost guide, and the waterproofing hold point that a consent inspector checks is covered in the bathroom waterproofing guide.
How do you get body corporate approval smoothly?
Approval stalls when an owner applies with a vague idea and asks the committee to fill in the gaps. It moves when the owner arrives with a defined scope, the right documents, and a clear line between what is theirs and what is shared. Run it in this order.
- Get the unit plan and the operational rules first. Order the unit plan through a LINZ title search and ask the body corporate manager for the current operational rules, so you know your boundary and any restrictions before you design.
- Define the scope against the boundary. Separate the work that stays inside your unit from anything that touches common property, another unit, or shared services, because that split decides which approvals you need.
- Prepare a written application to the body corporate. Include the plans, the scope, the trades and their licences, the working hours, the access route, and how you will protect the common areas — a committee approves a documented plan far faster than a conversation.
- Obtain written consent or the resolution. Get the body corporate's written consent and that of any affected owners, or, where the work reaches common property, put the designated resolution to a vote and allow for the 28-day objection window.
- Apply for the building consent in parallel. As the owner you are the applicant, and running the council consent alongside the body corporate approval keeps a wet-area or fire-separation job from waiting twice.
- Run the trades and collect every sign-off. Gather the plumbing, gas and electrical certificates and the waterproofing record, apply for the Code Compliance Certificate, and give the body corporate a copy of the compliance records for the building file.
Vetting the trades you engage matters as much in a unit as in a house, and the register checks come first — the guide to finding a licensed builder in New Zealand sets them out. This is the operator's view every Renovation Blueprint is built to give you: the sequence, the approvals and the sign-offs mapped before the first trade is booked. It is the logic of The 12-Phase System — decide the scope, the budget and the consents before you start, so you are directing an apartment renovation instead of reacting to it.
Plan the apartment renovation like an operator
Every Renovation Blueprint gives you the operator's view this article describes — the sequence, the trade briefs, the hold points and the certificate list — so the scope you put to the body corporate and the council is documented before the first trade is booked.
If the cost baseline is the right first step, use the free Renovation Cost Calculator — a trade-by-trade estimate in under 5 minutes, before any trade has quoted.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need body corporate approval to renovate an apartment in NZ?
Usually, if the work affects common property or another unit. The Unit Titles Act 2010 requires an owner to notify the body corporate of an intention to carry out additions or alterations, and to get written consent from the body corporate and any affected owners where the work reaches beyond their own unit. Work that stays entirely inside your unit often does not need formal consent, but the body corporate's operational rules can still restrict flooring, noise and working hours.
What counts as common property in a New Zealand apartment?
Common property is everything that is not a unit: the structure and foundations, the exterior cladding and roof, the fire-rated separations between units, the lobbies, lifts and driveways, and the pipes, wiring and ducts that serve more than one apartment. The boundary of your unit is usually the median line through the enclosing walls, floors and ceilings, but the unit plan registered with LINZ is what decides it precisely, and older developments vary.
Which body corporate resolution do I need, and what majority?
Most alterations touching common property need written consent from the body corporate and affected owners rather than a vote. Significant decisions need a special resolution, which requires 75% of the eligible voters who vote. Additions to or changes in common property, changes to the unit plan, and redevelopment need a designated resolution under section 68 — the written consent of every materially affected owner plus a special resolution, followed by a 28-day objection period.
Do I need a building consent to renovate an apartment as well?
Usually yes, and it is separate from body corporate approval. A building consent is the council's approval under the Building Act 2004. In an apartment you will generally need one to install a tiled wet-area shower, to move a bath, vanity or shower in a multi-level building because of fire-separation penetrations, or to add sanitary fixtures. Replacing fixtures in the same position is often exempt under Schedule 1, provided a registered plumber or drainlayer does the work.
Can the body corporate stop me renovating my own unit?
It cannot stop reasonable work that stays inside your unit and complies with the operational rules, but it can refuse consent for work that affects common property or other units, and it can enforce rules on matters like acoustic underlay, working hours and access. The way to avoid a refusal is to keep the scope inside the median line where possible and to apply in writing with full plans, so the committee is approving a defined project rather than an open-ended one.
How long does body corporate approval take?
It depends on whether a committee can consent in writing or a vote is required. A documented application for work inside your unit can be approved in weeks; anything needing a special or designated resolution must wait for a general meeting and, for a designated resolution, a 28-day objection window after the vote. Applying with complete plans and running the building consent in parallel is what keeps the two approvals from stacking end to end.