An owner in a Herne Bay apartment had a rooftop terrace that came with her unit. She decided to make it more usable and had a pergola installed — timber posts, a slatted roof, outdoor lighting, the works. It looked great. Her neighbours agreed. The body corporate received a copy of the building consent from Auckland Council three months later, and called in a solicitor. The pergola was on common property. She had not obtained the body corporate's consent. Removal cost: $8,400, plus a legal dispute that ran for seven months.
The consent process exists to protect everyone — owners, the body corporate, and the building itself. Work that affects common property or shared building elements changes something that belongs to all owners, not just the one doing the work. Getting consent before you start is dramatically less expensive than dealing with the consequences after.
When do you need written consent? Any work that extends into or affects common property requires consent from the body corporate. Any work that might affect another owner's unit requires their written consent directly. Work that affects the building's structure — removing or altering walls, changing the roofline, installing heavy fixtures — generally needs to be signed off by an engineer as well as by the body corporate.
This applies to things owners wouldn't necessarily think of as 'major works.' Installing a heat pump that requires penetrating an external wall. Running cables through shared wall cavities. Attaching fixings to the building exterior. Putting a planter box on a shared balcony wall. Any of these can require consent if they touch common property or affect the building's structure or weatherproofing.
The consent process itself isn't complicated when it is working well. You write to the body corporate describing what you plan to do, attach any plans or specifications, and ask for consent. The body corporate has to consider your request and give a reasonable response. The body corporate shouldn't withhold consent without genuine reason — and a body corporate that blocks every request creates its own problems.
What the body corporate is entitled to require: that the work meets building code, that it doesn't damage common property or the building structure, that it doesn't affect other owners without their agreement, and that it doesn't breach the operational rules. If the work does any of those things, the body corporate can refuse consent. If consent is refused and you believe it was unreasonable, you can challenge it through the Tenancy Tribunal.
What happens if you do the work without consent? The body corporate can require you to undo it — to remove the installation and restore the property to its original state. If you refuse, the body corporate can apply to the Tribunal for a compliance order requiring removal, and the court can award costs. In serious cases where the unauthorised work has damaged common property or another unit, the body corporate can repair the damage and charge you for it.
The Herne Bay owner had the pergola removed, paid the legal costs, and then went back through the proper process — this time with drawings showing the pergola was within her unit boundary, not on common property. Consent was granted within two weeks. The whole episode took nine months and cost more than $10,000 more than it needed to.