Timaru District Council Building Consent services are going fully digital this month to provide a more efficient service.

From 27 November the council is changing over to a new electronic consenting platform and will stop accepting any paper and hardcopy applications.

The new consenting platform, Simpli, will be used for lodging applications and GoGet will be used for processing and inspecting consents.

Building Control Manager, Jayson Ellis said that the new building consenting systems are used in more than half of all councils around the country, and many applicants will already be familiar with them.

“This change is a part of streamlining and increasing the efficiency and accuracy of our building consent process as it progresses to an entirely paperless system,” he said.

“Recently we have created editable forms online, which ensure forms are completed in full, meaning a more consistent process is followed when accepting all information by the building team.

“Like many types of applications these days, completing a building consent application online is simple and straight forward, but if you are not confident with it yourself you can get another person such as a designer or builder that is familiar with this process to apply on your behalf.

“As always our building advisory staff will be able to assist you if you have any questions.”

As of the 27th November 2020, the only way to apply for a Project Information Memorandum (PIM), Building Consent, Amendments, Code Compliance Certificates (CCC) and Certificate of Acceptance (COA) will be via the online Simpli Portal.

New users will have to register on the system at https://simpli.govt.nz/register, create a user name and password and then follow the form prompts to submit your project.

“The teams at the council have put a significant amount of work in ensuring we’ve got the systems in place that will meet the needs of our users, and moving to this paperless system will be a significant step in improving our service and efficiency,” said Jayson.

“Although it’s a really user friendly system, we are aware that there will be people out there who will need some support in getting to grips with it. We don’t want anyone struggling, so our team are here to provide friendly help and advice.”

For more information about these changes and what they mean for you please visit https://www.timaru.govt.nz/services/building/latest-news

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