Renovate your bathroom. Skip the building consent.

Why consent can be exempt at all

Building consent exists to make sure work meets the Building Code. Wedi's board and shower systems carry CodeMark certification — a government-backed product certification that councils must accept as evidence of code compliance when the product is installed exactly as certified. That's what opens the door to exemption: the compliance case is already made by the certification, provided the installation follows it to the letter.

That last part is the whole game. The exemption pathway assumes a Wedi certified installer working strictly to Wedi's product guidelines. It is not a shortcut for anyone with a trowel — the certification, the certified installer and the documented method together do the job an inspection would otherwise check. Which means the exemption isn't really a product feature: it's an installer feature. The pathway runs through us.

The two pathways

1 — Automatic Schedule 1 exemption. When Wedi is used in a bathroom renovation, the work may qualify for an automatic exemption under Schedule 1 of the Building Act and simply not require consent. This decision sits between the building owner and the builder.

2 — Discretionary exemption. Where the owner wants the certainty of a formal council decision — or it's considered necessary — a discretionary exemption can be applied for online. It applies provided the installer is Wedi certified, the installation is carried out strictly to Wedi's guidelines as set out in its CodeMark certification, and the work meets the Building Code. Auckland Council's application fee is currently $515, and no on-site council inspection is required. When Wedi is notified of an application, they contact council on your behalf — and these applications are fast-tracked.

What it means in practice

• The pathway runs through the installer. The exemption only exists where a Wedi certified installer builds strictly to the certified method — the certification does the job an inspection would otherwise do. It's not a shortcut around specialist trades; it's the reason to use one.
• No inspection bottleneck. Under a discretionary exemption, council doesn't need to visit site — the programme runs on your schedule, not the inspector's.
• PS3 and warranty on every job. Council doesn't require producer statements under the exemption — we issue a PS3 anyway, and register every project with Wedi (installation photos and invoice) to activate the manufacturer's warranty. You skip the council queue, not the paper trail.
• One company, whole job. We run the renovation and the exemption pathway together — the wet-area build, the certified installation, the documentation and the Wedi registration, end to end.

The honest caveats

An exemption covers the Wedi wet-area work installed as certified. Whether your wider renovation needs consent depends on its full scope — and the exemption decision itself sits with the building owner and builder, or with council under the discretionary pathway. Application fees and processes are set by each council (the $515 figure is Auckland Council's), and our patch spans Auckland, Kaipara and Whangārei districts. None of this is a reason to hesitate — it's a reason to talk to us first. We'll tell you straight which pathway fits your project, and handle the Wedi side end to end.

Bathroom renovations, minus the barrier

If a bathroom renovation has been sitting on your someday list — a dated ensuite, a leaking shower, a tiled bathroom you've wanted for years — and the thing holding it back is the thought of council, this pathway changes the maths. From Warkworth and Matakana through Mangawhai, Maungaturoto and Waipu to Bream Bay and Whangārei, we build complete consent-exempt bathroom renovations on Wedi: strip-out, substrate, certified waterproofing, tiling in porcelain, stone or mosaic, and every piece of documentation — as one job, from one company. See what a full renovation includes on our bathroom renovations page, or find your area under where we work.

Common questions