Retaining Wall Consent Checker | Auckland

Which retaining wall consent rules apply to your Auckland property?

Four questions about height, what sits above the wall, the boundary and what you are doing. You get a plain-English summary of which published rules are in play, and what usually happens next.

This tool restates published guidance against your answers. It is not a consent decision, an engineering opinion or a safety assessment. Auckland Council decides every consent question for a specific property.

The rules this applies

Retained height: The commonly referenced Schedule 1 exemption covers retaining walls holding back no more than 1.5 metres depth of ground. Above that figure the exemption does not apply.
Surcharge: The exemption also requires no surcharge or additional load above the wall. A driveway, vehicle, building, pool, another wall or ground that keeps rising all count, regardless of how low the wall is.
Resource consent: Earthworks volume, land disturbance, natural hazard overlays, protected trees and Auckland Unitary Plan controls can create a separate planning question even where building consent is not required.
Boundaries: A wall on or near a boundary raises ownership, access and neighbour questions alongside the consent question, and construction access is often needed from the low side.
Exempt still means compliant: Building work that does not require a consent must still comply with the Building Code. Exemption from consent is not exemption from building the wall properly.
Who decides: Auckland Council makes the regulatory decision on every consent application. No website, tool or contractor can determine it for a specific property.

Which retaining wall consent rules apply to your Auckland property?

Answer these and see what applies.

Tell us about the wall and we work out the consent.