Auckland House Extensions
Adding floor area is a different job from renovating what you already have: it starts with what your site allows and it runs through Auckland Council. Apex Build & Deco designs the addition, prepares the drawings, lodges the consent paperwork and builds it, under one fixed-price contract.
What We Build
A single-level addition off the back or the side of the house. It is the most common brief we see: one more bedroom, a second bathroom, or a family room that takes the pressure off the main living area. The work that decides the budget is under the ground and in the roof line, not in the room itself.
Building up instead of out when the site is tight or the garden is worth keeping. A second storey means the existing foundations and framing have to be assessed by an engineer before the design goes far, and it usually means moving out for part of the build.
Extending the living area out to a deck, a covered outdoor room or a reworked rear elevation, so the kitchen and living space open onto the garden instead of looking at it through a small window.
Already have drawings from an architect or a designer? We price and build from them, and we can take the consent paperwork from there.
Want to rework the rooms you already have rather than add new ones? That is a home renovation, and it usually starts with the layout rather than the consent. If it is only the kitchen, see our kitchen renovations in Auckland.
Council Consent
Most of the uncertainty in an extension sits in this part of the job, so here is the sequence we take clients through, and who does what at each step.
Before any design work, we check the planning rules that apply to your property: how much of the site can be built on, how close to the boundary you can build, and how height is measured in relation to your neighbours. If the addition you have in mind will not fit inside those rules, it is better to know in week one than after the drawings are drawn.
A design that sits inside the planning rules does not need one. A design that breaks one of them does, and that is a separate application with its own timeline before the building consent can be lodged. We tell you at the site visit whether your brief looks likely to need one.
Architectural drawings, specifications, structural engineering where the addition touches the existing structure, and the supporting documents the application has to carry. This is the stage where the build is actually decided, so it is also where changes are cheap.
We compile and lodge the application with Auckland Council on your behalf. Council reviews it and may come back with a request for further information, which is a normal part of the process rather than a sign something is wrong; we prepare the response.
Once consent is granted, we build to the approved drawings. Council inspects at set stages during construction, and we book and attend those inspections.
At the end of the job we compile the producer statements, records and as-built information Council needs, and apply for the Code Compliance Certificate. It is the piece of paper your lawyer will ask for when you eventually sell, so the job is not finished until it is issued.
| Step | Apex Build & Deco | You |
|---|---|---|
| Site and planning check | Checks the rules that apply to your property and tells you what they allow | Provides the property details and the brief |
| Design and drawings | Prepares the drawings, specifications and engineering | Approves the design and the selections |
| Consent application | Compiles, lodges and manages the application, including any request for further information | Signs as the owner and pays the Council fees, which are set by Council |
| Construction | Builds to the approved drawings, books and attends inspections | Approves variations in writing before they are carried out |
| Completion | Compiles the documents and applies for the Code Compliance Certificate | Receives the certificate and the handover pack |
What Drives The Cost
Two additions of the same floor area can be priced very differently. These are the factors that do it, in roughly the order they matter:
A second storey brings in an assessment of the existing foundations and framing, temporary weather protection and more scaffolding. A ground-level addition brings in excavation, foundations and drainage.
Slope, soil, existing drains and tree roots decide the foundation design before anything above ground is drawn.
Moving a kitchen, a bathroom or the switchboard costs more than building alongside them.
The junction between the existing roof and the addition is where weathertightness is won or lost, and complicated junctions cost more to build properly.
The same room can be finished at very different price points, and this is the factor you have the most control over.
A narrow right of way or a tight urban site changes how materials and machinery get in.
After the free site visit you receive an itemised fixed-price contract, so you are looking at your house and your ground rather than a per-square-metre average.
How It Works
We look at the house, the site and the access, listen to what you need the extra space to do, and tell you what the planning rules on your property allow.
Our designers develop the addition, we prepare the documentation and we lodge the consent application with Auckland Council.
A detailed, itemised contract with a clear scope and a staged programme, before any work starts on site.
Our LBP licensed builders and licensed trades build to the approved drawings, keep the site secure and weathertight, and keep you updated at every stage.
Council inspections through the build, then the Code Compliance Certificate and a walkthrough of the finished space.
Why Apex Build & Deco
Design, consent paperwork, build and the final certificate sit with one company, so nobody is waiting on a drawing that a different office was supposed to send.
Our in-house interior designers work on the addition alongside the build team, so how the new space is used is decided at the same time as how it is built.
Clear scopes, detailed fixed quotes and no hidden costs, with variations priced and agreed in writing before they happen.
LBP licensed builders with licensed plumbers and electricians, built to the approved drawings and inspected at every required stage.
Good To Know
Adding floor area to a house needs a building consent. Whether you also need a resource consent depends on whether the design fits inside the planning rules for your property. We check both before the design work starts. If you are changing rooms inside the existing footprint instead, see our home renovation page.
Council runs the application to a statutory timeframe that pauses while it waits for any further information it has asked for, so the calendar time depends on how complete the application is when it is lodged. That is the part we control, and it is why the documentation stage is worth doing properly.
Only where the design needs a resource consent and the effects on a neighbouring property make it a notified application. Most additions that sit inside the planning rules do not involve the neighbours at all, beyond the courtesy of telling them when the build starts.
For a single-level addition, usually yes, because the new structure is built alongside the house and only joins it near the end. For a second storey, most families move out for part of the programme. We will tell you which applies at the site visit.
Yes. We price and build from existing drawings, and we can take over the consent paperwork if that has not been lodged yet.
We work across the wider Auckland region. Based in Mount Eden, serving Auckland-wide, Monday to Friday.
Get Started
Tell us what you need the extra space to do. We will visit, tell you what your site allows and what it is likely to involve, and follow up with a no-obligation quote.
We usually reply within one business day.