To legally operate a licensed premises you must be able to demonstrate compliance with the Resource Management Act and the Building Code.  You do this by applying for a Sale of Liquor certificate through Council.

All new liquor licence applications must be accompanied by a Sale of Liquor certificate so this process needs to happen before you can apply for your liquor licence.

The type of certificate you get will depend on the premises you are applying for:

• on-licence -S9(1)(e) Sale of Liquor Certificate
• off-licence - S31(1)(e) Sale of Liquore Certificate
• club-licence - S55(1)(e) Sale of Liquor Certificate

These certificates are issued where it can be demonstrated that the sale/supply of liquor from the premises fully complies with the City Plan requirements and the Building Code.

You must have a certificate pursuant to relevant section as above of the Sale of Liquor Act which "gives a clear description of the business in identical terms to the description on the application, that the proposed use of the premise meets the requirements of the RMA and whether it is a new building or an existing building with or without a change of use and that the building used for the propopsed use meets the requirements of the Building Code".

Subject to there being no issues with the information provided by the application, the timeframe for processing such application is 20 working days.

If this certificate cannot be issued for any reason (such as the premise does not comply with the District Plan or Resource Management Act), then you will need to apply for resource consent. 

Application Form - for all Activities or Proposals (104kb pdf)
Fees and charges   
Lodgement Meeting Request   (184.7 kb pdf)
Lodgement Meeting Request   (329.5kb word)