Producer statements NZ: what they are and how they work
A producer statement is a professional author’s statement used to give a New Zealand council evidence that specific design or building work meets the Building Code. Councils can rely on producer statements to support a building consent or Code Compliance Certificate, but they are under no legal obligation to accept one, and can request further evidence at any stage.
There are four standard types, each covering a different point in a project’s life:
PS1 — design confirmation, issued before consent
PS2 — independent design review
PS3 — construction or installation confirmation
PS4 — construction review, usually the final document before a CCC is issued
Whether you need one, several, or none at all depends on your project’s scope, its complexity, and how your particular Building Consent Authority chooses to assess risk.
Key Takeaways
Producer statements work as compliance evidence only when the author is properly registered, the scope and schedule are complete, and the council accepts the document at its discretion.
Point | Details |
Four PS types cover different stages | PS1 confirms design, PS2 reviews design, PS3 confirms construction, PS4 reviews the finished build. |
Councils accept PSs at their discretion | A producer statement supports a consent or CCC application but never guarantees approval. |
Complete schedules prevent rejections | Reference exact plan pages, revision numbers, and Building Code clauses to avoid follow-up requests. |
Only registered authors should sign | CPEng typically signs PS1, PS2 and PS4; LBPs or registered installers typically sign PS3. |
Sortedhomesolutions coordinates the paperwork | Fixed-fee renovations include producer statement collection, credential checks and portal uploads as standard. |
Table of Contents
When you need PS1, PS2, PS3 and PS4
Each producer statement answers a different question at a different stage, and matching the right one to the right moment saves you weeks of back and forth with your council.
PS1 (design) confirms a specific design meets the Building Code before consent is granted. A structural engineer typically issues it when a design departs from an Acceptable Solution, such as a non-standard beam layout or a retaining wall over a certain height.
PS2 (design review) is an independent check of someone else’s design, often required for higher-risk structural elements or when a council wants a second set of eyes before granting consent.
PS3 (construction) confirms that specific work was actually built or installed to the approved design. This is the one you’ll meet most often on a renovation, particularly for specialist or proprietary systems like structural steel connections, precast concrete, or fire-rated systems, where the installer signs off their own work.
PS4 (construction review) is an engineer’s final review confirming the completed, as-built work matches what was consented. It’s frequently the document that tips a file over into CCC approval.
Not every job needs all four. A straightforward kitchen reno with no structural changes might need none of them; a house with a new steel portal frame could need all four at different points.
What a producer statement form must actually contain
Councils reject or query producer statements for the same handful of reasons, almost every time: missing details, vague scope, or no supporting schedule. Getting the form right the first time is faster than fixing it later.
A complete producer statement needs:
The author’s full name, professional registration (CPEng, LBP, or listed authority), and contact details
A precise description of the scope of work, not a general statement about “the building”
Plan and drawing references, including version or revision numbers
The specific Building Code clauses being addressed, and whether compliance rests on an Acceptable Solution, a Verification Method, or a fully engineered design
A schedule listing every supporting document relied on, drawings, test reports, inspection records, plus the design working life where that applies
Clear statement of limits and exclusions, so nobody assumes it covers work outside its stated scope
Timaru District Council’s guidance is a useful example here: it specifically requires the schedule to reference plan pages by number, not just describe them generally, because a schedule that says “as per attached drawings” without page references gives a council nothing to check against.
Pro Tip: Ask your author to date-stamp every referenced drawing revision on the schedule itself. When a plan changes mid-project (and it usually does), an undated schedule reference is the single most common reason councils bounce a PS3 back for clarification.
Who’s allowed to sign, and what it means legally
Not just anyone can put their name on a producer statement, and councils check credentials before they accept one as evidence.
PS1, PS2 and PS4 are almost always signed by a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng), reflecting the design and engineering judgement involved.
PS3 is typically signed by a Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP), a registered installer, or an authority listed by the relevant product or system manufacturer.
Councils check the author’s credentials and registration status against the specific Building Code clauses claimed, and can refuse a statement outright if the signatory isn’t appropriately qualified for that scope of work.
A producer statement is a professional opinion, not a product warranty. It doesn’t replace a guarantee or insurance policy. Signatories carry professional indemnity insurance precisely because signing one exposes them to liability if the work later proves non-compliant.
As a homeowner, a red flag worth watching for is a signatory who won’t provide their registration number, or a PS3 signed by someone who didn’t actually perform or directly supervise the installation.
How councils treat and process producer statements
Producer statements are evidence, not a guarantee of acceptance, and every Building Consent Authority applies its own judgement about how much weight to give one.
Councils can, and regularly do, request an independent review or a physical inspection even when a producer statement has already been submitted. Accepting a PS is discretionary, not automatic.
Many councils expect submissions through a specific channel, often a consent portal where you’re added as a collaborator, rather than emailed PDFs. Timaru District Council requires PS3s to go through its portal before certain inspections can even be booked, and Auckland Council runs a comparable process.
Structure every submission around the consent number, with the schedule cross-referenced to plan pages, and upload it before you try to book the inspection it relates to. Submitting after the fact just creates a queue of clarification requests.
Practice varies enough between councils that it’s worth checking your specific authority’s guidance before you assume the process from your last project still applies.
A practical checklist before you lodge
Getting producer statements sorted before they become a bottleneck comes down to timing and paperwork discipline, not luck.
At contract stage, build producer statement obligations into the trade contract itself: require named, registered authors and proof of professional indemnity insurance before work starts, not after.
On site, collect PS3s from installers as work is completed, not months later. Check that the plan references and version numbers on each PS3 match what was actually installed, and verify the signatory’s registration is current.
Before applying for CCC, confirm whether a PS4 is required, gather every supporting schedule and inspection report into one file, and upload the complete set to your council’s portal as a collaborator well ahead of your CCC application. This same evidence pack is exactly what supports a Code Compliance Certificate application once the build is finished.
Pro Tip: Upload producer statements to the council portal at least a week before you book the inspection they relate to. Councils often need time for technical review, and a same-day upload followed by an inspection booking is one of the most common causes of avoidable delay.
Why paperwork discipline matters more than people think
Most delays around producer statements aren’t caused by bad engineering. They’re caused by a schedule that references the wrong drawing revision, a PS3 with no registration number, or a form uploaded the same afternoon as the inspection booking. Councils don’t reject producer statements because the underlying work is wrong; they reject them because the document doesn’t give them enough to check against.
The bigger misconception is treating a producer statement as a formality that gets sorted at the very end of a job. If you leave PS3 collection until CCC application, you’re often chasing installers who’ve moved on to another site, or trying to reconstruct which drawing version was actually used for an installation six months ago. The projects that move through council smoothly are the ones where producer statement obligations sit in the trade contract from day one, not as an afterthought bolted on at handover.
There’s also a habit worth breaking: assuming one council’s process transfers to the next. A submission method that worked fine on a Wellington job can trip you up entirely on an Auckland one, simply because the portal requirements differ.
How Sortedhomesolutions handles producer statements for you
On a managed renovation, chasing producer statements shouldn’t fall on the homeowner. Sortedhomesolutions builds producer statement requirements into trade contracts upfront: named authors, current registrations, and PI insurance evidence confirmed before work starts, not chased after the fact.
As your project moves through construction, we collect PS3s from installers as work is completed and upload the full schedule to the council portal well ahead of inspection bookings, so a missing document never holds up your Code Compliance Certificate. If you’re planning a kitchen or bathroom renovation in Auckland and want compliance paperwork handled as part of a fixed-fee project rather than a separate headache, check our renovation pricing and see how it fits your job.
Where to check the official guidance
For the primary rules, go straight to MBIE’s Building Performance guidance on producer statements.
Standard PS1, PS2, PS3 and PS4 forms are available through Engineering New Zealand.
ACE New Zealand covers producer statement purpose and engineer-focused resources.
For a real council example, see Timaru District Council’s guidance notes on essential PS features.
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