Who do I need consent from to get Fibre installed?

The fibre broadband installation consent process varies depending on your property type, who owns it, and who will be impacted by the work done.

If you are the owner of a standalone home or commercial property, you are the person authorizing the installation work to be carried out – nice and simple.

If you are renting, or on a shared driveway or in an apartment, other consents may be required.

Are consents always required to get Fibre?

If you already have a Fibre ONT and fibre has already been installed, you can simply get your broadband service remotely activated, no consents required.

Likewise if you own your home on a shared driveway or apartment block which has already had fibre build work done (the majority across NZ at this point) – then getting connected should be very easy, and the only consent required will likely be your own, as you’re not impacting anyone else’s property.

However, if your property has never had fibre installed, the technician needs at the very least a signed agreement to go ahead with the installation, and possibly consent from your neighbours if your install will be impacting them.

Let’s take a look at how it varies, depending on your situation:

Owner of a standalone home or office

This is very straight forward. You are able to meet with the technician, and agree to a method of fibre install into your own home or office, sign the form, and get that connected right away.

Renting a home or office

You’ll need to speak with your landlord or property manager, as usually a tenant’s agreement requires that they approve any modifications to their property.

As the technician requires a signed installation agreement to proceed with the install, the landlord can choose to provide you a signed agreement, or can allow you to sign, giving you authority to go ahead.

Your landlord does not need to be on site during the technicians visit – but they may choose to be.

Most landlords are quite happy for this to go ahead, if they haven’t already installed fibre, as it is enabling a desirable and future-proofed high-speed internet service for their property for yourself and any future tenants.

It’s also a simpler process these days as surface-mounted fibre installs (along underside of fence for example) are often the first choice, rather than more invasive trench digging across the property, so as long as they’re happy with the visual aesthetic of the proposed fibre install path, things can progress easily.

Shared Driveway (ROW – Right Of Way)

If you’re on a shared driveway that hasn’t had fibre installed on it previously, your neighbours will need to be notified that an order is underway, and be given an opportunity to reject the proposed install path if they have concerns.

Installations on these properties are divided into 3 categories:

• Category 1:
  Minimal impact to shared areas of property. 5 working days notice given – after which build work will proceed.
• Category 2:
  Some impact to shared areas of property. 15 working days notice given, and if no objections have been received build work will proceed.
• Category 3:
  Greater impact to shared areas of property. Consent required from all property owners before work can proceed.

Apartment (Or other MDU – Multi-Dwelling Unit)

After visiting to assess the property, Chorus (or other regional Fibre installer) will notify all the residents of the building that fibre installation is happening, and advise them what category the install is.

Just like with shared driveway installs, the 3 categories are as follows:

• Category 1:
  Minimal impact to shared areas of property. 5 working days notice given – after which build work will proceed.
• Category 2:
  Some impact to shared areas of property. 15 working days notice given, and if no objections have been received build work will proceed.
• Category 3:
  Greater impact to shared areas of property. Consent required from all property owners before work can proceed.

Housing New Zealand (Kainga Ora)

This has historically been a problematic install type, mainly due to consents delays and so on.

From mid-2020 Chorus and other companies have been working to substantially improve the consents process for getting ultra-fast fibre broadband installed into Housing NZ owned properties for their tenants.

This consents process now aims to ensure that Housing New Zealand have approved the installation for the property before the technician arrives to do the work.

Once Housing NZ approves the install, the tenant will sign the installation agreement on their behalf. If they have any queries about whether they’re approved, they can call Housing NZ on 0800 801 601 Option 6 to confirm.