Specialist · Early childhood centres
New purpose-built centres, house and commercial conversions, extensions and refurbishments of live centres. We build around the Ministry of Education's licensing criteria and the Building Code, so your premises are ready for the licensing visit.
Full projectSub-contractMaterials only
What we build
Ground-up centres from your architect's drawings, coordinated with your licensing adviser from day one.
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Turning houses and commercial buildings into licensed centres, including change of use, fire, access and wet area upgrades.
Start a conversationMore licensed places, new sleep rooms, nappy change and kitchen upgrades, staged around a centre that stays open.
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Outdoor play spaces with soft-fall, shade and fencing, built to NZS 5828.
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The premises and facilities areas we plan and build for, from the first drawing review to handover.
Our process
A childcare centre isn't finished when the building is signed off. It's finished when it can be licensed. We plan every stage around the Ministry of Education licensing criteria, so the centre is ready for its licensing visit on handover.
We check zoning and resource consent under the Auckland Unitary Plan, traffic, parking and noise, and work out how many children the space supports at 2.5 m² indoors and 5 m² outdoors per child.
The design is checked against the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 and the licensing criteria: toilets and nappy change, sleep room, sight lines for supervision, and a kitchen that meets food safety rules. We bring in your licensing adviser early.
Resource consent first where needed, then building consent. We coordinate the fire design and the evacuation scheme with Fire and Emergency NZ.
Fencing and self-closing gates, soft surfacing under play equipment to NZS 5828, hot water limited to safe temperatures and finishes that suit young children, with inspections planned into the programme.
Code Compliance Certificate, building warrant of fitness, and the documents the operator needs for the ERO licensing assessment.
We fix any defects promptly and can help with later changes, such as extra rooms or more child places.
Regulations guide
Every licensed centre is built inside a set of national rules. These are the ones that shape your building, and the official pages we work from.
The legal backbone. They set the minimums every premises must meet: 2.5 m² of indoor space and 5 m² of outdoor space per child, plus requirements for toilets, nappy change, sleep areas, kitchens, ventilation, heating, lighting and safety glass. We check every drawing against them before consent.
Read the Regulations 2008 — NZ LegislationHow the regulations get tested. The premises and facilities criteria (PF1–PF129) spell out what the licensing visit looks for — supervision sightlines, sleep rooms, kitchen safety, fencing, heating and more. We plan each room around them so the building passes first time.
Laws and regulations — Ministry of EducationThe criteria were updated for 2026. If you are building new, converting or extending, your premises must meet the current criteria — not the version your last centre was signed off under. We build to the current published criteria.
2026 licensing criteria changes — Ministry of EducationConsent, inspections and sign-off. A childcare build needs building consent, council inspections during construction and a Code Compliance Certificate at the end — the document your licensing application rests on.
Applying for building consent — building.govt.nzTurning a house or commercial building into a centre is a formal change of use. Council then applies tougher requirements for fire safety, access, sanitation and structure before it will sign the building off as an education premises.
Change of use — building.govt.nzThe outdoor rules. Play equipment and surfacing in licensed centres must comply with NZS 5828 — soft-fall matched to fall heights, safe zones around structures, and fencing that keeps children secure.
Playgrounds — Ministry of EducationType your site address to see its land area (land areas currently available for Auckland sites), zone and a rough estimate of how many children a centre there could be licensed for.
Indicative only, not planning or resource consent advice. Uses council property and zone records (land boundaries currently from Auckland Council), a single-storey centre at the zone's building coverage, about 60% of the building as activity space, 20% of the site kept for parking, driveway and setbacks, and the Ministry of Education minimums of 2.5 m² indoor and 5 m² outdoor per child. Noise, traffic, existing buildings, overlays and covenants can lower the real number.
50 children total
125 m²
indoor space
2.5 m² per child
250 m²
outdoor space
5 m² per child
3
child toilets
1 per 15 aged 2+
3
hand basins
1 per 15 aged 2+, warm water
50
licensed places
10 under 2 · 40 aged 2+
Council assessed
car parks
No set minimum
Guide only, based on Schedule 4 of the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008. Indoor space is measured clear of fittings, passageways, toilets, staff rooms and under-2 sleep rooms. Staff toilets, nappy-change and sleep areas are extra. Auckland Council has no minimum car-park numbers (removed February 2022); if parking is provided, accessible parks are required, and drop-off and traffic are assessed with your resource consent.
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