Plans signed for
your exact address.
Three architect-designed footprints, adapted to your section and signed by an NZRAB Registered Architect. Build with any builder, with no consent queue.
Three footprints, eighteen ways.
Browse the catalogue
Three ways in, depending on what you already know: the footprint you need, the cladding you want to look at for the next thirty years, or simply who is going to live in it.
Twenty-five years of New Zealand practice, on every sheet.
Every Seventy set is drawn and signed by an NZRAB Registered Architect and NZIA member. Wind zone, soils and planning overlays are checked against your title before anything is signed. This is not a template PDF, it’s a working set for your address.
Simple site, NZD incl. GST, signed design included. Sloped adds about 9%, tricky about 18%. A ballpark for budgeting; your address sets the real number.
Slide your size. See the number.
Every Seventy prices from the same rate card: $2,950 to $4,350 a square metre by finish, with site factors added only when your address earns them. Set the floor area and watch the turnkey range move. The same arithmetic writes our fixed quotes, so the ballpark and the contract speak the same language.
Three finishes. One rate card.
Essentials keeps it sound, warm and simple. Classic adds the timber accents and better wet areas most owners choose. Premium is cedar, tile and full-height glazing: the magazine one. Pick a finish and see where all three footprints land, no consultation required, and your choice follows you to every plan page.
The most-built spec. Timber accents, better wet areas.
Turnkey totals for a simple site, NZD incl. GST, signed design included. The finish you pick here carries through to every plan page and estimate.
What a signed set actually holds.
Plenty of sites sell a floor plan and call it plans. A Seventy set is full working documentation: drawn, dimensioned and scheduled so your builder prices it to the dollar instead of padding an allowance for the unknowns. Architecturally designed, professionally drafted, and signed for one address: yours.
Engineered for the address on the title.
The same three footprints, detailed differently for a Southland frost flat, a Coromandel salt zone or a Wellington ridgeline. Wind, soils, exposure and overlays are read from official records before the architect signs. That adaptation is what makes the set buildable, and what keeps the exemption clean.
How it works
Address to build-ready in four steps. The signed set usually lands inside five working days.
Prefer keys handed over? Our crew can build from your signed set, ask about turnkey.
THE FULL PROCESS, STEP BY STEP →Three footprints
Fixed, engineered layouts: that is what keeps the price sharp and the exemption clean. Materials and cladding are yours to choose, the footprint is proven.
The compact one. A proper two-bedroom home in 48 square metres: the lightest footprint, the fastest build.
The sweet spot. Our most-signed set: generous living, real storage, and a footprint that suits most sections.
The full allowance. Three bedrooms at the consent-exempt limit. A family home, not a flat.
The consent queue ended in January 2026.
Homes up to 70 m², designed and built by licensed professionals, no longer need building consent. No lodgement, no processing queue, no consent fee. The Building Code still applies in full and your district plan still sets the ground rules. A Seventy set arrives with the exemption paperwork completed, so the saving lands in your build, not in admin.
What borrowing it costs, week by week.
Most backyard builds are funded as a top-up against the equity already in the main house. Set the borrow, rate and term, and the weekly number lands right beside the $500 to $800 a two-bed typically rents for. That one comparison is usually the whole conversation. Indicative only, not lending advice: your bank sets the real terms.
Standard table amortisation. Indicative only, not lending advice: your bank sets the real rate, term and structure.
One national rule. Sixty-seven local rulebooks.
The 70 m² exemption is the same nationwide. What changes at your boundary is the district plan: setbacks, site coverage, overlays and services. We keep a plain-English read on every territorial authority in the country, so you know what your council checks before you plan anything.
Gross figures before rates, insurance and upkeep. Indicative only, not financial advice.
What the backyard could earn.
Gross yield is annual rent over build cost, and because the land under a backyard build is already yours, the arithmetic embarrasses most property maths. A new two-bed typically rents for $500 to $800 a week in New Zealand. Set the cost and the rent. We assume two vacant weeks a year, because warm stock rarely waits.
Seven questions worth asking anyone.
No named competitors and no point-scoring: good firms exist in every category, and every firm differs. These are simply the questions we think you should put to anyone who wants to build in your backyard. Our answers are in writing, in the middle column.
| THE QUESTION | SEVENTY | TYPICAL DESIGN & BUILD FIRM | DIY PLANS, THEN CONSENT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who signs the drawings? | An NZRAB Registered Architect, every set | Varies; often in-house drafting | A draftsperson, with engineers as needed |
| Price before you commit? | Published on the site, plan sets and turnkey alike | Usually quoted after a consultation | Assembled from separate quotes |
| Building consent? | Exempt to 70 m², paperwork completed for you | Often the full consented route, with its fees | Yours to lodge and manage |
| Time to build-ready plans? | About 5 working days to a signed set | Design phases over weeks to months | Hangs on consent processing |
| Adapted to your address? | Wind, soils and overlays checked as standard | Commonly part of higher-tier packages | Yours to commission separately |
| Choice of builder? | Any LBP builder, one-build licence, NZ-wide | Usually their crew only | Yours to arrange |
| If your section doesn't qualify? | Full refund after the free site check | Varies by contract | Costs already sunk |
| SEE THE THREE SETS |
Category descriptions are general by intention: practices differ firm to firm, and plenty do these things well. Ask the questions everywhere, including of us.
Word from the builds
Before you buy
What exactly do I get when I buy a plan set?+
Full working drawings, bracing and materials schedules, the consent-exemption paperwork, and a one-build licence valid anywhere in NZ. Every set is adapted to your address and signed by an NZRAB Registered Architect before it lands in your inbox, usually within 5 working days.
Do I really not need building consent?+
Correct, for the build itself. Since January 2026, homes up to 70 m² designed and built by licensed professionals are consent-exempt. District plan rules (setbacks, coverage) still apply, which is exactly what our address adaptation checks before the architect signs.
Who signs my plans?+
An NZRAB Registered Architect and NZIA member with over 25 years of New Zealand residential practice. The signature on your set is the same one councils, banks and builders recognise.
What if my section doesn't qualify?+
Full refund. We check your address before we adapt anything, and if a Seventy can't be built on your section, you get your money back. That promise sits on the cart and the checkout.
Can you build it too?+
Yes, our crew can take your signed set from bare section to keys on a fixed quote. But the plans come first, and they're yours to use with any builder you trust.
Your address. Signed off.
Build-ready plans in five working days · from $4,900