Licensing Food Premises

New food premises - at home

There are a number of steps involved in obtaining a food licence and working from home.

The Food and Hygiene Regulations (1974) ensure that food prepared at home that is to be sold to the public must be prepared in a separate kitchen from the domestic kitchen. The kitchen being used for the preparation of food for sale must comply with the above regulations.

You must take the following steps:

1. Ensure that the activity proposed is allowed in the chosen area. You will need to talk with a planner about the location and type of business proposed. This is called a home occupation.
2. Check with the Council for any building requirements - a building consent may be required for any alterations or additions to the premises. 
3. Organise a food licence - this includes meeting with an Environmental Health Officer on site, where he or she will go through all the Food and Hygiene requirements with the applicant.
4. The occupier (i.e. the holder of the food licence) or a manager or supervisor working on the premises must ensure that they hold an approved qualification in basic food hygiene that is less than 3 years old. The required food licence will not be issued and therefore the premises will not be permitted to operate, unless this requirement is met.
5. When you are ready to open and commence operations the premises will be inspected and graded and immediately issued with an interim grading certificate which must be displayed. In order to attain an A-grade see note 1 of What the grades mean. Please note that if you do not comply with the food hygiene training/safety requirements and/or you do not have a satisfactory cleaning schedule for the premises, you will be only eligible for a B-grading.
6. After 2 months in operation you will be reassessed for grading and issued a new grading certificate based on this assessment.

New food premises - commercial building

There are a number of steps involved in obtaining a food licence for a premises.

Does the intended premises have an existing food licence? 

If Yes go to taking over an existing food business

If No the following steps should be followed: 

1. Ensure that the activity proposed is allowed in the chosen area. You will need to talk with a planner about the location and type of business proposed and parking requirements. 
2. Check with the Council for any building requirements - a building consent may be required for any alterations or additions to the premises, such as for disabled access, fire rating requirements etc.
3. Organise a food licence - this includes meeting with an Environmental Health Officer on site, where he or she will go through all the Food and Hygiene requirements with the applicant.
4. If any sale of liquor is intended the fourth step will be to organise a liquor licence application.
5. The occupier (i.e. the holder of the food licence) or a manager or supervisor working on the premises must ensure that they hold an approved qualification in basic food hygiene that is less than 3 years old. The food licence will not be issued and therefore the premises will not be permitted to operate, unless this requirement is met.
6. When you are ready to open and commence operations the premises will be inspected and graded and immediately issued with an interim grading certificate which must be displayed. In order to attain an A-grade see note 1 of What the grades mean. Please note that if you do not comply with the food hygiene training/safety requirements and/or you do not have a satisfactory cleaning schedule for the premises, you will be only eligible for a B-grade certificate.
7. After 2 months in operation you will be reassessed for grading and issued a grading certificate based on this assessment.

Taking over an existing food business

It is recommended that a LIM be requested. This will show if there are any outstanding requisitions or fees to be paid.

A change of ownership form must completed and a transfer fee of $78 (including GST) is payable. If there is a current registration certificate (or food licence) the balance of the fee becomes a matter for the new and old owners to sort out between themselves or through their solicitors.

Prior to taking over a food business, the occupier (i.e. the holder of the food licence) or a manager or supervisor working on the premises must ensure that they hold an approved qualification in basic food hygiene that is less than 3 years old. The food licence will not be transferred/issued unless this requirement is met and therefore the premises will not be permitted to operate upon the transfer.

When the transfer is approved the premises will be inspected and graded and immediately issued with a grading certificate which must be displayed. In order to attain an A-grade see note 1 of What the grades mean. Please note that if you do not comply with the food hygiene training/safety requirements and/or you do not have a satisfactory cleaning schedule for the premises, you will be only eligible for a B-grade certificate.

After 2 months in operation you will be reassessed for grading and issued a grading certificate based on this assessment.

Is the use of the food premises to be substantially changed? (e.g. changing from a takeaway bar into a restaurant, or bakery into a dairy etc.) 

• If No, return the completed form to the Council, with the fee indicated above.
• If Yes, go to modifying existing food premises

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Transfer of Registration of Food Premises (Size 218K)

Modifying existing food premises

The following must be carried out:

1. Ensure that the activity proposed is allowed in the chosen area. You will need to talk with a planner about the location and type of business proposed and parking requirements.
2. Check with the Council for any building requirements - a building consent may be required for any alterations or additions to the premises, such as for disabled access, fire rating requirements etc.
3. Organise a food licence - this includes meeting with an Environmental Health Officer on site, where he or she will go through all the Food and Hygiene requirements with the applicant. At least one staff member in a supervisory role requires a basic food hygiene certificate
4. If the premises has a current liquor licence and you wish to continue with the sale of liquor, you will need to apply for a temporary authority

Food hygiene training

The food hygiene training of food handling staff, supervisors and managers plays a primary role in determining the food grading awarded to a premises.

In order to be issued with the required food licence (i.e. the Certificate of Registration) the occupier (i.e. the holder of the food licence) or a manager or supervisor working on the premises must ensure that they hold an approved qualification in basic food hygiene that is less than 3 years old. The food licence will not be issued and therefore the premises will not be permitted to open/operate unless this requirement is met.

When the food licence is issued and you are permitted to open/operate the premises will be inspected and graded and immediately issued with a grading certificate which must be displayed. In order to attain an A-grade see note 1 of What the grades mean. Please note that if you do not comply with the food hygiene training/safety requirements you will be only eligible for a B-grade certificate.

After 2 months in operation you will be reassessed for grading and issued a grading certificate based on this assessment.

Copies of all food hygiene qualifications held by staff, supervisors, managers and owners must be kept on the premises.

The courses range in price and are held at different times on different days. Choose one that best suits your circumstances. 

Note: The training courses are external to the Council. It is a separate cost to the applicant and is not connected with the fee for registering a food premises.

This is for information purposes only and is not to be construed as a recommendation.

Please note that food hygiene courses based entirely over the internet will not be accepted by Council as an approved qualification.

In-House Food Hygiene Training Programmes

Waitakere City Council Food Safety Bylaw 2005 requires that "at least 75% of all persons on the premises at one time employed as food handlers have passed an approved basic food hygiene course".

The Bylaw defines an Approved Basic Food Hygiene Course to mean a training programme which has been accredited by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority for the purposes of food preparation and handling, or an alternative course approved in writing by an Environmental Health Officer appointed by Council.

Council recognises that some food premises will have in place in-house training schemes that will satisfactorily cover basic food hygiene; which may be particularly relevant and efficient where large numbers of part-time food handlers are employed.

Consequently Council's environmental health officers will accept in-house food hygiene training courses for the purposes of clause 8.4 of Waitakere City Council Food Safety Bylaw 2005 on the following basis:

1. That the course material of the in-house training is provided for evaluation and is found to be satisfactory.
2. That records of all staff having undertaken the course are maintained on the premises at all times, for inspection by Council's environmental health officers.
3. That a satisfactory test forms part of the course as a means of evaluating the learning outcomes.
4. That the records maintained will include an up to date simple spreadsheet giving the following information:
   a. Name of staff member
   b. Date(s) course taken
   c. Test score
5. That procedures are in place to ensure that all staff members undergo the training every three years. This history of on going training is to be recorded in the records and associated spreadsheet.

In-house courses, unless NZQA accredited, will not meet the training requirements for the manager(s) or supervisor(s) with specific responsibility for staff training and supervision, who is required to be on the premises. These individuals will need to pass NZQA accredited courses.

Food safety programmes

Over the next few years, changes will occur with the current way of registering food premises within New Zealand. At the moment, people have the choice to either:

• Continue to register with the Council, or 
• Have a Food Safety Programme approved by the Ministry of Health

Food Safety Programmes will become mandatory in the near future.

For further information contact New Zealand Food Safety Authority.

Food labelling and food weights

The Council has no control or jurisdiction over the labelling of food, or food weights.
Complaints or enquiries about:

• the labelling of food should be directed to Auckland Healthcare.
• weights and measures should be directed to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.