Application form and fee#

Complete the application form EC1: Start a centre-based service.

There is a non-refundable application fee of $2,817.50 (including GST).

You need to provide documents related to your service management, staffing, building and curriculum.

For some of these documents, you will need to contact other organisations. For example, contact your local council for documents relating to the Resource Management Act 1991 and Building Act 2004. 

To help you with contact details for these organisations, see our list of useful contact information.

Guides for starting an early childhood service

Governance#

You will need to include a list of the names and roles of all persons to be involved in the governance of the service.

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Regulation.6(3)(b) – New Zealand Legislation

Governance police vetting#

Police vet (less than 3 years old) for each individual involved in the governance of the service who is not a children’s worker.

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Regulation 8(a) – New Zealand Legislation

Certificate of Incorporation#

A Certificate of Incorporation as a company, charitable trust, or incorporated society, if this applies to you.

Charitable tax status#

An Inland Revenue (IRD) notification of charitable tax status, if this applies to you.

Evidence of staffing#

To demonstrate compliance, your application must be accompanied by evidence of staff being employed or engaged and ready to start work when the licence is issued.

Also provide copies of completed safety checking records and results for all children’s workers who will be working at your service.

Teaching qualifications and practising certificates#

You must include certified copies of recognised teaching qualifications and practising certificates for the person responsible and people counting towards qualification requirements.

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Regulation 6(3)(a) – New Zealand Legislation

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Regulation 44 – New Zealand Legislation

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Schedule 1 – New Zealand Legislation

First aid certificates#

Certified copies of first aid certificates from an accredited first aid training provider.

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Regulation 6(3)(a) – New Zealand Legislation

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Regulation 44 – New Zealand Legislation

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Schedule 1 – New Zealand Legislation

HS119 First aid qualifications

Supervision plan#

A supervision plan that shows staffing and that children are supervised at all times. 

Provide evidence that adult to child ratios are maintained:

• in the indoor and outdoor areas
• during staff breaks
• during any administration time (non-contact time).

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Regulation 6(3)(a) – New Zealand Legislation

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Regulation 44 – New Zealand Legislation

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Schedule 1 – New Zealand Legislation

Health report#

This is the premises and facilities health assessment report from your local National Public Health service.

Health New Zealand has information about what the report is and how to organise one.

Early learning service health assessments – Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Regulation 9(2) – New Zealand Legislation

Evidence of where the contact person lives#

Provide evidence that the service provider contact person lives locally. For example, a copy of a utility bill, tenancy agreement.

A person will generally be considered to ‘reside locally’ if they live within the geographical boundaries serviced by your regional Ministry of Education office. If you are unsure whether the contact person would meet this requirement, ask your regional office.

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Regulation 3 – New Zealand Legislation

Plans, policies and procedures#

Include these plans, policies and procedures with you application.

For information about what needs to be in each of these, see our content on preparing policies and procedures.

Policies and procedures

Staff safety checking procedures#

Your procedure for safety checking all children’s workers before employment or engagement, in accordance with the Children’s Act 2014. 

GMA106 Safety checking

Police vet and risk assessment procedure#

Your procedure to obtain a Police vet and conduct a risk assessment of information returned in 
the vet for:

• non-teaching and unregistered employees before the person begins work at the service; and
• contractors and their employees before they have, or are likely to have, unsupervised access to children.

Education and Training Act 2020, Schedule 4 – New Zealand Legislation

Child protection policy#

A written child protection policy that meets the requirements of the Children’s Act 2014. The policy contains:

• provisions for the identification and reporting of child abuse and neglect
• information about how your service will keep children safe from abuse and neglect
• how your service will respond to concerns of child abuse and neglect.

HS125 Child protection

Social competence#

A process for providing positive guidance to encourage social competence in children.

C110 Developing social competence

Evacuation scheme#

The building’s operative evacuation scheme for public safety (fire evacuation scheme), approved by Fire and Emergency New Zealand.

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Regulation 9(1)(c) – New Zealand Legislation

Emergency plan#

An emergency plan and supplies to ensure the care and safety of children and adults at the service. 

HS105 Emergency plan and supplies

Information provided to parents#

Written or digital information that lets parents know how to access information as outlined in GMA 102.

GMA102 Information provided to parents 

Enrolment form#

A copy of the enrolment form that will be used by your service.

GMA109 Enrolment and attendance records

Annual plan (for new service providers only)#

The service’s annual plan should identify 'who', 'what', and 'when’ in relation to key tasks the service intends to undertake in the next 12 months.

GMA107 Annual plan

Annual budget (for new service providers only)#

The service’s annual budget needs to include your expenditure for the year.

It should also include the expected revenue from your funding sources.

You do not have to include your annual budget with your application, but you will need to provide access to it at the probationary licence assessment visit.

GMA108 Annual budget

Building consents and diagrams#

Compliance with the Resource Management Act 1991#

A copy of the centre’s resource consent with any attached conditions showing that the premises comply with the Resource Management Act 1991 in respect of their use as an early childhood education and care centre. 

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations, Regulation.9(1)(d) – New Zealand Legislation 

Compliance with the Building Act 2004#

Evidence that the building complies with the Building Act 2004 in respect of its use as an education and care centre. 

New builds

For new builds or recently renovated premises provide:

• a code of compliance certificate (issued under section 95 of the Building Act 2004)
• a compliance schedule (issued under section 100 of the Building Act 2004).

In certain circumstances, these may also be considered evidence of compliance: 

• Certificate for Public Use (issued under section 363A of the Building Act) or 
• Certificate of Acceptance (issued under section 96 of the Building Act) 

Contact your regional Ministry of Education office for more details.

Regional offices

Premises built before 1992

For premises built before 1992 and have not had building or renovation work, provide evidence of the age of the building.

Warrant of fitness

If your premises also require an annual building warrant of fitness (issued under section 108 of the Building Act), you do not need to send in a copy of this document. It will be sighted during the licensing assessment visit. 

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations, Regulation.9(1)(e) – New Zealand Legislation

Section 95 of the Building Act – New Zealand Legislation

Section 100 of the Building Act – New Zealand Legislation

Section 363A of the Building Act 2004 – New Zealand Legislation

Section 96 of the Building Act 2004 – New Zealand Legislation

Section 108 of the Building Act – New Zealand Legislation

Floor plan and site plan#

Floor plan

A floor plan of buildings showing metric measurements and uses of each area.

To help with the assessment of your application, indicate any defined activity space where appropriate. That is where your service has designated areas or spaces for the use of children of a specific age and/or the number of children. 

Site plan

A site plan of the entire premises showing metric measurements and uses of each area.

To help with the assessment of your application, indicate any designated activity areas or spaces for children of a specific age. Include the number of children. 

Premises definition

To be granted a licence the premises must:

• be situated on a single site, and 
• be for the exclusive use of the service.

If the premises have 2 or more components (any land or building that forms a part of the premises):

• each component must be immediately adjacent and connected to at least 1 other component, and
• children must have safe access to each component.

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations, Regulation.9(1)(a) – New Zealand Legislation

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations, Regulation 20A – New Zealand Legislation

Application fee payment#

You must provide evidence that the application fee of $2,817.50, inclusive of GST, has been paid into our bank account.
 

RS3 funding form (recommended)#

We recommend that you include a completed RS3 funding form with your EC1 application. 

The RS3 can also be submitted later. This is required before government funding can be accessed.

You will need to declare that the information you have provided is true and sign it in front of an authorised witness.

Making a statutory declaration – Govt.nz

Who the statutory declaration must cover#

When the governance of the proposed service is made up of a group of people, the statutory declaration needs to cover the officers of the organisation that has identified itself as the service provider. In most cases, the deed of incorporation for the legal entity will determine this. The following are the most common scenarios for service providers.

Scenarios

Incorporated society

The statutory declaration should cover the office holders (such as secretary, treasurer and president).

Trust board

The statutory declaration should cover the board members.

Company

The statutory declaration should cover company director or directors.

Individual person (whether registered as a legal entity or not)

The statutory declaration should cover only that person.

Unincorporated body

The statutory declaration should cover the people who identify themselves as being part of the governing body.

Other matters that need to be declared #

The Director of Regulation can require a statutory declaration for any other matter considered relevant. 

The Director of Regulation requires the applicant and those involved in the governance of the service to declare if: 

• any governance members were previously registered with the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand
• registration was cancelled for any reason.

Regulation 7 of the Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008

Getting information from the people covered by the statutory declaration#

As the person signing the statutory declaration, you must satisfy yourself that the information supplied is correct. How you collect this information from the other people covered by the statutory declaration is up to you and your organisation. There is a range of ways that this might be done, including: 

• information gathered through your recruitment or election processes
• personal knowledge of the person
• verbal assurances
• written attestation
• seeking Police vets in relation to past convictions
• individual statutory declarations from each person covered (so that the statutory declaration to the Ministry of Education becomes a composite of individual declarations to the applicant).

Deciding how to respond to the statements on the statutory declaration#

You must tick one of the options at the beginning of each statement.

If the service provider is a group of people and an affirmative answer applies to 1 or more people you must answer in the affirmative on the statutory declaration.

Most of the statements are relatively straightforward. People will know if they have any convictions or adjudications of bankruptcy, for example.

The main exception will be statement (c) regarding health conditions. It is important to be clear about the difference between: 

• a mental or physical condition that might prevent people from managing their role in complying with the conditions of a licence or obligations under the regulations, and 
• any other condition that would not have this kind of impact. 

Relevant factors to consider might include, for example, health problems that require frequent hospitalisation or sick leave, or that might render a person unconscious or quickly incapacitated. Frequency and severity of those conditions might also be relevant.

Answering ‘have’ to any statement on the statutory declaration #

If you answer ‘have’ for any statements, you must attach all relevant information in relation to the matter. Answering ‘have’ to any statement does not automatically exclude the service provider from being deemed fit and proper to hold a licence. All decisions about granting or not granting a licence are made on a case-by-case basis.

What to do if something changes#

A service provider must tell us as soon as practicable if any of the circumstances under (a) to (k) on the statutory declaration form have changed for any person who is covered by the statutory declaration. 

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Regulation 35 – Legislation New Zealand

You do not need to tell us every time someone new becomes part of the service provider. You should only tell us if that person’s circumstances make the information you have provided on the statutory declaration incorrect. 

Verbal or written advice of a change of circumstances will be accepted, and a new statutory declaration will not be required. 

We will review the new information and decide whether the service provider continues to be fit and proper to hold a licence.

Given the range of unique circumstances that may be identified, all decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. 

Reusing the statutory declaration#

If you intend to use the statutory declaration in subsequent licence applications for other services you may own or operate, it should be no older than 3 months to be accepted.

Equity index number and sole trader declaration#

The equity index (EQI) measures the extent an early childhood service draws children from low socio-economic communities. The EQI is used to determine eligibility for Equity Funding.

The EQI is worked out on the basis of enrolled children’s addresses and information taken from the New Zealand Census 2006. The EQI for casual services is determined using the average for all other ECE services in the same area.

For sole traders, the equity index number is considered personal information, as it is information about an identifiable person (the sole trader). We must obtain consent from sole traders to disclose the equity index number relating to the services they operate. 

The information (your service’s equity index number) we seek to release does not contain other personal information. It is calculated based on the children attending your service at a service level. The privacy of the children and families using services is protected. Data is confidential and anonymous.

We intend to provide each service with their number once calculated. Decisions have yet to be made on publishing equity index numbers. If we decide to publish equity index numbers, we will seek your permission separately.

In the event you do not agree to the index number being released or withdraw your consent in the future, we will give you a bespoke equity index number for your service. This number may not accurately reflect the current circumstances of the children attending your service, which may affect your service’s entitlement to equity funding. 

Your consent will remain valid for the duration of your licence to operate your early childhood service. Should there be a change in ownership of your service to someone who intends to operate as a sole trader, we will seek a separate consent from the new owner when they apply for their licence.

How to send us your application#

You will need to:

• print the form
• sign it
• scan and email or post your completed form, along with other required documents, to your Ministry of Education regional office. 

You may like to keep a copy for your personal records.

Regional offices

If we need more information#

If we need more information from you, we will contact you and ask you to provide it to us within 10 working days.

We will start assessing your application once we have received all the required information and payment of the application fee.

Visit to your proposed service#

If you meet the requirements on the application form, we will contact you to make a time to visit your proposed service premises.

Before we arrive, set up your premises as if they are ready for children to attend. For example:

• The building works should be completed.
• The education programme should be ready.
• Furniture and equipment should be installed.
• Administrative systems should be in place. 

Make sure the service provider contact person, and any other staff you want to be there, can be there when we visit.

We will look at all aspects of your service, including:

• the building
• the children's resources
• teaching qualifications and ratio requirements
• health and safety considerations
• governance and management considerations.

We may take notes, photos, or other evidence to support our assessment.

For a full list of the areas we will check, and other documents you will need to provide, see the centre-based EC3 assessment tool. Ask your regional office for a copy.

How long it takes to get a decision#

The regulations require us to take all reasonable steps to make a decision within 30 working days of receiving your complete application. 

We need all information and payment of the application fee before we can start assessing your application.

See the relevant regulation.

Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008, Regulation 11 – Legislation New Zealand

If your application is successful#

If your application is successful, we will email or post you your licence. The licence shows details about your service, such as the hours children may attend and the number of children you are allowed to have.

The initial licence you receive may be issued for a lower maximum number of children than your service can be licensed for. The maximum number is determined by considering how many children are ready to enrol and your staffing numbers. 

As you increase enrolments and staffing, you can apply to increase your maximum number using an EC8 form. 

You must display your licence at your service for parents and visitors to see.

If your application is not successful#

We will let you know if your application is declined and provide the reason for that decision.