FAQ

Temporary Traffic Management. Officially: “The process of managing road users through or past a closure in a safe manner with minimal delay and inconvenience.”

The Traffic Management Plan describes how all road users — vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians — and the work crews will be kept safe on your worksite. It's a document describing the nature and extent of TTM at a worksite and how road users will be safely managed by TTM measures.

Depending on the size, duration, and location of the worksite, multiple TMPs (or one TMP with multiple diagrams) may be needed for different stages of the work. TMPs must include local authority requirements — how pedestrians, cyclists, and parking will be managed. Where regulatory parking or stopping areas are affected, planning may need extra consultation time.

Once approved, a copy of the TMP must be kept on the worksite and made available to anyone doing a site audit.

From the boundary on one side of the road to the boundary on the opposite side. The road reserve also includes an airspace of six metres directly above the road surface.

For the TTM Planner to craft a quality TMP that the RCA will approve, you'll need to provide:

• A detailed scope of works, construction plan, or similar.
• The type, quantity, and location of your work vehicles — for larger or specialised vehicles, how they arrive at and depart the worksite.
• Organisation name, contact person, phone, and email for the Principal the work is being done for (typically utilities like power, water, or telecommunications companies).
• The same details for the Bill Payer who'll pay the CAR fees — often the same organisation as the Principal, sometimes a different team, and often the same person for smaller organisations.
• The same details for the Contractor doing the actual work.
• A completed and signed A3 form (template available on request), detailing a plain-English description of the project, a breakdown of its significant stages — since TTM can vary stage to stage — and the planned duration and operating hours.

Some roads limit working hours — common near schools or at night — which can shrink your available window. We'll flag this if it applies to your site.

From there, the TTM Planner identifies what needs addressing, plans the closures and other considerations, resolves any conflicts, gathers any other pre-approval documentation (bus operators, traffic signals, parking services, noise control), and develops and submits the full TMP for approval.

A Corridor Access Request notifies the relevant local authority of your plans to work within the road corridor. It includes details of the work, timings and dates, and a Traffic Management Plan showing how you'll manage traffic flow for maximum safety and minimum disruption.

If the RCA approves it, they provide a stamped (“approved”) TMP and issue your organisation with a Work Access Permit — your authority to carry out the work.

If your project requires work anywhere within the road reserve, or is an event or activity that may disrupt the flow of traffic within the road reserve, you need a Corridor Access Request.

Before applying, we need to know whether your work involves excavation.

Excavation CAR — if you're breaking or damaging the surface of the road reserve (carriageways, footpaths, cycle lanes, berms), or placing a pipe, duct, pole, cabinet, or other structure below or on it.

Non-excavation CAR — if you're accessing existing infrastructure (cabinets, pits, manholes, poles), temporarily installing a construction loading zone, placing a skip or container in the road reserve, putting up scaffolding, using or parking machinery like cranes or cherry pickers, or applying for a full or partial closure (e.g. tree trimming).

Event CAR — if you're holding an event, protest, or parade that affects vehicle or pedestrian traffic.

TMP preparation varies with complexity — allow 5–10 working days as a guide. After that, the TMP is submitted on a CAR to the RCA, which typically takes:

• Local council, non-excavation jobs: 5 working days.
• Local council, excavation jobs, events, and helicopter lift jobs: 15 working days.
• Waka Kotahi NZTA, any type of work: 30 working days.

Example: accessing a manhole (non-excavation) within a council area — up to 10 working days for the TMP plus 5 for the CAR, 15 working days total.

Example: excavating in the shoulder of a state highway — up to 10 working days for the TMP plus 30 for the CAR, 40 working days total.

Once you have an approved TMP and WAP, State Highway works (and some councils) require a third step: booking a slot on their Road Works Report, to avoid clashing with other contractors' work. This is typically booked the week before you plan to start, usually on a Thursday — without a slot booked, you can't commence work.

The Road Controlling Authority — either the council (for local roads) or Waka Kotahi NZTA (for state highways). Depending on location and the work required, your project may sometimes need approval from both. The RCA approves the TMP and issues the Work Access Permit — once you have both, you can schedule your project to start.

When the RCA approves your Corridor Access Request, they issue a Work Access Permit — your formal approval to commence the project. The WAP lists the start and end dates of your project, which need to align with the dates on the TMP.

Each RCA charges a fee to cover the cost of processing the CAR — not just the initial submission, but any inspections, extensions, and warranty follow-ups. Roadcone Consultancy can't invoice you directly for these because the total isn't known at initial submission, so a person or team in your organisation is nominated as the Bill Payer and invoiced directly by the RCA. Check your local council's website for example CAR fees.

An excavation CAR carries a two-year warranty period, starting once “Work Complete” is signed off. Any issues the RCA raises within that period may come back to you, sometimes with additional processing fees.

The New Zealand Code of Practice for Temporary Traffic Management — a 567-page document covering the disciplines and requirements for TTM in New Zealand. As of September 2025, Waka Kotahi NZTA requires TMP submissions to use the New Zealand Guide to Temporary Traffic Management (NZGTTM) instead, which has all but replaced CoPTTM.

The New Zealand Guide to Temporary Traffic Management. From July 2026, most RCAs in the Wellington region will require TMP submissions to use it.

Some RCAs allow smaller-scale, repetitive works to run under a Parent / Child CAR arrangement. A Generic TMP is submitted on a Parent CAR with a number of Generic Traffic Management Diagrams covering multiple work situations — it outlines the task (e.g. sump replacement, tree maintenance, footpath rehabilitation) and any situations where it can't be used (a specific road, the CBD, certain hours). Generic TMPs are usually valid for 6–12 months.

Once approved, subsequent Child CARs can be submitted for specific worksites with a one-page Cover Note listing the Parent CAR reference, work location and type, dates, the Child CAR reference, the relevant Generic TMD reference numbers (for both attended and unattended states), any site-specific info (a nearby school, an affected bus route), copies of the required diagrams, and sign-off by a TTM Planner.

Our area of expertise is understanding and keeping up to date with the rules and regulations that govern working on and around the roads of New Zealand. Failure to comply with these regulations is a criminal offence. We help identify and outline the potential impact of your work and create a Traffic Management Plan, as part of the Corridor Access Request, that focuses on safety and compliance with all relevant regulations.

Depending on the scale and complexity of your project, you'll likely need to engage a dedicated TTM provider with the resources to implement the TMP — qualified staff, traffic trucks, signs, cones, and other safety equipment. Roadcone Consultancy doesn't supply TTM equipment, but we have good relationships with providers and can make recommendations.

Reminder: if your project needs a Road Works Report booking, that still has to happen before you can start — see “How long will it take” above.

Yes. Part of your Work Access Permit is a condition to advise the RCA that you've begun the works, by setting the Work Start date in Submitica. Anyone with access to your CAR submission can do this — or just contact us and we'll do it for you.

Yes. Part of your Work Access Permit is a condition to advise the RCA that you've completed the works, by setting the Work Complete date in Submitica — or contact us and we'll do it for you.

If your project involved any excavation, you must also provide compaction test results, photos of the permanent reinstatement, and a completed and signed A9 form (template available on request). These need to be uploaded to the CAR in Submitica so the RCA has visibility — easiest to email them to us and we'll upload them for you. This is what starts the two-year warranty period on your works; skipping it can mean re-inspection and late notice fees from the RCA.