How to Report a Pothole in Auckland (2026 Guide)
- PotholeExpert
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
If the pothole is on a public road, Auckland Transport fixes it — you report it on the AT website and they handle the rest. If it's on a driveway, a body-corp road, or a private carpark, AT can't help and the property owner pays. This page walks through both paths so you know which one you're on, how long things take, and what your options are when the pothole isn't AT's problem.
Whose pothole is it?
Most of the potholes Aucklanders run into every day aren't on AT roads at all. They're on private property — driveways, body-corp roads, apartment carparks, supermarket forecourts, school grounds, business yards. AT can't legally repair those, even when residents report them. The bill lands on the property owner.
We're working on a data study to put a real number on the public-vs-private split for Auckland — combining AT's official pothole report data with what we see across the private-property jobs we quote each month. We'll publish that in mid-2026. In the meantime, this page covers what to do regardless of which side of the kerb the pothole is on.
Use this list to work out who's responsible before you do anything else:
Public road, footpath, kerb → Auckland Transport → Report it to AT (steps below)
Public on-street parking → Auckland Transport → Report it to AT
Your driveway → You (the homeowner) → Get a quote, or check your house insurance for vehicle damage
Shared driveway (cross-lease) → All title holders together → Talk to your neighbour first, then split the quote
Body-corporate road or driveway → The body corporate → Email the body-corp manager or chair
Apartment basement carpark → The body corporate → Same — body-corp committee approves repairs
Private commercial carpark (mall, business) → The property owner or lessee → Building owner or centre management
Service station forecourt → The site operator → The franchisee or owner-operator
School, hospital, church grounds → The institution → Their facilities or property team
Quick way to tell: stand at the kerb. Anything between the kerb and the white line is almost always AT. Anything past the kerb on someone's property is almost always private.
If you'd rather just answer one question and get sent to the right place, use our triage tool.
How to report a pothole to Auckland Transport
If you've worked out it's a public-road pothole, this is the AT process. It takes about three minutes.
Go to AT's Pothole Promise page at at.govt.nz/potholepromise. This is AT's dedicated reporting channel for potholes and road damage.
Pin the location on the map. This is more accurate than the address field — AT crews use the map pin to find the spot. Drop the pin right on the pothole, not at the front door of the nearest house.
Upload two or three photos. Include something for scale — your shoe, a phone, a $2 coin. AT triages by severity, and the photos do the talking.
Add the depth and width if you can measure it safely.
Add your email address. AT now requires this so they can confirm receipt and update you when the repair is scheduled.
Submit and save the reference number. AT emails it back to you. Keep it — you'll need it if you have to chase the report later.
If you'd rather phone, AT's contact number is (09) 355 3553, but the online form gets the report into the right queue faster.
A tip from experience: if you've reported the same pothole twice and nothing's happened, escalate to your local board member. AT prioritises by traffic volume and repeat-report count, so a councillor's nudge moves things along. You can find your local board and contacts at aucklandcouncil.govt.nz.
What to do when the pothole is on private property
This is where most Aucklanders get stuck. AT closes the report, the pothole stays, and nobody knows whose job it is. Here's how it actually works.
It's on your driveway
It's yours. Repair cost is on you. A standard residential driveway pothole runs $450 to $900 depending on size and access. Same-day quotes are doable from a photo — most reputable repairers (us included) won't make you wait a week for someone to come out and look at it.
If the pothole has already damaged your car — bent rim, blown tyre, broken suspension — your house or car insurance may cover the vehicle repair. The pothole repair itself isn't covered, but the car damage often is. Worth a phone call to your insurer before you pay out of pocket.
It's on a body-corporate road or shared driveway
Body-corp territory. Raise it with the body-corp manager or chair — most send the request to a maintenance committee, who decide whether it goes through the maintenance fund or needs a special levy.
Body corps usually have a dollar threshold (often $1,000 or $2,000) under which the chair can approve a repair without a full committee vote. Most pothole repairs sit under that threshold, which means it can move quickly if you ask the chair directly.
Don't let it sit through winter. A pothole that's $450 in autumn becomes $1,200 in spring once water has worked the edges out. Body corps lose more money to deferred maintenance than to any other line item.
It's in your business carpark
Two issues here, not one. The first is the repair itself — the building owner or lease holder pays, depending on what the lease says. Read the maintenance clause. Many commercial leases put exterior repair on the landlord and interior on the tenant, with the carpark sometimes on either.
The second is public liability. A pothole in a customer carpark isn't just a maintenance problem; it's a trip and tyre-damage risk that lands on the business if something happens. Document the date you first noticed it, get the repair quote in writing, and tell your insurer. If a customer trips and you can show you'd already booked the repair, you're in a much better position than if the pothole sat unaddressed for six months.
How long does Auckland Transport take to fix a pothole?
This is the question we get asked more than any other. AT publishes a Pothole Promise with two clear targets, measured from the time a report is received: arterial and high-volume regional roads are repaired within 24 hours, and other sealed roads are repaired within 5 working days.
Those are AT's published commitments — the actual median against those targets varies by season, weather, and contractor capacity. We'll publish a fuller analysis once Auckland Transport has responded to our official information request on 2024–2026 pothole data.
Common questions
Who is responsible for fixing potholes in Auckland?
Auckland Transport fixes potholes on public roads, footpaths, kerbs, and on-street parking. Property owners are responsible for potholes on driveways, body-corp roads, private carparks, and any other private land. From what we see across the private-property repairs we quote each month, the second category is the bigger of the two.
How long does Auckland Transport take to fix a pothole?
AT's published Pothole Promise commits to repair within 24 hours on arterial and high-volume regional roads, and within 5 working days on other sealed roads.
What if the pothole is on my driveway?
You're responsible for the repair. Quotes from a photo are widely available — there's no need to wait for a site visit on a standard residential driveway pothole. Costs run from $450 to $900 depending on size and access.
Who fixes potholes in body-corporate carparks and roads?
The body corporate, through its maintenance fund. Most chairs can approve repairs under their dollar threshold (often $1,000 or $2,000) without a full committee vote.
Does Auckland Council fix potholes, or is it Auckland Transport?
Auckland Transport. Auckland Council and Auckland Transport are separate organisations — AT is a council-controlled organisation that handles roads, public transport, parking, and footpaths.
Need a private-property pothole fixed?
Rapidpatch covers private property across Auckland — driveways, carparks, body-corp roads, commercial yards. Fixed-price quotes from a photo within 24 hours, repairs within 48. We've been at this since 2004.
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