Cutting red tape and addressing longstanding concerns over delays and inefficiencies are among the drivers of a dive into building consent system reform.
New Zealand’s building consent processes look set for a major overhaul after the Government announced a new programme of work to investigate significant reform, aiming to address longstanding concerns about delays, inconsistencies, and the overall efficiency of the building consents system.
“The aim is to drive consistency, certainty and efficiency, making it clearer and easier for Kiwis to build,” the Government announced in a statement in early October.
It said that it has agreed to investigate significant reform of the building consent system in Aotearoa New Zealand. Stating, “MBIE will now progress work to identify the best way to deliver consenting services in Aotearoa New Zealand.”
Initial ideas outlined include developing a new Building Consent Authority (BCA) structure, liability settings and the role of private insurance in the consent system, the Building Performance Team unveiled.
“We are at the very beginning of what will be a long-term, strategic and thorough work programme. With changes this significant, it is important we take our time and get it right.
“We are starting off by talking with those who work within the building system about the potential options to improve the building consent system and listening to any new innovative ideas they have. This is an opportunity to collaborate and re-imagine a core part of our building system to make sure it works for us now and into the future.
“We will use the information from our discussions to prepare further advice for the Building and Construction Minister with the aim of conducting a public consultation on options for change in the first half of 2025.”
Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk outlined some of the reasons for the need for reform.
“New Zealand has some of the least affordable housing in the world, which has dire social and economic implications. At the heart of the issue is unreasonably high building costs and a cumbersome consenting system which saps productivity and disincentivises growth and development.
“The building consent system is intended to protect homeowners from defective building work by requiring work to be inspected and consented by a Building Consent Authority (BCA).
“There are currently 67 BCAs across the country, each with different practices and approaches. We have a single building code that is supposed to apply consistently to all building work nationally. However, there are many instances of builders submitting the exact same plans to different BCAs and finding considerable additional costs and delays result from differing interpretations of the building code.
“This is especially challenging for large scale home builders and off-site manufacturers, along with modular and prefab builders, who work across regional boundaries. For example, in a recent survey of Master Builders Association members 80 per cent reported having to deal with multiple BCAs, and 66 per cent experienced delays.
“That’s why we are beginning discussion on options to replace the current BCA system.”
He said the aim is to establish a more consistent and streamlined model, with options including:
Voluntary consolidation – allowing councils to group together to deliver building control functions. There are already a number of councils who are pooling some resources but barriers exist to full integration. This approach focuses on removing these barriers.
Regional BCAs – establishing a smaller number of relatively large regional BCAs to replace the current 66 district and city council BCAs. This approach focuses on improving consistency and forming entities with the critical mass to drive economies of scale.
Single point of contact – setting up a single point of contact for builders to submit plans to. Building inspection may be contracted out to existing BCAs or private consenting providers, creating competition and encouraging specialisation.
Penk said, “We are looking forward to receiving feedback from the sector and welcome suggestions for additional or hybrid options to deliver the desired outcomes.
“As part of this work the Government will be looking at liability settings across the whole building system.
“Under the current settings, councils and their ratepayers are liable for defective work. Joint and several liability means councils can be ‘the last person standing’ available to foot the bill when things go wrong. This creates a highly conservative and risk averse approach, which contributes cost and draws out deadlines.
“This work is in addition to reforms already underway to improve the existing building consent process, such as making it easier to build granny flats by removing consent requirements, increasing the uptake of remote inspections and removing barriers for the use of overseas building products.”
