Fewer delays in homes being built is proving to be the outcome of quicker processing times of building determinations.
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says.
“New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will not only mean more Kiwis can enjoy the benefits of a warm dry home, but it will also grow the economy and create well-paying jobs.
“If a builder disagrees with a council decision, they can apply for a determination from MBIE to resolve the issue and make a legally binding decision on whether the building work complies.
“Despite their importance, in September 2023 applications had been waiting for 500 days on average for a decision. These delays are not only immensely frustrating, but they create uncertainty, lower confidence and add costs, all of which gets in the way of building the homes this country desperately needs.
“However, following a clearer focus on the basics, there has been a significant improvement in processing times over the last 12 months, with the average number of days reducing by 80% from 516 days in September 2023 to 111 days in November 2024.
“These improvements have also been achieved with an increased number of applications received and while there is still more work to be done to reduce these times further these improvements mean Kiwis can get on with building.
“MBIE has made a number of recent changes to drive improvement, including finding efficiencies in their processes and targeting the oldest cases, which are often very complex with multiple issues.
“The building and construction sector has a central part to play in rebuilding the economy and that’s why this Government is laser focused on reducing delays across the board."
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says.
“In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies so we can get Kiwi families into quality, affordable homes, more quickly,” Penk says.
“Key to this, is unblocking the cumbersome consent system which saps productivity by adding time and delays to building.
“The Building Act has a statutory timeframe requiring building consents to be processed and a decision made within 20 working days, however feedback from builders on the ground is that it normally takes far longer.
“In an effort to drive accountability and transparency, in April I directed MBIE to publish data from Building Consent Authorities (BCAs) on how quickly they process building consents. Unbelievably, before this time there was no consistent nationwide data on building consent timeframes.
“I am pleased that new data published this quarter shows that 92 per cent of building consent applications were processed within the statutory timeframe. This is up from 88 per cent when reporting started in Q1 2024.
“Most BCAs that were less consistent in meeting the statutory timeframe at the start of the year have also shown improvement, with 42 of the 69 BCAs lifting their performance.
“While this is a step in the right direction the actual time it takes to process a consent is often longer than the statutory timeframe because BCAs can ‘stop the clock’ by requesting further information about a consent application.
A recent report found it took on average nearly 19 days to process a building consent in Auckland and nearly 21 days in Tauranga. But when requests for information were accounted for, processing times skyrocketed to nearly 55 days in Auckland and nearly 40 days in Tauranga.
“The same report estimates that delays caused by ‘stopping the clock’ through requests for information costs more than $1 billion dollars a year and equates to half a million days lost,” says Penk.
“This is clearly unacceptable. I understand that often designers submit incomplete applications which triggers a genuine request for information and I am keen to understand why this is occurring and I have directed my officials to see what more can be done to reduce overall processing times.
“The Government has an ambitious plan to streamline the building consent system and improve building productivity. While there’s still room for improvement, it’s encouraging to see that the added scrutiny of publishing of building consent data is having some effect on processing times.”
