Reforming the building consent system
The Government is investigating options for a major reform of the building consent system to improve efficiency and consistency across New Zealand, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says.
“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.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/reforming-building-consent-system
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