Building Act Review 2009
Why is the review happening and who will it affect?
As part of the Government’s regulatory reform programme, the Building Act 2004 is being reviewed in response to concerns from the public and the building and construction sector about:
- Implementation of the Building Act at council level
- The costs and complexity of the building consent process
- Delays and costs caused by councils being too risk-averse in the building consent process.
The aim of the review will be to reduce the costs associated with the building control
system in New Zealand, without compromising quality. The review seeks the following results:
- Quality homes and buildings produced through an efficient regulatory framework
- Informed decisions by consumers and confidence in the building and housing market
- A productive sector where homes and buildings are built using the right skills and knowledge
- An efficient and cost-effective regulatory system.
The review will look at the Act in its entirety, but particularly to see what could be changed to make building control cheaper and more efficient, for example:
- Removing building regulation that adds cost but is of little benefit
- Streamlining building consent requirements and reducing the amount of work requiring a consent
- Providing consumers with more information about their rights and responsibilities, and better systems for getting disputes resolved
- Greater incentives for quality performance of sector professionals
- Streamlining administration of building regulation
- How the use of smart technology could improve building consent processes.
Any changes to the Building Act 2004 as a result of the review will affect all New Zealanders, but particularly councils, building officials, practitioners and homeowners.
Terms of reference for the review are available:
- Click here for the full version
- Click here for the summary version