Findings of the review

Criterion 12 - Technical knowledge and ability of staff

Purpose

To examine the collective technical knowledge and ability of the Building Control Team about the Building Act, Building Regulations and the Building Code, and to examine staff training provisions.

Background

Building control has become more scientifically complex, as new building materials and building systems gain wider use, as safety provisions become more comprehensive, and as housing density increases. Construction methods now allow for smaller margins of error and the technical knowledge and expertise of building control staff must increase with that trend.

Initial review

The initial review found that the collective technical competency, skills and experience of the Council's Building Control Team needed to be strengthened. Case studies undertaken by the Department highlighted the following issues.

• Compliance with the Building Code for commercial buildings was not being achieved in building consent processing and on-site inspections (fire and accessibility compliance were noted as two important areas needing improvement).
• Weathertightness compliance required considerable attention through a greater focus on better-quality documentation.
• The assessment of alternative solutions, and consequent decision-making, needed to be better recorded.

The Department considered that the Council's level of technical knowledge and ability was inadequate for the type of building construction that was beginning to appear on a greater scale in the area (eg, large commercial complexes and architecturally designed, monolithic-clad housing).

Recommendations to the Council	Action taken by the Council before the follow-up review
Encourage all technical staff to attend refresher Barrier Free accessibility courses.	Technical staff attended refresher courses with the Barrier Free Trust.
Seek additional training in weathertightness compliance and adopt a peer-review process for checking this aspect of compliance.	Building officers attended BRANZ weathertightness seminars.
Enable the compliance officer to attend the BRANZ Certificate in Building Control course, which is aimed at his level of technical knowledge.	The compliance officer attended the 2-week BRANZ Construction Industry Training Enterprise building control course.
Enable the senior building inspector to attend the Fire Safety (C) Compliance Documents refresher course.	The senior building inspector has not attended this refresher course.
Enable several building control staff to attend the BOINZ National Training Conference.	The Council advised that two Building Control Team staff per annum attend the BOINZ conference and the senior building inspector also attends the BOINZ senior building officers' forum annually. All staff attend local BRANZ and industry seminars wherever possible. Two Building Control Team staff attended accessibility training.

Follow-up review

The follow-up review identified some improvement in the technical adequacy of building consent processing and inspections since the initial review was undertaken in December 2003, particularly in the areas of weathertightness and accessibility compliance. However, the Department found several technical areas of regulatory building control still required significant improvement. These included recognising and assessing alternative solutions, waivers and modifications of the Building Code and other areas identified in the review report.

The Department also expressed concern at the available staff training budget, especially given the Council's distance from most training opportunities, and the associated travel and accommodation costs involved in attending training in New Zealand's major cities.

Recommendations to the Council	Response from the Council
Be proactive in encouraging and supporting staff to participate in continued professional development.	The Council advised it has dedicated a specific 2006/07 budget for training building control and administrative support staff. This level of investment is 50 percent higher than in 2005/06 and 70 percent higher than in 2004/05 and was achieved as part of the recent Long Term Council Community Plan process, despite a strong desire from some stakeholders for there to be no rates increase. Wherever possible, costs are saved by sharing accommodation and using discount travel. The Council also noted that its building control operations only recover about 70 percent of costs and there was a 3.7 percent rates increase for this financial year.
Develop the technical knowledge of staff in the key areas identified throughout the review report.	The Council advises it is actively supporting staff in extending their knowledge. However, with resourcing constraints, managing the workload to support training time is difficult and impacts on meeting statutory deadlines. Additional guidance is sought from the Department of Building and Housing on the nature of training courses and eventual qualification requirements to help with identifying suitable training.

Conclusion

The Department notes the Council's progress in implementing its recommendations and considers that it has been proactive in sending building control staff to appropriate training courses. We consider it vital that the Council continue to provide external training opportunities for its staff and consider other training options such as mentoring or contracting in specialists who can provide training specific to the Council's needs (eg, New Zealand Building Inspection Training, Building Networks, BRANZ CITE and BOINZ Training Academy).

The Department suggests that the main areas where continued technical training should be undertaken are:

• plumbing and drainage compliance
• fire compliance
• structural compliance
• weathertightness compliance
• building control legislation.

Specific training opportunities are supplied by several organisations in the industry, including BRANZ Construction Industry Training Enterprise. Courses on offer include:

• access, egress and barriers (covering Clauses C2, D1 and F4 of the Building Code)
• building controls (introductory courses for inexperienced building officials)
• fire design
• weathertight design
• plumbing inspection.

Further information on these courses can be obtained from the BRANZ website 

The Building Officials Institute of New Zealand offers a number of training courses in building control. Further information is available on the Building Officials Institute of New Zealand website

Standards New Zealand offers a number of training courses. Further information is available on the Standards New Zealand website

The Department of Building and Housing offers seminars in building compliance when new Compliance Documents are released. Further information is published in its Codewords publication and online.