16 - Case studies

Purpose

To undertake case studies of building consents that were completed within a 6-12 month period prior to the review, to assess the adequacy of the Council's building consent processing and inspection regime and to observe Building Code compliance assessment practices.

Background

The Department identified a number of building consents that had recently been processed and approved by the Council and had progressed to code compliance certificate stage (although sometimes case studies involve buildings that are still in the construction phase). These building consents were chosen to be typical of the building type that the Council deals with and also to involve compliance elements that are known to be difficult or high risk (such as access for people with disabilities, or weathertightness of monolithic claddings).

The findings of the case studies were used to support and reinforce the more general review findings discussed throughout the report.

Findings

The Department found that residential building work had generally been well inspected, with a reasonable level of compliance having been obtained. However, the Department identified some work that differed from the approved building consent documentation, which had insufficient information on the approval of that change.

In the case studies of commercial building work, the Department identified a number of areas where compliance with both the Building Code and the Building Act 2004 was not being consistently achieved. In particular, the Department found a number of examples of non-compliance with the accessibility requirements. The Department also found instances where mechanical services and fire requirementshad not been adequately addressed during inspections.

It was also not always possible to identify the scope of the work approved in the building consent, particularly where the consent reviewed formed part of a multiple-staged project. The Department considered that inspectors were not consistently and adequately following up observations and requirements made in previous inspections.

Recommendations to the Council	Response from the Council
Implement a robust on-site peer review process for building inspections.	The Council advises it has defined requirements for supervision of officers working outside their assessed competence, which include elements of on-site supervision.
Provide additional training for technical staff in regard to inspections and approval of mechanical services and fire design requirements.	The Council advises that: proposed alternative solution fire designs requiring peer review at the approval stage will also require sign-off from the fire design engineer prior to code compliance certificate issue proposed alternative solution designs for mechanical services require design engineer sign-off the new code compliance certificate checklist which is under development will require officers to check that all documentation has been received and is acceptable.
Monitor building consents prior to issue to ensure conditions imposed on building consents are relevant to the project, in particular required inspections.	The Council advises that required inspections are identified by officers when assessing building consents. They are checked by a senior officer prior to the consent being issued. The new code compliance certificate checklist which is currently being developed will require officers to confirm that all inspections noted in the building consent have taken place, or be able to demonstrate how compliance has been achieved in instances where inspections have been missed.
Monitor consents where code compliance certificates have been applied for to ensure documentation required in the building consent conditions has been obtained.	The new code compliance certificate checklist which is under development will require officers to check that all documentation has been received and is acceptable.
Monitor building inspection work to ensure any identified non-compliance is resolved and recorded in subsequent inspections.	The Council advises that inspectors are already required to check previous inspection notes and that previously identified items of non-compliance have been addressed, particularly prior to the issue of a code compliance certificate. The new code compliance certificate checklist will require the officer to record that this has been checked.

Conclusion

The Council is progressing work to implement all of the Department's recommendations.