4 The review process

Review timeframe

Technical reviews are typically undertaken using a three-phase process, which usually takes approximately 18 months from start to finish.

Phase one: The Department undertakes an on-site initial review of the building consent authority's or territorial authority's building control operations and produces a report with recommendations. The organisation then provides feedback to the Department on the report and addresses recommendations made by the Department over the following 9-12 months.

Phase two: A follow-up review is usually undertaken 9-12 months after completion of phase one, which focuses on how the building consent authority or territorial authority has addressed recommendations from the initial review. A draft follow-up report is provided to the organisation so it can make a written submission on the final findings. Following consideration of any submissions, the follow-up review report is finalised and provided to the building consent authority or territorial authority.

Phase three: The review process is then completed by preparing a summary review report for publication on the Department's website.

The figure below shows the stages of the review process. In the case of Wellington City Council, the Department did not undertake a follow-up review (phase two of the process) because it considers that the issues identified in the review were not of a significant enough nature to warrant a follow-up review. The Department also considers that the recommendations made in the initial review are being adequately addressed by the Council and that greater benefit would be accrued from refocusing its activities on territorial authorities that have not undergone a recent review. This report is the summary report indicated in phase three for Wellington City Council.

Figure 1: Overview of the technical review process

Figure 1: Overview of the technical review process.

Investigative method

The Department measures a territorial authority's or building consent authority's performance using a number of methods including:

observing staff doing their work, both in the office and on site
reviewing written material used and produced by staff (eg, policies, procedures, inspection checklists and records, manuals and approved consent documentation)
interviewing staff about their use of material and their work
assessing a random sample of building projects (case studies) that have recently been, or are currently being, handled by the territorial authority or building consent authority.

Figure 2: Preparing for and conducting technical reviews

Figure 2: Preparing for and conducting technical reviews.

Stage 2: conducting reviews.

The August 2006 on-site visit to Wellington City Council was undertaken over a 5-day period using a six-person team. This provided a snapshot of the Council's building control operations at this point in time. The Department looked at the processes undertaken in processing and approving building consents, and undertaking inspections, including those that had recently been completed and had code compliance certificates issued. These case studies were selected randomly.

Terms of reference

The table below sets out the terms of reference that form the basis for the technical review.