5 Key findings of the review
The key findings of the review are recorded under each of the 18 parts of the review's terms of reference. This section also outlines the Department's recommendations and how the Council acted upon or responded to each recommendation.
1 - Organisational and management structure
Purpose
To summarise the Council's building control organisational and management structure and to identify any issues with its efficiency and effectiveness. This part of the review also considered how the Council delegates its legislative powers, duties and responsibilities.
Background
Section 232 of the Building Act covers the delegation of powers of territorial authorities. This section links to Schedule 7 of the Local Government Act 2002, which sets out local authorities' broad powers of delegation.
Findings
The Council's building control operation has a tiered structure (as set out in Figure 3 opposite), with eight distinct teams, including:
- Public Drainage Team - responsible for inspection and approval of public drainage and for investigating complaints relating to seepage
- Bylaws Team - responsible for approval of vehicle access and earthworks consents
- Complaints and Auditing Team - responsible for investigation of complaints, monitoring of building warrant of fitness compliance, and backflow compliance
- Five Building Teams - responsible for the delivery of building consent processing and building inspection functions. One team focuses on processing and inspections associated with larger commercial projects (major projects). The other four teams undertake the balance of building consent processing and inspection work, with each team generally being responsible for a particular geographical area.
The building teams comprise technical officers who specialise solely on processing or inspections, with one or two floating officers capable of undertaking both functions. The Council maintains a clear separation between its building, plumbing and drainage disciplines. The building control operation is supported by eight administration staff who are multi-skilled and able to provide cover in the event of staff absence.
Figure 3: Wellington City Council structure for building control
Conclusion
No specific recommendations were made under these terms of reference during the review.
The Department considers that the Council has an appropriate organisational and management structure for its building control operations, which enables it to fulfil its day-to-day statutory functions.
Human resources are discussed further under part 11 of the terms of reference.