August - September 2021
Residential construction reforms save time and improve quality control
CONSTRUCTION
Amendments to the Building Act seek to improve the efficiency and quality of building work and ensure that any problems are resolved fairly
One down and one to go The Building System Legislative Reform Programme is a series of legislative changes to the building system that will lift the efficiency and quality of building work, and provide fairer outcomes if things go wrong. It is hoped that streamlining and certification of various functions in the newly signed-off first phase will ensure standards, do away with an endless string of repetitive consents and substantially cut building times for residential homes. The changes are being progressed in two phases. Phase One, the Building (Building Products and Methods, Modular Components, and Other Matters) Amendment Bill, gained Royal Assent on 6 June. This bill is focused on improving the assurance system for building products, including CodeMark, and creating a voluntary certification scheme for modular component manufacturers (such as prefabrication and offsite manufacturing). Phase Two focuses on the professionals in the sector. It will progress reforms to occupational regulation of engineers and practitioners in the building and construction sector, so that people can have more confidence in these professions and their work. The first set of changes includes introducing a code of ethics for Licensed Buildings Practitioners, improving the efficiency of the licensing process, and the structure of the complaints and disciplinary model run by the Building Practitioners Board. Minister for Building and Construction, Poto Williams says the Government is committed to working with the sector to improve the occupational regulation of the various professions within the sector “as we continue to advance the biggest changes to the Building Act since its inception.”
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he bill introduces minimum information requirements about building products to “support better and more efficient decision-making and strengthen the product certification framework (CodeMark) to improve trust and confidence in the scheme.” The bill would ensure that products sold in New Zealand comply with the building code and establish a new manufacturer certification scheme for non-traditional methods of construction, such as modular components and off-site manufacture. It strengthens penalties for breaches of the requirements and creates new offences for noncompliance. The definitions of building products and building methods was not amended because “building products and building methods may evolve over time, and the regulation-making power would allow for this, without the need to return any legislation to Parliament.” Simply put, building product with various qualifications is defined as “a prod-
uct that could reasonably be expected to be used as a component of a building and building method means a method for using one or more products or things as part of building work”. Because a number of complex new regulations would be needed to implement some of the changes proposed by the bill, the final commencement date has been pushed out to 15 months except for range of amendments able to come into force with immediate effect. Under section 48 of the Building Act, the standard time limit for decisions on building consent applications is 20 working days, but this is shortened to 10 working days in specified circumstances. The 10-day time limit would apply when the building consisted entirely of a single modular component and had been manufactured by a single certified manufacturer. The new bill allows the introduction of a new voluntary manufacturer certification scheme for Modern Methods of Construction
