Government plans to reform building consent system

During a speech to the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors this week, Minister of Building and Construction, Chris Penk, announced that the Government is going to be increasing housing growth. He said the two key areas the Government would be focusing on were reforming the building consent system and increasing competition for building products to bring down costs. One step the Government has already taken is removing the building consent for structures less than 60 sqm.

Penk has previously spoken to Metro News about the Government’s plans for building in New Zealand. He said his main goal was to make it easier for New Zealand to build and that his department would be working closely with other departments to make sure this is done. A builder in the South Island, who wanted to remain anonymous, believes the proposed increase in building will be great for small companies and people just trying to do renovations.

"Bringing competition to the market for building materials and products will make construction much cheaper and will help new companies get going.”

They hope the changes come soon as the building industry isn’t seeing the growth that the Government and builders want.

Penk said there would be more information about removing the red tape surrounding the building industry over the next 12 months. This will happen through changing how the multiple building consent authorities are run around the country.

The Government wants more consistency and productivity from these different authorities. Penk also wants to see the red tape surrounding importing new building products from overseas. He believes this will bring down the cost of products as there will be more competition between the different companies supplying materials. Penk said the Government would ensure quality with every item brought in and used.

Penk also told Metro News that the Government would eventually be looking into seismic protection and the regulations surrounding earthquake protection. He believes changing the stringent blanket regulations will allow more people to build renovate. Safety will still be the priority when it comes to changing these regulations according to Penk.

The focus for Penk at the moment is trying to increase housing growth and making it easier overall for Kiwis to build by making supplies cheaper and removing the red tape around rules and regulations.