Easing of consent rules welcomed

Builders of portable cabins and sleepouts have welcomed a change to building rules intended to release some pressure on the consent process.

On Sunday Building and Construction Minister Jenny Salesa said she would scrap consents for low-risk building work to free up the construction sector for higher value work.

‘‘Single-storey detached buildings up to 30 square metres – such as sleepouts, sheds and greenhouses; carports; awnings; water storage bladders and others will now not require a councilapproved building consent, which will result in 9000 fewer consents to process a year,’’ she said.

However, the work must still meet the Building Code.

Skyline Garages managing director Chris Cook said the changes were unlikely to make much difference to garage builders like his, but might have an impact on builders of portable cabins, small DIY projects and even tiny houses.

‘‘At that size you’re probably talking a single garage and most people are looking for something more than that.’’

Anything that freed up the consenting process was a good thing, he said.

‘‘It’s one of our biggest issues, just the complexity of it all and staffing issues. And also it’s the thing we have to communicate back to customers the most and maybe sometimes they find it hard to comprehend the timeframes and what have you so sometimes that can be a bit difficult.’’

The exemptions are expected

Skyline Garagesmanaging director

kick in from August, after the Government had made changes to the Building Act.

Fiona Burke, managing director of Porirua-based Pencarrow Cabins, also welcomed the move.

Most of her cabins bar one were under 30sqm, but because she already used registered tradespeople, the changes would probably be more beneficial to her customers, ‘‘because they’ll save money and it does speed up the process’’.

She was still waiting for clarity on whether consents would be waived for buildings with a bathroom or kitchen if a registered plumber was used.

Auckland Council’s general manager of building consents Ian Mccormick confirmed if a building had cooking or sanitary facilities, it would still need a consent.

‘‘‘It’s one of our biggest issues, just the complexity of it all and staffing issues.’’ Chris Cook