Govt to make building law reforms
THE Government plans to cut red tape for prefabricated building processes, introduce minimal building product standards and reduce building levies by 13% as part of a major overhaul of building law.
Building and Construction Minister Jenny Salesa announced the changes in Auckland yesterday, but has held off making announcements around occupational regulation and building insurance that were also consulted on at the same time.
The Government has been reviewing the Building Act since last year after identifying several longstanding problems in the industry, which is New Zealand’s fourthlargest employer. The reforms will be the biggest in 15 years.
Changes to the prefabrication rules and standards for building products are expected to save New Zealanders up to $150 million over a decade because the new criteria will lead to less work being delayed or redone.
The changes to prefabrication rules will enable the mass factory production of highquality buildings, halve the number of inspections needed for prefabricated buildings, and reduce consenting requirements.
Ms Salesa says prefabrication should be the future of construction because it is faster. In New Zealand, just 10% of new homes are built offsite.
The Government also says it will introduce minimum requirements for information about building products.
‘‘Councils have told us this will help them better assess compliance with the Building Code. Delays in consenting cost a building owner around $1000 for each week of delays,’’ Salesa said.
The consultation document recognised it is quite common for builders to substitute products without applying for variations to consents.
Under the proposed rules, manufacturers and suppliers will be required to give a plain English description of products and information about how they should be installed and maintained. The existing product certification scheme, CodeMark, will also be improved.
MBIE estimates $1.5 million a year can be saved by builders installing products correctly, as inspection failures will be reduced.
The Government also decided the building levy, which developers pay to help fund MBIE’s administration of the law, should be reduced from $2.01 to $1.75 including GST per $1000 of consented building work above a threshold of $20,444 including GST. This means about $80 will be saved on the average newlybuilt house, and $5200 saved on a $20 million commercial project.
The levy change is expected to come into effect from mid2020. The other changes will require new legislation, and a Bill is slated to be tabled in the first half of next year.
Earlier this week, Ms Salesa said she was waiting for officials to advise her on reform of the Construction Contracts Act, which covers building retentions.