Annual Report 2004/2005

Chief Executive's Overview 

2004/05 - A new beginning

The 2004/05 year saw the start of a new era in terms of government services in the building and housing sector. The Department of Building and Housing was established on 1 November 2004, to consolidate a number of regulatory and dispute resolution functions. Bringing these roles together better connects policy development and operations, and allows us to develop a comprehensive range of resources, capability and expertise to assist the building and housing sector and the public.

In our first 8 months as the Department, we successfully combined functions from the Ministry of Housing, the Building Industry Authority, the Ministry of Economic Development and Housing New Zealand Corporation. We also put in place transition projects to transfer the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service and responsibility for the administration of the Retirement Villages Act on 1 July 2005.

Throughout this time we balanced the pressures associated with these transitions and transfers with the delivery of quality business-as-usual services and the requirement to undertake additional pieces of work. I believe we managed this balance well and as a result were able to deliver on a substantive work programme. This included the following.

• Processing around 8000 bond transactions a week and around 400,000 calls for tenancy and bond advice throughout the year.
• Undertaking a significant work programme to implement the Building Act 2004. This is a significant regulatory reform designed to ensure buildings are built right first time. It includes developing significant information for the building sector, building officials and consumers to assist the transition to the new Building Act, along with developing regulations and implementing some amendments to the Act. In addition, as part of implementing the Act, the Department has made substantial progress in the development of the product certification scheme, the Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme, the provisions for a building consent authority regime that will come into force in 2006/07 and the review of the Building Code, which is under way.
• Launching the ConsumerBuild website. This is the first of its kind for New Zealand. A joint initiative with Consumers' Institute, the website provides consumers involved in building with independently sourced, reliable information about the building process, their rights and responsibilities, and where to go if they have a problem.
• Introducing Language Line at Tenancy Service Centres. The service offers callers the ability to have an interpreter assist them, thus ensuring our services are accessible to people with English as a second language.
• Providing input into and advice on the New Zealand Housing Strategy, including work in support of sustainable housing supply.
• Providing input into and advice on home ownership initiatives.
• Managing the closure of private building certifiers.
• Progressing the Building Amendment Act 2005 to address some immediate issues arising during implementation of the Building Act 2004.
• Implementing Contact DBH - developing, and commencing implementation of, an integrated 0800 contact centre model for the Department's services.

We also started on the road to building the new and unified Department. An important step was the Managing for Outcomes work we undertook that culminated in determining the Overall Outcome we seek to achieve as a department: All New Zealanders have access to quality homes and buildings that meet their needs now and in the future. In determining this outcome, and the strategies we will use to contribute towards it, we were able to see how each of our business groups plays a vital role in working towards achieving a common goal.

There was also some work that had to be rescheduled because of resourcing issues, re-prioritisation of effort, or original work programmes being overly optimistic around time-frames.

Bringing together different groups of people and functions into one organisation is an exciting challenge. In the case of the Department, it is also a unique opportunity to make a real difference for the building and housing sector. We have a lot of work to do, but there is strong commitment to building a successful organisation that is effective and relevant to the sector.

In particular, I would like to thank the Department staff for their efforts during the year. I believe we have set a firm foundation from which we can grow in 2005/06. I look forward to meeting the challenges that lie ahead.

Katrina Bach
Chief Executive

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