| Local authority and building sector buy-in to Building Act 2004 implementation
There is a risk that the outcomes being sought from implementing the Building Act 2004 are compromised or delayed as a result of insufficient stakeholder buy-in and capacity limitations.
The building and housing sector is operating at near-full capacity. The sector's capacity to participate in, implement and respond to major policy and regulatory change is limited.
The provisions of the Building Act 2004 are administered by territorial authorities. Their cooperation is necessary to effectively implement the provisions of the Building Act 2004.
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Working better with the sector
We have established a joint governance group with local government and the Building Officials Institute of New Zealand to ensure that we work with regulatory partners and key stakeholders in developing, testing and implementing policy and regulatory changes.We want to ensure:
- our interventions are practical and cost-effective
- the benefits outweigh the costs
- regulatory partners understand and work to their role in the regulatory framework
- the implementation timeframes result in a reasonable pace of change (given current sector capacity constraints).
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Working better with the sector
The Department worked with Local Government New Zealand and the Society of Local Government Managers to assist the Building Officials Institute of New Zealand to develop a national qualification for building officials.
An assistance package was put in place to support territorial authorities to prepare for the building consent authority accreditation and registration processes.
Engagement with other key stakeholders included representative bodies and industry practitioners to progress licensing of building practitioners.
The Department has carried out initial work to test the cost-effectiveness of its interventions. It has also participated in the Ministry of Economic Development-led Quality Regulation Review and, in so doing, has led a work programme to better integrate and coordinate consenting processes to provide more efficient and seamless services for consent applications.
Work with stakeholders has been a key element in the way the Department has implemented the Building Act 2004. In particular, stakeholders have been involved in design, development and implementation of new systems including: dam safety; licensed building practitioners; and building consent authority accreditation and registration.
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Respondents' behaviour arising from weathertightness claims liability
There is a risk that respondents will seek to delay resolving weathertightness claims because of the costs associated with their liabilities.
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Working better with the sector
We are engaging with local authorities and other respondents to develop a shared view on the long-run benefits of resolving weathertightness claims earlier.
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Working better with the sector
The Weathertight Homes Resolution Services Act 2006 (WHRS Act 2006) came into force from 1 April 2007. The new legislation introduced a suite of enhancements designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the WHRS process. These changes were developed and implemented by working with both claimant and respondent groups. A 3-year evaluation strategy was also developed to monitor whether the expected outcomes are being achieved. Continual feedback from these groups will be sought as part of this work.
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Consumer confidence
There is a risk that consumers will lose confidence in building-related dispute resolution processes. Confidence in the weathertight homes resolution process will be further tested by delays in the settlement process.
The leaky building issue highlighted the difficulties faced by homeowners in resolving building-related disputes. Consumers continue to face significant difficulties in enforcing their rights and gaining redress when buildings fail due to problems other than weathertightness. Building and housing transactions can be complex and involve significant knowledge imbalances between suppliers and consumers.
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Better awareness and understanding
Our consumer information campaign aims to ensure homeowners and prospective homeowners are aware of weathertightness issues and how these can be addressed.
More accessible and connected services
In addition we aim to foster consumer confidence through the improvements we are making to the weathertight homes resolution process.
More effective regulation and better building standards
The Building Act 2004 will provide more clearly defined rights and obligations, and improved building standards.
The social and economic policy implications of changes to the Building Code will be considered as part of the review.
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Better awareness and understanding and more accessible and connected services
The first year of a 2-year weathertightness consumer-awareness campaign was implemented in 2006/07.
The campaign was developed with the Consumers' Institute and focused on improving access to information for both owners and prospective buyers of homes. Significant enhancements were made to the ConsumerBuild website, new tools and checklists developed and general awareness- raising activities were undertaken.
As part of the WHRS Act 2006, information on all WHRS claims is now provided to territorial authorities, who are required to make this information available on Land Information Memoranda. This provides prospective home buyers with access to information to make informed decisions.
Changes to the process were designed to deliver better outcomes for leaky building homeowners, reduce the time taken to resolve disputes and lower the costs faced by both claimants and respondents. These changes included:
- more comprehensive assessment with the ability to claim both probable and actual damage
- strengthened case management for better advice and guidance for claimants
- authoritative dispute resolution, with the establishment of a specialist Weathertight Homes Tribunal and time-limited mediation
- expedited processes for the settlement of lower-value claims.
More effective regulation and better building standards
Significant progress has been made on the implementation of the new regulatory schemes introduced under the Building Act 2004:
- licensed building practitioners
- building consent authority accreditation and registration
- dam safety.
Extensive work was completed on the design of the Licensed Building Practitioner Scheme including approval of the Rules for the operation of the scheme.
The licensing regime and accreditation of building consent authorities will enable consumers to have greater confidence in the capability and skills of building practitioners, and the standard of building control functions at the local level.
The Department also progressed the review of the Building Code, to ensure buildings are fit for purpose, sustainable and perform well into the future. These changes are designed to ensure future consumers can have confidence in performance requirements.
The Department's statutory role in issuing determinations under the Building Act 2004 contributes to ensuring the integrity of the regulatory process.
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Housing affordability
There is a risk that rising property values in some areas (especially Auckland) place homeownership beyond the means of low- to middle-income earners. This means more families and older people are renting.
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Working better with the sector
We are working with Housing New Zealand Corporation and the Ministry for the Environment to ensure building and housing policies and regulations respond to trends in land use and urban design. We are also working to better understand the implications of policies and regulations for the supply of affordable housing.
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Working better with the sector
The Department worked with Housing New Zealand Corporation, the Ministry for the Environment and other departments in a supply-side overview group. The group worked on issues of housing affordability, regulatory mechanisms and related areas of housing policy.
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The built environment
There is a risk that the limited availability of land for development (especially in Auckland), and concern for the social and environmental effects of building and urban development, will result in higher-density housing. It may also result in an increased focus on the role of land use, planning and other regulatory interventions in supplying and developing new housing stock.
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More effective regulation and better building standards
The review of the Building Code is actively considering sustainable development, energy efficiency, and building quality and design issues.
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More effective regulation and better building standards
The review of the Building Code will support overall sustainability goals through planned performance requirements for buildings that will:
- enhance people's health, safety and wellbeing
- respond to and connect with the environment
- provide for the efficient 'whole of life' use of natural resources such as energy, water and construction materials
- contribute to economic and social wellbeing.
The Department has prioritised energy efficiency issues by developing changes to the current Building Code and Compliance Documents to promote higher performance requirements for house insulation, commercial lighting, the installation of solar water heaters, domestic water heating, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems.
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Implementing a wide-ranging reform programme
There is a risk that departmental capability and capacity constraints will compromise either:
- the implementation of the wide-ranging programme of reforms for which we are responsible, or
- the quality of our 'business as usual' services.
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Capability development
Our recruitment programme and investment in skills development is aimed at ensuring we acquire the necessary specialist skills, and will ensure we have the capability and capacity to deliver our core services.
We will continue to contract external resources to manage one-off or occasional peaks in workload associated with implementing reforms or new initiatives and to provide specialist skills where needed.
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Capability development
The Department has developed an organisational development system which specifically focuses on building individual and organisational capability.
The Department has put an Employee Engagement System in place. This system supports our ability to identify and recruit people with the capability required to support the Department in delivering our core services. It also supports individual capability development and effective transition to other roles within the Department.
We will continue to contract external resources to manage one-off or occasional peaks in workload associated with implementing reforms or new initiatives and to provide specialist skills where needed.
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