Building Act 2004 BRANZ seminar series

The Department and BRANZ have delivered the largest building seminar series ever in New Zealand, presenting nearly 30 seminars to over 3700 people up and down New Zealand.

The seminars were for building industry professionals of all stripes - from owners and developers to design consultants, building officials, contractors and subcontractors, site overseers, building consultants and students. The intent was for the Department to provide insight into the policy intent of the Building Act 2004 along with the practical implications for the building and construction industry.

'It's obviously a huge piece of legislation,' commented Mike Stannard, Operations Manager of Building Controls, 'and it affects virtually everybody. It's crucial that everyone in the industry have access to the knowledge they need about the Act, and also that they can communicate the essentials to consumers if need be.'

After discussing the background and intent of the Building Act, the seminar programmes provided updates on various work-in-progress aspects.

• Licensing of building practitioners.
• Product Certification.
• Building Code review.
• Consumer protection initiatives.

In the 'open question' sections, everything from the details of BCA registration to liability for head flashing problems was raised, with questions ranging all the way across the new legislation.

'They've definitely been a workout,' said Department Adviser John Tait. 'But that's the whole point fronting up and answering people's questions about the Act.'

Mike Stannard agrees.'Our job is to make sure people know about the Act. We've got the websites ' www.consumerbuild.org.nz and www.dbh.govt.nz' consumer leaflets, industry booklets: these seminars are very much part of the overall strategy of the Department acting as an information resource.'

More seminars are planned in the future - see www.branz.co.nz for further details.