How we will measure progress

The Department takes a three-tier approach to measuring progress towards outcomes.

• Outcome measures: The Department has reviewed its outcome measures as shown in the table on page 40. During the period covered by this Statement of Intent we will develop a comprehensive set of indicators that will provide the basis for assessing and reporting on progress towards achieving our intermediate outcomes. As these indicators are developed further, they will be included in future statements of intent. When considered together, they will provide a gauge of the overall outcome: The people of New Zealand have access to quality homes and buildings that meet their needs, reflect our environment and contribute to a sustainable New Zealand.
• Impact measures: We are developing and implementing our approaches to evaluation in order to measure the impact and cost-effectiveness of our interventions. Much of the Department's policy advice is not particularly suited to direct cost-effectiveness analysis (cost per unit of benefit obtained). Outcomes from specific policy or regulatory changes often do not have readily quantifiable measures of impact and are realised incrementally over a period of years from a cumulative series of interventions. This makes it difficult to define timeframes for assessing the level of success within the time period for this Statement of Intent. Cost-effectiveness is an important consideration in formulating policy advice on proposed interventions and is reflected in regulatory impact statements. Specific legislative changes, such as the Weathertightness Resolution Services Act 2006, the review of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 and the implementation of the Retirement Villages Act 2003, have specific monitoring and evaluation strategies. As we confirm suitable cost-effectiveness measures, we will include them in future statements of intent as required under section 40(d)(ii) of the Public Finance Act 1989.
• Output measures: The third tier will focus on measuring the delivery of our outputs. Progress will be reported and monitored regularly as agreed with our Ministers against our departmental output agreement.

Measuring our outcomes

If we are making progress towards our intermediate outcomes...

1. Buildings and homes that perform well in the New Zealand environment and contribute to sustainability
2. A strong, well-performing sector with skilled building and housing professionals
3. Homes and buildings that meet the changing needs of New Zealanders and contribute to strong, effective communities
4. Confident building and home owners, tenants and users that value well-designed, well-built, warm, safe, healthy homes and buildings

We should see...

• A framework for a new Building Code that emphasises adaptability and sustainability
• Increased take-up of energy efficiency products such as insulation and solar heating
• Increases in the ratio of licensed building practitioners to the total sector labour force between 2007 and 2010
• The development of measures of building quality using exisitng or emerging data around weathertightness, consents and determinations
• The development of measures of confidence using existing or emerging data on dispute resolution services
• Increases in the numbers of people taking up apprenticeships, education and training in the building sector
• Less rental turnover and increased length of tenure
• Improvements in the crowding index

Which will tell us...

• High performance standards are being set for sustainability and adpatability of new buildings
• Qualified and competent practitioners are working in the industry
• Practitioners are being held accountable for quality
• There is investment in capability and capacity by the sector
• Housing and building needs are increasingly being satisfied by building and housing performance
• People are increasingly aware of their obligations and rights