Technical review of the building control operations of Far North District Council summary report: Purpose of the technical review

Technical reviews help monitor the performance of BCAs and TAs and help them to fulfil their obligations under the Act. The review is a tool to help such organisations to:

• enhance the performance of their building control activities
• implement appropriate systems and processes so they can carry out their building control operations
• effectively fulfil their obligations under the Building Act and Building Regulations (including the Building Code).

Technical reviews also examine whether a TA or BCA has the appropriate operational systems and resources to enable its staff to undertake its building control work effectively and efficiently.

They are not intended to evaluate the performance of individual staff and are not comprehensive audits involving detailed examinations of all aspects of a TA or BCAs building control operations. Nor do they assess such organisations against a particular model or expressly measure them against the performance of other councils.

Legislative basis

This review is initiated under sections 204 and 276 of the Act. It is a function of the Chief Executive to monitor the performance of TAs and BCAs to determine whether they are properly exercising their powers and performing their building control functions.

During 2007, the Department received a number of complaints from building practitioners and the public relating to the Council's performance of its functions under the Act, in particular its statutory timeframes in relation to PIMs and building consent granting and issuing. During the investigation of the complaints, the Council developed procedures for improvement. This review was initiated to monitor the Council's implementation of those procedures and to provide recommendations for enhancing its overall performance.