Speedier consenting, new materials and competition are National's construction priorities
National plans to tackle New Zealand’s flawed construction and housing sectors by streamlining compliance and opening New Zealand up to a greater selection of materials.
In releasing the Better Building and Construction plan, National’s building and construction spokesperson Andrew Bayly said the sector, responsible for seven percent of GDP, faced productivity challenges from excessive regulation, worker shortages, disrupted supply chains and a severe boom-bust cycle.
Housing spokesperson Chris Bishop said it was one part of a wider plan to improve housing affordability in New Zealand, “National’s plan will streamline building consents to make construction more efficient, strengthen competition for building materials, ensure the sector can access the workers it needs with appropriate immigration settings and trades training, and support research and the use of technology to deliver better results.”
Key aspects of the plan include automatic approvals for building materials certified in Europe, British and American jurisdictions, accepting remote building consent applications and requiring code compliance certificates to be issued within five days.
The six-page plan said regulations governing construction materials were too rigid, leading to a breakdown in the building materials supply chain, such as the Gib crisis.
Newly introduced or developed products for use in high-risk areas such as bathrooms and roofing would still require testing by a small group of advisers.
Bishop said remote inspections using photo and video evidence were standard practice overseas and would drive substantial productivity gains, “Building inspections are a major bottleneck for construction that can leave contractors sitting idle for days waiting for an inspection.”
National also wants to look at standards to deliver a “seamless experience” across all councils.
Another aspect of building work monitoring mentioned was allowing plumbers, gas fitters and drain layers to self-certify works, like electricians, subject to independent inspection.
Other aspects include supporting access to skilled construction workers through apprenticeships and immigration settings, a review of the building code to consider complexity and builder credentials, transferring raising consents to specialist teams, a review of scaffolding rules and making the promotion of competition a goal of the regulatory system.
It also wants to address the issue of phoenix companies, where directors of failed companies start all over again while affected parties are left out of pocket.
“National’s plan will streamline building consents to make construction more efficient, strengthen competition for building materials, ensure the sector can access the workers it needs with appropriate immigration settings and trades training, and support research and the use of technology to deliver better results."
