About us

The Department of Building and Housing's aim is to improve building quality and housing availability in New Zealand.

We assist everyone involved with buildings, whether they build, own, live or work in them.

We set standards so homes and buildings are better built, safer and healthier, without needlessly adding to the time and cost of building them.

We help landlords and tenants work together well, by giving them advice on what they should and shouldn't do, handling bonds, and settling any disputes quickly and fairly.

The Department is the Government agency responsible for helping New Zealanders affected by weathertightness problems. Our aim is to help people get their houses repaired. We manage the weathertight homes dispute resolution service and the leaky homes repair scheme.

The Department was set up in November 2004 to work with the sector as a whole, following a major review. Until then, five different government agencies had worked on building and housing issues.

Building and housing are very important to the economy as a whole, as well as to people’s daily lives. The sector contributes around $1 in every $25, and employs one in every twelve workers.

The Department works closely with others to deal with the longer-term challenges facing building and housing in New Zealand.

This includes lifting skill levels in the building sector, to help ensure there is no repeat of the leaky homes crisis.

The Department is responsible to the Minister for Building and Construction , Hon. Maurice Williamson, and the Minister of Housing Hon. Phil Heatley.