No. 55 - Building Consent Authority Accreditation Assistance Package Update

21 February 2007: The Department of Building and Housing is pleased to announce that the funding allocation framework for the building consent authority accreditation assistance package has been established and a timetable is now available for the provision and disbursement of targeted assistance.

The Act 2004 requires that territorial authorities and regional authorities be registered as building consent authorities (BCAs) in order to undertake building consent processing, inspection, and approval functions after 30 November 2007.  Regional authorities are required to be registered before undertaking building control functions in relation to dams.  Private organisations that seek to undertake functions as a building consent authority are also required to be registered before they are able to undertake such functions. This aims to strengthen the critical consent and inspection part of the building process to provide greater consumer assurance.

The process involved in becoming approved as a building consent authority requires applicants to complete four steps:

1. Apply for registration as a building consent authority
   All territorial and regional authorities have currently applied.
2. Prepare to meet accreditation requirements
   These accreditation criteria and standards are prescribed in the Building (Accreditation of Building Consent Authorities) Regulations 2006. All authorities should currently be in this stage or looking to establish an alternative arrangement to meet their associated functions and obligations.
3. Apply for, and achieve, accreditation to be a Building Consent Authority through the Building Consent Accreditation Body: International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ). Several authorities have now started this process.
4. Apply to the Department of Building and Housing with the accreditation certificate, as certified by IANZ, for registration before 30 November 2007.

Accreditation is a system to ensure building consent authorities are competent and can perform their duties to a particular standard. To assist regional and territorial authorities in preparing for accreditation the Minister for Building and Construction announced an assistance package in October 2006. The assistance package of $3 million (GST exclusive) from the Building Levy was established to help local authorities develop resources and prepare for accreditation as building consent authorities.  $2.3 million is available in the year ending 30 June 2007, and the remaining $700,000 will be spread across the following two years.

An industry Steering Group has been established to manage the assistance package and its supporting activity. Members include:

• Local Government New Zealand
• Rodney District Council and Representative of forming BCA Group
• Building Officials Institute of New Zealand
• Palmerston North City Council
• Central Otago District Council
• Greater Wellington Regional Council
• Society of Local Government Managers
• Auckland City Council
• Department of Building and Housing

Funding framework

The following allocation framework was developed to assist, guide, and monitor territorial and regional authorities in their preparation to become accredited as building consent authorities, or establish alternative arrangements, before 30 November 2007.

This framework has been approved by the industry Steering Group. It takes into account:

• Consultation feedback
• Treasury and State Services Commission good practice funding principles
• Legislative parameters for use of Building levy funds and time constraints

Assistance	Description of Targeted Activity	Time Frame
Case Advisers	Each council will be offered a case adviser who will act as a dedicated point of contact to answer questions, provide guidance and advise throughout the preparation and application process, and support knowledge and resource dissemination. A case adviser has expertise and experience in quality systems development, implementation and project management within the local government and building sector. Each council will be offered a needs assessment, to be conducted by their case adviser. This will be a 1-3 day on-site exercise that works through a process of identifying, understanding, clarifying and verifying the individual needs of each council in its process of becoming prepared for accreditation as a building consent authority. This process will also identify possible opportunities for further funding assistance. This is not necessary if a region is looking at undertaking alternative building consent authority arrangements.	Case Advisers are available to provide assistance now
Next steps: Councils will be contacted by case advisers, introducing themselves and offering to arrange a time to meet and undertake needs assessments. If you are undertaking an alternative building consent authority arrangement (eg, transferring your building consent authority function), feel free to contact zoe.dryden@dbh.govt.nz to discuss other forms of support.
Workshops	A series of regional workshops will be held at regular intervals to provide councils with a question and answer forum, and work directly with the Department and IANZ staff; receive updates on any new resources and information, and participate in any requested training modules. At this stage two rounds of workshops are planned (March and May). Further workshops will be scheduled subject to the feedback from case advisers and requests from local authorities.	Start date: First workshop is 13th March 2007
Next steps: Councils will receive an initial workshop timetable for the March 2007 sessions, including itinerary and registration information. At this first workshop the framework for future sessions will be defined.
Project assistance	Funds will be available to support the provision of external resources to directly assist individual councils or clusters in their preparation as a building consent authority or establishment of alternative arrangements. The parameters of this assistance option are as follows: Eligible applicants: are external resource providers identified by regional or territorial authorities as preferred suppliers of resource, advice or support to meet identified project requirements. An application involves a submission by the beneficiary regional or territorial authority detailing the scope of the project and the preferred external resource provider. Eligible Projects: must have a feasible start and finish date for the local authority’s building consent authority accreditation by 30 November 2007 or be engaging in an alternative arrangement, and link to their most recent needs assessment or approved alternative assessment. Eligible costs: external expenses incurred in undertaking a project (for example, external contractor, advisor or consultant salaries and disbursements). Project values are likely to be $10,000-$50,000. Application process: an application brochure and form is available from your case adviser. The application form is a  simple 2-3 page project outline which is submitted via each case adviser.	Funding rounds will be conducted monthly, commencing March 2007.
Next steps: Councils will receive a communication package including application forms, eligibility criteria and other funding details. Funding rounds will be conducted at monthly intervals with case advisers assisting each application.

Key contact

Zoe Dryden, Project Manager,
BCA Accreditation Assistance Package
Department of Building and Housing
PO Box 10729, Wellington
zoe.dryden@dbh.govt.nz
0800 242 243 or 04 496 4745