Independent reviews
August 2010
Independent reviews
As part of the Building Act Review, independent assessments were carried out in two areas where new provisions were due to come into effect in 2010 - the Dam Safety Scheme and Section 363B.
Dam Safety Scheme Review
The proposed Dam Safety scheme is being amended.
The Building Act 2004 provides for a national regulatory risk management scheme for large dams in New Zealand, the Dam Safety Scheme. This was due to come into effect on 1 July 2010 but the Government decided to conduct a “health check” on the practicality of the requirements as part of the Building Act review.
The start date has now been deferred to allow amendments to be made, to make the scheme more effective and efficient.
The Dam Safety Scheme Review was conducted by engineer and project management specialist Bruce McLean.
The Dam Safety Review report is available here [PDF 177 KB, 33 pages]
A media release on the report is available here
The Dam Safety review Terms of Reference are available here.
Section 363B review
Section 363B of the Building Act 2004 required owners of public buildings where building work for which a building consent was required was undertaken between 1 July 1992 and 31 March 2005 to ensure they have a code compliance certificate, a certificate of acceptance (if the Council is unable or refuses to issue a code compliance certificate) or a certificate for public use (if the work has not been completed) by 31 March 2010.
An independent review considered whether this was the most effective and efficient means of indentifying and addressing risks to public health and safety from uncertified building work undertaken prior to the enactment of the Building Act 2004.
The Government has decided to repeal Section 363B as it considers there are other controls in place that address this potential risk.
The Section 363B Review was conducted by risk management specialist Roger Estall.