Submissions and community views on the Building Code Review

Safe, healthy and sustainable houses were some of the consistent themes when the Department sought community views and submissions on the future of the New Zealand Building Code.

Community views

In August this year, the Department of Building and Housing’s Building Code review team held 13 focus groups around New Zealand.

The purpose of the focus groups was to gather community feedback on the discussion document, Building for the 21st Century: Review of the Building Code. The Department sought an understanding of what ordinary people want from their homes and buildings and the Building Code. The focus groups helped us understand what priorities people set for the Building Code when balancing conflicting aims, such as energy efficiency features against affordability. Participants were encouraged to use their networks to promote feedback on the discussion document.

The focus groups reflected the diverse cultural, economic and social needs of building occupants. Participants from a range of local and national community groups and varying ethnicities were invited, and the focus groups were held in metro, provincial and rural locations. Discussions centred on the sustainable development and well-being aspects of buildings, being considerations required under the Building Act 2004. Helping us gain an appreciation of societal expectations in these areas, participants were asked to list sustainable development and energy efficiency initiatives.

They were asked to consider whether these were matters that should be regulated under the Code or left up to personal choice. Participants also discussed a comprehensive list of building wellbeing features and were asked to prioritise them.

The Department was delighted at the quality of dialogue and feedback that was achieved at the focus groups. The comments are in the process of being analysed but some of the consistent themes are already clear.

• Government taking a leadership role to encourage the wider use of sustainable development building practices.
• Ensuring that New Zealand buildings, and in particular homes, are safe and healthy for occupants.
• Improving the sustainability of homes by installing energy-efficient appliances, more efficient use of water systems, and recycling household and building waste.
• Making better use of sustainable energy sources at the domestic level, such as solar water-heating systems.
• Using universal design practices where possible to enable the physical independence of users.
• Maintaining performance-based standards so that building owners may exercise personal choice to achieve Building Code requirements.
• Considering region-specific climates and not taking a ‘one size fits all’ approach.
• Increasing the lifetime of buildings from the current standard of not less than 50 years.

Submissions

Wider public submissions on Building for the 21st Century closed at the end of August.

We received over 300 submissions; two-thirds of these were made online. Submitters ranged from individuals to industry groups and associations, and from councils to design professionals. The Department is now analysing the submissions and the findings will be published in a future edition of Codewords.

The comments made in these submissions and focus groups will guide the direction for a second discussion document, which will focus on specifi c performance criteria. The second discussion document is expected to be available for public comment in the first half of 2007.