Good progress on initiatives to streamline the design and consent process

Recently Building and Construction Minister Shane Jones announced a number of decisions aimed at tackling housing affordability and reducing costs through streamlining the design and consent process.

The changes intended to streamline the consent process include:

• a Compliance Document for simple starter homes
• national multiple-use approvals for building work that is to be replicated on a large scale
• reducing the number of building projects that need a mandatory project information memorandum (PIM)
• simplifying the process for making amendments to building consents
• reducing the number of building projects that require a building consent, based on the level of risk involved.

Simple starter homes

The Compliance Document for simple starter homes draws together in a single document all the technical and compliance information needed to build a standard, simple, low-cost home.

Minister Jones called the document a 'horizontal cut' across the entire Building Code. This is the first time such a document has been available in New Zealand. The average New Zealand home is currently 200 m²; twice the historical size for a starter home. For a house of 120 m², independent costing based on this new Compliance Document put a total build as part of a group development at within $1,400 per m². Including allowances for double glazing, floor coverings and service connections of $9,000, a simple starter home could cost $177,000.

The trend towards larger homes and complex, one-off projects contributes to the rising cost of home ownership. It is expected that group builds based on the Compliance Document for simple starter homes will help get on top of this issue and encourage the construction of more affordable homes in volume.

The Minister has said that he 'hope[s] by facilitating the design and consent process for simple, modest homes we are able to send a signal to the market that will encourage construction of more affordable homes'.

In the future, the Compliance Document may be used as the prototype to develop Compliance Documents for whole buildings of different types. The Department of Building and Housing is currently consulting on this document which is available on our website at http://www.dbh.govt.nz/consulting-index

National 'multiple-use' approvals

National multiple-use approvals will streamline the consent process for building work that uses the same design and that will be replicated nationwide. This means developers and project managers can devote more time to the build itself. This will also make it easier to do the paperwork for major developments, so the work can get under way sooner.

The authority to issue national approvals will sit with the Department of Building and Housing.

Minister Jones said this is 'a fast track approach which should enhance our ability to provide starter homes to first-home buyers at a quicker and more affordable rate'.

Voluntary PIMs

Currently, all building projects require a project information memorandum (PIM) before work goes ahead. PIMs are applied for and provided before, or at the same time, as a building consent is issued, so that any possible issues are covered off at the very beginning of a project.

The Minister has pointed out that evidence suggests 'in order of less than 5%' of PIMs are applied for before a building consent application is made, which means the point of obtaining a PIM is often lost. In order to reduce costs, changes are under way to make getting a PIM voluntary.

PIMs would not disappear altogether. They would still be available (and often advisable) for owners and developers who wish to be absolutely sure they have 'dotted the Is' and 'crossed the Ts' before putting the foundations down.

Amendments to building consents

Changes to consented building work commonly occur during construction. Some changes are minor, while others are major and are likely to affect compliance with the Building Code. There are currently a range of approaches to managing amendments to building consents which sometimes adds unnecessary costs and delays to the building process.

Changes to the Building Act are being considered to distinguish between minor and major changes to consented building work. This would mean that there would be a clear basis for streamlining the process for making amendments to building consents. For example, if a change to consented building work is minor, a building consent applicant would not have to go back through the full building consent application process, therefore reducing time and costs.

The Minister has announced he will be introducing changes to the Building Act to give effect to the decisions relating to national multiple use approvals, voluntary PIMS and simplifying the process for managing amendments to building consents.

Reducing the number of building projects that require a building consent

A number of proposed additions to the list of building work that will no longer require a building consent are being worked into Schedule 1 of the Building Act. These include:

• removal/alteration of an internal wall with certain limitations, including that it does not affect the structural stability of the building
• alterations of dwellings for purposes of access for people with disabilities, including doorway modifications and access ramps, but excluding wet area accessible showers
• certain internal shop or office fitouts where the work does not modify, or require modifications to, amongst other things, any specified system or means of escape from fire
• increasing from 30 m² to 100 m² the size limit of tents and marquees where they are for private use and to 50 m² where they are intended for public assembly and not in use for more than one month.

With these changes in place, building consent authorities can be more specific about the kinds of building work that will not require a building consent and can apply these criteria to similar types of work. Additions to Schedule 1 of the Building Act do not require legislative amendment and can be made through regulation. These changes are expected to occur later in 2008. Other work is also continuing which is looking at ways to simplify consenting processes and includes research into the use of smart technology such as online consenting. Another idea is to have regional consent processing units which will pool expertise and improve the collection and sharing of information on building products and product performance.