BCA Accreditation and Registration project update
The building consent authority (BCA) accreditation and registration project is a workstream to design, develop, and implement an accreditation and registration regime for building control in New Zealand (as required by the Building Act 2004).
The project is made up of two key workstreams: accreditation and registration. Over the past three months, good progress has been made in both.
Development of the prescribed standards and criteria for accreditation
The Department has completed the first consultation round on the proposed standards and criteria that applicant organisations would have to meet in order to be accredited as a BCA. These are being further refined by a Departmental working group following sector feedback on the Department's discussion document Proposed Accreditation Requirements for BCAs.
A further round of consultation on the prescribed standards and criteria is planned for mid-2005 and will focus on the general content of the standards.
The development of scheme rules and operational accreditation assessment processes
The Department is continuing to develop the operational processes required to drive the BCA accreditation and registration regime. Policy work is being completed on the high-level processes that organisations will have to go through in order to be accredited, such as processes for the application, assessment, granting of accreditation, for fees payable, for ongoing monitoring, and for the revocation of accreditation.
Detailed analysis is also continuing on the development of specific processes for use by building consent accreditation body staff when assessing applicant BCAs for accreditation.
The quality assurance system template
The Department has developed a Quality Assurance System Template to assist applicant BCAs in preparing to meet the proposed QA components of the accreditation regime. A draft of the final Template is currently being reviewed by a range of external stakeholders. Once published, applicant BCAs will be able to use material from the Template to assess the quality of their QA processes and, if necessary, adapt best practice processes into their current QA systems.
Implementation support
Department staff continue to meet with stakeholders to discuss the BCA accreditation and registration regime. Recent discussions have focused on the establishment of shared service delivery options for BCA accreditation. Officials participated in workshops at the BOINZ 2005 annual conference to discuss the implementation of the BCA accreditation and registration regime.
The Department is developing several guidance documents on implementation issues of interest to potential applicant BCAs. Most recently, the Department has developed a paper outlining possible models of shared service agreements for potential applicant BCAs to consider when preparing for accreditation. This is due for publication shortly.
Registration workstreams
While much of the Department's focus has been on the BCA accreditation workstream, policy development is occurring on the registration components of the regime, particularly with regard to the criteria that accredited BCAs would need to meet in order to be registered (eg, holding a current certificate of accreditation, having adequate means to cover any civil liabilities that may arise in the performance of the functions of a BCA, or conflict of interest declarations).
Stakeholders will be provided with opportunities to comment on any registration-related proposals in due course.
Education
The Department has initiated arrangements for the development and delivery of a new national diploma specifically designed for people who work in the regulatory building control sector.
The development of this qualification recognises that people who work in the building controls sector require a unique and specialised set of skills and knowledge to perform their duties. In the future, the new national diploma will be introduced as a pre-requisite for work as a building official in a BCA.