Proposal for an owner builder exemption to the restricited building work regime: Background
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What is the restricted building work regime?
The Act requires restricted building work to be carried out or supervised by a licensed building practitioner. This requirement is in addition to getting a building consent and is to ensure the restricted building work complies with the Building Code.
The aim of the regime is to help ensure building work that is 'critical to the integrity' of a building meets the Building Code requirements. It does this by requiring all restricted building work to be done or supervised by a licensed building practitioner.
The detail of what will be restricted building work has not yet been developed. The earliest it could come into force would be 30 November 2010.
What effect does the restricted building work regime currently have on owner builders?
None yet. However, once the regime applies (at the earliest from 30 November 2010), owner builders will have to employ licensed building practitioners for any restricted building work that is part of the owner builder's project.
It is important to note restricted building work is only a limited part of all building work that is carried out. Traditional 'do it yourself' building work is unlikely to be restricted. New Zealand's DIY traditions have changed in recent years. Fewer people build their own home from scratch or do major building work on existing homes without involving a professional builder.
A lot of the work people do on their own homes does not even need a building consent, such as redecorating. When it comes to work that does need a consent, people rarely attempt to do the complex work that is likely to be restricted building work.
Recent research carried out by the Registered Master Builders Federation (the 'DIY and Building Supervision' survey by Colmar Brunton, June 2007) showed:
- 96% of New Zealanders agree with the statement that a building professional should oversee the building of a new home
- 93% of New Zealanders agree that adding a new room to an existing house should be overseen by a building professional
- New Zealanders consider 'DIY' work to be either painting or general maintenance and repair work.
In separate research carried out by the Department of Building and Housing, less than 2% of medium-high risk building work (the sort of work that may be restricted building work) was done by owner builders. This 2% is the work that will be covered by the proposed exemption.
Proposal
The Government has decided that having to employ (pay) licensed building practitioners is an unnecessary cost for owner builders. There is little history of problems with building work done by owner builders, so regulating their work may not be necessary to achieve the purpose of the Act. The Government would like to hear your views on the proposal for an exemption to the restricted building work regime for owner builders.
The exemption applies only to restricted building work. Owner builders will not be exempt from other requirements in the Act, such as getting a building consent and complying with the Building Code. Those requirements are the core aspects of building regulation and, for the health and safety of all New Zealanders, must apply to everyone who does building work.
The proposed exemption focuses on who is carrying out restricted building work. There are some other alternatives to the proposed exemption. These are described in Appendix 2 of this document. If you think one of the alternatives is better than what the Government is proposing, please tell us, and explain why you think so. We would also like you to tell us what you think the proposed exemption would be likely to cost you.
What is the purpose of the exemption?
The purpose of the exemption is to allow homeowners to do restricted building work on their own houses while still protecting future owners of the property. It also aims:
- to ensure owner builders do not face unnecessary costs when doing restricted building work on their own homes
- to ensure consumers (especially future owners of the house) are informed about who did restricted building work on the house
- to hold owner builders accountable for their work by providing warranties and documentation. This would protect consumers and prevent unlicensed builders using the owner builder exemption to do restricted building work.
What is the proposed exemption?
The restricted building work regime is set out in sections 84-88 of the Act. This includes the offences that would be committed if restricted building work is done or supervised by someone other than a licensed building practitioner. The relevant sections of the Act are in Appendix 3 of this document.
An exemption to the regime would work by allowing a defence to the restricted building work offences. For example, it could be a defence if someone can prove they are an owner builder. This means they would be able to do any restricted building work they choose.
The definition of an 'owner builder' will need to be covered in the Act. In the next section, we describe a number of things that would need to be proven, before someone can claim to be an 'owner builder'. Please give us your comments on each proposed element.