Goldsmith Paul: Building Amendment Bill (No 4) — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Goldsmith Paul: Building Amendment Bill (No 4) — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 01 May 2012. Volume:679;Page:1836. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) 
: 
 I am very glad to reassure the member who has just resumed his seat Gareth Hughes that we are indeed working towards a brighter future for all New Zealanders not just for the people he mentioned. I am very happy to speak in favour of the Building Amendment Bill (No 4) and I agree with Lianne Dalziel that it is indeed important legislation and worth careful consideration at the select committee. I am looking forward to that opportunity.  
This bill is about productivity and consumer protection in particular. We have heard many lamentations about housing affordability and that is a serious issue for New Zealanders. There are lots or reasons lying behind that. I always find it intriguing particularly when the Greens are concerned about housing affordability as they are very much on the side of those in councils who are very determined to limit the amount of land that can be used for building houses which is one of the biggest drivers of housing unaffordability in this country. You cannot have it both ways. But certainly the building sector needs to be more efficient and that is one element of the costly housing that we have in New Zealand.  
This bill does a number of things and I will not go into everything. Unlike the regulators over there in New Zealand First I am very pleased to see schedule 1 listing a number of things that do not require consents. I think we should strike a blow for liberty from time to time and the ability to build a retaining wall up to 1.5 metres on your property without having to go through hoops of fire seems to be a good idea to me.  
The mischief that this bill is really focused on trying to deal with is the extremely risk-averse behaviour that is rife throughout the building industry which is due in large measure to the leaky homes crisis which has indeed been a terrible blight on many families and many house owners around the country. I have certainly renovated my house a couple of times in recent years and have seen tens of thousands of dollars added to the bill for apparently little benefit aside from ticking boxes required by local government. I remember joking to one of the builders in my house that I did not actually need to land a helicopter on top and that all this wood was perhaps not necessary. But that is the kind of— 
Hon Member 
: John Banks might come and visit. 
PAUL GOLDSMITH 
: There was nobody else involved I am bound to say. This bill focuses on consumer protection. The problem is that frequently there is no formal written contract setting out the nature of the agreement and the rights and obligations of each party. Many consumers and builders are unaware of the implicit warranties. It is difficult and costly for consumers to hold practitioners to account and the consumer has little leverage over the practitioner once building work has been paid for. There is little incentive for the practitioner to repair defective work or pay compensation. These issues are exacerbated very much by the fact that some developers and designers and builders actively manage or set up shelf companies in order to get around a liability.  
So an important part of the bill is implementing the policy decisions about introducing enhanced and more comprehensive consumer protection measures including mandatory written contracts for work valued over a prescribed amount and mandatory disclosure of certain information about building contractors such as what sort of company structure they have in place and that I think will offer a considerable amount of clarity and openness as consumers are making what is one of the biggest decisions of their lives. They will have much more information available to them.  
Where does that get us? Well I think the bill will support responsible builders and separate the professionals from the cowboys. I hope that further down the line in the future the bill will create an environment where greater trust is restored in this industry. Like any industry I think that trust is the key to having an efficient industry because you cannot legislate and regulate for every circumstance. You have to rely on trust and that is what we are trying to rebuild through this legislation. That I think ultimately will be the key to having a more efficient sector. This is a complex area and it is an area where you can make mistakes down the line. So I am looking forward to a careful consideration of this during the select committee consideration.  
Bill read a first time.  
Bill referred to the Local Government and Environment Committee.