Williamson Maurice: Building Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
Williamson Maurice: Building Amendment Bill (No 2) — First Reading 
[Volume:652;Page:1779] 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON (Minister for Building and Construction) 
: 
 I move  
That the Building Amendment Bill (No 2) be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that the Building Amendment Bill (No 2) be considered by the Local Government and Environment Committee and that the committee report finally to the House on or before 11 May 2009. I will also be moving that the committee has the authority to meet at any time while the House is sitting except during oral questions during any evening on a day on which there has been a sitting of the House and on a Friday in a week in which there has been a sitting of the House and to meet outside the Wellington region during a sitting of the House despite Standing Orders 187 189 and 190(1)(b) and (c). The current economic downturn is having a big impact on the building sector. Therefore it is important that the bill moves quickly through the select committee process so that the sector can benefit from the proposed changes sooner rather than later. 
The purpose of this bill is to reduce compliance costs and to improve the efficiency of the building design and consenting process. The bill was introduced just before the end of the previous parliamentary term following consultation with the industry and with local government. It takes some useful steps to cut red tape and to improve consistency in decision making around the building consent processes. Although the bill includes some useful initiatives it is only a start and does not go far enough in addressing the compliance issues that face homeowners developers and builders. There is way more to be done. The Government will be reviewing the Building Act and looking to make further amendments to cut red tape in order to drive down costs without of course compromising building quality. It is quite possible that Supplementary Order Papers may even be introduced and sent to the select committee to consider along with the bill. 
The reviews that the Government is involved in include looking at what needs to be consented based on better differentiation between levels of risk; providing better information and education on the building code and on how to meet performance standards without regulating everything that moves; removing unnecessary building control regulation and putting a greater focus on information and education so that people can make informed choices rather than having them made for them; simplifying building licensing rules and providing recognition for trade qualifications making it easier to get licensed but not dumbing down the system; supporting councils to work smarter through the use of technology shared services and online systems; helping consumers to make better informed decisions about building their homes and choosing products that best suit their needs; and finally focusing on how to get developers and builders to stand behind their work and to put things right when that is needed. Along with that the Government will also be looking at how liability and risk around building is distributed between the parties and at how those factors might be better managed. That will include of course looking at some form of home warranty insurance. 
Moving to the key measures in this bill first of all I say it introduces a pre-approval scheme which is a national multiple-use approvals process to streamline the building consent process for house designs that are to be replicated on a substantial scale. That will reduce the time and cost associated with the approval of designs particularly for volume builders. Once a national multiple-use approval has been issued a building consent will still be required in the district where the home is to be located. However decision making by the relevant building consent authority will be limited to site-specific matters only: things like foundations and connections to utility services. The bill provides that the time frame for processing building consents for pre-approved designs will be reduced to 10 working days. That compares with 20 working days for the standard building consent process. 
Secondly the bill enables regulations to be made that define minor variations that can made to building plans without having to go through a full building consent amendment process. That will clarify and simplify the process for making variations to building consents and will reduce the time and cost involved. I think that this is a sensible approach. It recognises that the building process is a dynamic one and that things can and do change on the way through the process that are not of any such great significance that that they need to go back through a full consent. In many cases I have had builders say they just wanted to move a handbasin within a bathroom design or change where the toilet and the shower were juxtaposed and doing that meant going back for a complete and utter go through the process. If a variation is defined as a minor adjustment—as we would define it in those cases—then a consent would not be required. 
Thirdly the bill will also make it optional for a consent applicant to obtain a project information memorandum reducing the time and cost associated with obtaining building approval. 
This bill takes some steps towards reducing red tape and streamlining the decision making associated with the building consent process. However more needs to be done and there is much more to come and I signal that right now. I invite members of Parliament and the public to watch this space as we work through some of the issues that I have canvassed earlier in my speech.