“Major reform” could be coming for the building consents system with the Government investigating options to replace the more than 60 consenting authorities around the country.
Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk said the Government was considering three options for replacing the current Building Consent Authority (BCA), which included 67 authorities across the country. The options were:
- Voluntary consolidation - Allowing councils to group together to deliver building control functions. Penk said a number of councils already pooled some resources but barriers to full integration existed, and this approach would focus on removing these barriers.
- Regional BCAs - Establishing regional BCAs to replace the current 67 district and city council BCAs. Penk said this approach would focus on improving consistency and forming entities with the critical mass.
- Single point of contact - Setting up a single point of contact for builders to submit plans to. Building inspection may be contracted out to existing BCAs or private consenting providers, creating competition and encouraging specialisation.
“There are currently 67 BCAs across the country, each with different practices and approaches. We have a single building code that is supposed to apply consistently to all building work nationally.
“However, there are many instances of builders submitting the exact same plans to different BCAs and finding considerable additional costs and delays result from differing interpretations of the building code.”