Building consents logjam forces shortcut by council

Growth pressure has forced Tauranga City Council to simplify how it resourced building consent processing. Photo/George Novak

Tauranga City Council is to simplify how it hires outside help in order to make sure building consents are processed in 20 working days.

The building boom meant the council's building services department had struggled to keep up with the volume of applications, leading to a highly critical review of the department in June this year by professional services firm BDO.

One of the upshots of the BDO investigation saw the council agree this week to bypass the rule requiring contracts worth more than $100,000 to go out to tender. Instead the council would directly procure contracts whenever there was an overflow that could not be handled in-house.

"Council approval is required for direct procurement over $200,000," a report to Tuesday's council meeting said.

BDO criticised the building services department for not following the council policy that required contracts worth more than $100,000 to go to the market. BDO also found one of the contractors hired to process consents had been paid nearly $1.3 million when it was not an accredited building consent authority.

Shay Harrop, the council building services' transformation and change manager, said only certain suppliers were able and available to meet the technical requirements of the Building Consent Authority.

And because there was a shortage of building officials on New Zealand's skilled migrant list, staff were under pressure, he said.

The council looked at open tendering as a way to respond to the BDO review, but the market indicated suppliers were unlikely to respond to a tender process.

Councillors were also told direct procurement of these services would help accommodate city growth and promote safe buildings. Staff would provide letters to suppliers outlining the preferred supplier status, and issue contracts.

Staff would also keep in touch with industry groups like the Building Officials Institute to ensure they were kept up-to-date with all known suppliers.

"There is a strong belief that the council can negotiate competitive rates," the report said.

BDO's review said the council had been averaging double the statutory 20 working days to process consents, with staff turnover of 100 per cent in the building services department over the last two years.

Advantages and disadvantages of direct engagement with suppliers:
- Ability to respond to market
- More likely to meet legal timeframes to issue building consents
- Perceived loss of transparency
Source: Tauranga City Council