Builders bemoan construction industry 'confusion'

A builders' lobby group is infuriated that the organisations charged with providing technical guidance to their industry cannot agree on the rules for construction.

Certified Builders Association of New Zealand (CBANZ) have today expressed their alarm over regulatory issues.

"If the Wellington bureaucrats can't sort out the rules, how can the practitioners understand", said CBANZ CEO Derek Baxter.

"There are now two amendments to major NZ standards that are not accepted or cited by the Department of Building and Housing – this is ridiculous", he said.

In a release yesterday the Department of Building and Housing raised concerns with the way the Standards committee had created an amendment to the Timber Treatment standard, and advised that the amendment should be treated as an alternative solution in terms of the building code.

"There is clearly some sort of communication problem between the organisations and these sort of issues should be sorted out before publication", Baxter said.

"This may be a reflection of the impractical way that Standards NZ is funded", he says.

Standards reviews are funded by those interested organisations donating their time and expertise to the review committees. This can create a situation where all of the relevant factors are not considered because those on the review panel do not have an interest in that area.

"A major problem in the construction industry at the moment is the interpretation of the various rules and regulations. Delays while the officials figure out what is acceptable creates increased costs for the consumers" he said.

"CBANZ members want to provide good quality housing for clients. It is very difficult for builders to try and raise the standards of construction when the red tape underpinning the industry is confusing" Baxter says.

"We have now reached the point that the NZ standards are reduced to the status of guidance."