Ex-Master Builders’ chief David Kelly wants building consent system relaxed

Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk whose office released David Kelly's report calling for the building consent regime to be relaxed. Photo / Alex Burton

Ex-Master Builders chief executive David Kelly has recommended a major relaxation of the building consent regime, saying more responsibility could be passed on to licensed building practitioners for low-risk residential construction work.

Kelly’s report was today released by Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk, following Government moves to ease other parts of the building system.

The report for the Hastings District Council recommends a six-point series of changes which would mean councils take less of a role in consenting.

That way, he says the system can be streamlined and simplified and no building consent requirements would be needed for low-risk new homes.

Penk referred to the building system suffering from “inefficiency, duplication, and over-conservativism. Not only am I aware of these issues, hearing on a near constant basis from the sector that the consent system is holding back growth and innovation, but the Government is already progressing work on these recommendations”.

The recommendations in the 28-page Building Consent System Report raised alarm with specialist leaky building litigator Tim Rainey.

He fears a repetition of the multibillion-dollar leaky building disaster if the report’s recommendations are adopted by the Government.

Former Master Builders Association chief executive David Kelly wrote the report recommending the relaxation in the consenting system.

In moves for council inspectors to have less involvement in inspecting and approving work, Kelly recommends:

1. No building consent requirements for most low-risk house-building work;
2. Streamlined consenting process for low-risk house-building work with no inspections for some;
3. Simplified house building consenting for simple places like single-level buildings;
4. More reliance on licensed building practitioners to use skills, experience;
5. Reducing regulations for moderate to high-risk house-building;
6. New consenting system for commercial work, relying on third parties to review and process consenting.

Kelly said the Building Act 2004 was a response to the leaky homes crisis but since then, “there have been improvements in sector capability. A circuit breaker is needed to recognise and reward sector capability and to exempt low-risk work from the current weight of consenting requirements”.

Twenty years on from the act being passed, a balance had yet to be achieved, he said.

“It has long been considered that the current system is suboptimal in terms of its consistency, responsiveness and inability to adequately differentiate between and respond proportionately to low-risk and high-risk building work,” Kelly said.

In the past two years, Hastings District Council had improved consenting functions, aiming to shift from a regulatory to a business focus, Kelly noted.

Tim Rainey represents many owners of defecive buildings. Photo / supplied

Rainey was one of the lawyers representing homeowners in the Court of Appeal case against James Hardie over Harditex.

On Thursday, that decision rejected the homeowners’ appeal and upheld the previous High Court decision, backing the building manufacturer.

Rainey questioned Kelly’s recommendation to shift more responsibility away from councils and on to licensed building practitioners

“We know from prior experience that if there’s a problem, they’re the first people to walk away,” Rainey said.

He recommends more regulation, not less, suggesting a Government-run building warranty system, not unlike ACC. Levies would be raised from the sector so that people had confidence that if there were problems with a new home, that could be rectified.

The Herald has reported on other changes the Government wants to bring into building regulations.

In June, the Government announced granny flats of 60sq m or less would be easier to build after planning changes that will force councils to permit small dwellings on rural and residential zones without resource consent. Making it easier to build granny flats was part of NZ First’s coalition agreement with National.

Arena Williams, Labour's building and construction spokesperson.

Labour building and construction spokesperson Arena Williams is in favour of improving the system “but we need the time and resource to get this right else we risk transferring huge costs to homeowners down the track. Auckland builders are telling me consents are fast to get at the moment because people aren’t applying for them. Consenting data shows they are down 27% in New Zealand’s largest city and 36 percent in Wellington”.

Educating the building sector to support changes using more remote inspections were are two good recommendations, Williams said.

“Smaller regional councils will need to be supported, not shut out of the process and told what to do by Wellington, as stepped consenting is introduced,” she said.

On September 20, the Government revealed its plans for a permanent replacement for the Resource Management Act.

In July, the Herald reported on the scope of Government changes in the sector.

Those include forcing most building inspections to be remote, reforms to release a “flood” of new houses to the market by strong-arming councils to liberalise planning regimes, fast-track consenting, granny flat incentives, Resource Management Act reform, banning rules discouraging tiny apartments, reversing pro-tenant laws, allowing landlord tax deductions again, cutting timeframes on taxing house sale profits, scrapping first-home buyer grants, promoting build to rent, reviewing Kāinga Ora and the $2.34 billion-plus accommodation supplement.

Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 24 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.