Industry takes swipe at home inspections

The Construction Industry Council has taken a swing at the standard of local government building inspections after the leaky homes crisis.

John Pfahlert, the council's chairman, said good progress had been made in raising standards in the building industry.

But "there is a need to lift the performance of local government in the area of inspections and to accelerate consent processing", he said.

"Our intention is to work with local authorities and the Building Officials Institute on the issues that have been identified."

Mr Pfahlert said there was no instant fix available, but "improved training procedures and financial recognition of the importance of their role will do much to improve the situation".

Meanwhile, architects, engineers, builders, materials suppliers, researchers and training organisations were all working hard towards lifting professional and trade standards.

The building industry took a pounding after a large number of new homes were found in 2003 to be mouldy or rotten as a result of poor construction materials and techniques.

Mr Pfahlert said the council and Standards New Zealand were reviewing building and design standards. Developing a new building code was "probably the most important exercise", although it probably wouldn't be close to finished for two years.

Other improvements included the establishment of best practice guidelines for various parts of the industry and a research strategy.

A builder registration and accreditation process was in the works, and industry training was in demand despite the shortage of labour, although ongoing Government funding for this was vital.

"None of these steps are compensatory for those who encountered, and may in future have to deal with leaky buildings," Mr Pfahlert said.

"But they do offer assurance that the industry is not sitting on its hands."

- NZPA