PM Christopher Luxon sets out Govt plans for builders to self-certify low-risk work

Builders will be able to self-certify low-risk work under a new scheme being planned by the Government.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk are expected to speak about the new scheme at a press conference in Pukekohe at about 3.30pm.

Penk said in a statement the current process of requiring work to be inspected and consented by a Building Consent Authority was “inefficient” and added cost and time.

He said it currently takes on average 569 days for a house to be built and consented. During a “housing shortage”, Penk said this was “simply too long to wait”.

A new opt-in self-certification scheme is therefore being developed for “trusted” building professionals and accredited businesses working on “low-risk, basic residential dwellings”.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk will speak about the scheme on Tuesday. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Penk said the scheme will undergo a robust consultation process, but it’s envisaged that qualified building professionals like plumbers, drainlayers, and builders would be able to self-certify their work without the need for an inspection.

“This brings them in line with electricians and gasfitters who can already do this and is something the industry has been calling for, for years,” Penk said.

Businesses “with a proven track-record” like those that build hundreds of near-identical homes each year will also be able to go through a more streamlined consent process under the scheme, the minister announced.

“At the moment, a single-story basic home might go through 10 or more separate inspections. This is clearly too many and the cost-benefit has become unbalanced,” said Penk.

“Building professionals are already subject to quality assurances such as requirements to be registered and hold a practising licence; keep records of their work; and have their details held in a publicly searchable database.”

Additional safeguards would be introduced through the scheme, including a pathway for customers wanting to remedy poor work, strengthened qualification requirements for building professionals, and strict disciplinary actions for “careless or incompetent” self-certifiers.

Penk said the Government wants inspectors to focus their resources on complex large developments, which he said international evidence shows is where the most defective building work happens.

“Under the current consent settings, councils and their ratepayers are liable for all defective work. This naturally creates a highly conservative approach to consenting, which further slows the process. A model where building practitioners shoulder more of the risk should incentivise better quality work and lower the liability risk for ratepayers.

“We will make detailed policy decisions in the new year following thorough consultation, which will consider what residual role existing Building Consent Authorities should have in the self-certification scheme, for example through an auditing function.”

Penk has already made a number of announcements in the building consenting space, including mooting replacing the current Building Consent Authority model.

There are currently 67 authorities across the country, but Penk has said that despite the country having a single building code, the authorities often interpret it differently, leading to delays and added costs.

He’s highlighted potential options like allowing for the voluntary consolidation of some of the authorities or having larger regional authorities.