Legislation governing the New Zealand building sector is to be fine-tuned to support the ongoing government reforms in this area, said Building and Construction Minister Clayton Cosgrove today as he introduced the Building Amendment Bill 2007 to Parliament.

Mr Cosgrove said the Bill makes minor changes to the Building Act 2004.

“The Building Act 2004 contains powerful, sector-wide changes that are helping to re-establish New Zealand’s reputation for world-class quality construction”, Mr Cosgrove said. “But, like any significant piece of legislation, it was always expected it would need updating to maximise its effectiveness as it was rolled out. The original Act gave us appropriate lead-in times so we could listen to the building sector, learn and fine-tune where needed – and the series of minor changes in the Bill do just that.”

The Building Amendment Bill:
•clarifies and reorganises building consent exemptions. In particular this will ensure that weathertightness repairs are not made without a building consent
•makes minor adjustments to the future dam safety scheme; and gives dam owners an incentive to become accredited
•helps to improve compliance with building accessibility requirements at the building design stage
•clarifies the language and rules relating to the licensing of building practitioners

“Currently, some of the legal wording around builder licensing could be clearer. Those people working in the building industry need straightforward information on what licensing is about and what it will mean for them,” said Mr Cosgrove. “The Bill will clarify the purpose of the scheme, the legal liability and accountability on licensed building practitioners, and provide for an integrated rollout of the restricted building work requirements in 2010. The licensing scheme itself will begin to be phased in, initially on a voluntary basis, from November this year.”

There are also about 45 minor amendments and technical drafting corrections, ranging from fixing cross-references within the Act to allowing more flexibility in the future setting of accreditation fees.

Mr Cosgrove said the fine-tuning measures in the Bill will ensure that the Building Act 2004 is a robust instrument for regulating a safe and high quality building and construction industry into the future.

“Everybody, from chippies to council staff, and people looking to buy or fix up a home, can be confident in the Labour-led government’s commitment to New Zealand homes and buildings being built right first time.”

The Bill will go to select committee where the public can make submissions, and is expected to be passed later this year.

Background Information on Building Amendment Bill 2007

What is happening?
The government is introducing the Building Amendment Bill 2007. Following its First Reading in Parliament the Bill will be referred to the Social Services Select Committee. The legislation is expected to be passed by the end of this year.

Why is this being done?
This Bill contains some minor adjustments to improve the workability of the Building Act 2004. This will improve the clarity and effectiveness of the regulatory framework governing the building and construction sector, to the benefit of all New Zealanders.

What is happening with the Building Act 2004 reforms?
The Government is rolling out a major suite of reforms under the Building Act 2004, including:
•Licensing of building practitioners - initially on a voluntary basis - from November 2007, to ensure competent people carry out building work
•A registration scheme for accredited ‘building consent authorities’ from November 2007, to raise the quality of building consent, inspection and approval processes
•A new product certification scheme that will be tied in to international standards of quality and accountability from 2008
These reforms will raise the performance and accountability of councils, builders, and building products. Like any large Act introducing significant new schemes, it needs some minor adjustments to clarify the intent of the legislation and improve its rollout. The Bill does not introduce any substantial changes.

What are the main amendments?
The Building Amendment Bill makes adjustments across several areas, including:

1. Clarifying the intent of building consent exemptions
The Bill clarifies that, notwithstanding the ability to carry out 'minor repairs and maintenance', any repairs affecting the 'durability' of a building (which includes recladding for leaky home repairs for example) do require a building consent.
Substantial repairs of a non-weathertight house without a building consent means it could leak again – and owners would not be able to seek compensation from the council since the council didn’t inspect and sign off on the building work.
The Bill will also clarify the intent of exemptions and what other types of building work have building consent exemptions. These include culverts, motorway signs and certain pylons that are built by network utility operators such as Transit and Transpower. It was not intended to change these policies from the 1991 Act. For example, farmers should still be able to build small dams without the red tape of building consent applications.

2. Dam safety
The Building Act 2004 sets up a scheme that covers dam construction and dam safety management for large dams. Regulations are being developed to implement the scheme. This legislation aims to ensure dams are well built, that larger dams are regularly monitored, and the potential risks to people and property are minimised. “Large dams” are the size of at least eight or more Olympic-sized swimming pools.

The Bill makes some minor adjustments to the future dam safety scheme. These include adding new intermediate categories for ‘earthquake-prone’ and ‘flood-prone’ dams. These are for dams that may develop emerging risks over time, for example as a result of climate change and unusual levels of rainfall. Regional authorities will be able to require that a dam’s safety classification is reviewed in those situations.
The Bill also adds an incentive for dam owners to become accredited by removing the need for accredited owners to provide annual dam compliance certificates. The exemption recognises that some owners of large dams already have comprehensive and independently verified dam safety schemes in place.

3. Accessibility requirements on PIMs
The Bill will require territorial authorities to include a statement on Project Information Memorandum (PIM) reports for ‘public use’ buildings (such as office buildings, retail shops, and sports stadiums) that there are accessibility requirements in the Act and Building Code to comply with. This new flag within the existing PIM process will assist in ensuring people with disabilities can enter and enjoy these buildings, by improving compliance with accessibility requirements at the building design stage.

4.Licensing of building practitioners
The Bill will fine-tune elements of the scheme to license building practitioners, which is due to be phased in initially, on a voluntary basis, from November this year. These adjustments are partly in response to the building sector’s concerns regarding liability.
•The Bill sets up the framework for future regulations to define the limits of “restricted building work” that has to be carried out by licensed building practitioners (LBPs)
•The Bill integrates the start-up dates for when it will become compulsory to employ LBPs for restricted work. Instead of splitting the dates across 2009 and 2011 for different trades, the requirements will all come into effect from 2010
•The Bill clarifies language and rules around the licensing of building practitioners.
•A record will be kept of individual LBP’s employed on each project. This will help the Licensing Board hold LBPs’ to account for their work. This will replace the requirement to ‘certify’ their work, which could have unintentionally created a new liability
•Do-It-Yourself (DIY) builders will still be able to do the same work as at present, including building a straight-forward house or extension from scratch with a simple roof, wide eaves and conventional cladding

Accreditation fees
A minor amendment is needed to provide accreditation bodies with sufficient flexibility in the way they will charge fees. Currently regulations only allow accreditation bodies to charge fixed amounts for applications. The amendment will allow future regulations to include hourly and daily rates as well. For example, the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAS-ANZ) will then be able to be approved and appointed as the product certification accreditation body, so the scheme can proceed as planned.

Will licensing increase practitioner liability?
No. Liability is where one party sues another party for damages. There has always been this legal liability in the building industry and the licensing scheme is not intended to change this. Licensing will mean increased accountability though, through the Building Practitioners Board, which will have the power to investigate complaints and to fine, suspend or rescind a licence when work is deficient.

Other amendments
There are further minor amendments, and a large number of technical drafting corrections that will ensure the Building Act 2004 is a robust instrument to regulate a safe and quality building and construction industry into the future.

What part can people play in this process?
The Social Services Select Committee will call for public submissions on the Bill.
A link to the Bill is available at www.dbh.govt.nz/building-amendment-bill