The next National-led government will streamline building consents to cut compliance costs and allow innovative products into the country to make building materials more affordable,  National’s Building and Construction spokesperson Andrew Bayly and Housing spokesperson Chris Bishop say.

“New Zealand’s building and construction sector is a critical part of our economy, employing 295,000 people, contributing seven per cent of GDP, and delivering more than 40,000 houses, commercial and industrial buildings each year,” Andrew Bayly says.

“However, the sector faces productivity challenges from excessive regulation, worker shortages, disrupted supply chains and a severe boom-bust cycle.

“National’s Plan for Better Building and Construction is one part of National’s overall plan to improve housing affordability in New Zealand. It sits alongside our Going for Housing Growth policy which will unlock land for housing, reward councils and communities that go for housing growth and build infrastructure for the future. It also sits alongside our plan to rebalance the rental market to improve life for renters,” Housing spokesperson Chris Bishop says.

“National’s plan will streamline building consents to make construction more efficient, strengthen competition for building materials, ensure the sector can access the workers it needs with appropriate immigration settings and trades training, and support research and the use of technology to deliver better results.

“National’s plan for Better Building and Construction harnesses digital technology to put building consents on a fast track. National will require Building Consent Authorities to accept video and photos for remote inspections to create a digital record of work. Remote inspections are standard practice overseas and will drive substantial productivity gains.

“Building inspections are a major bottleneck for construction that can leave contractors sitting idle for days waiting for an inspection. National will also speed up the issue of Code Compliance Certificates by requiring certificates to be issued within five working days after a building passes final inspection.

“National’s plan will also unleash competition for building materials by granting automatic approvals for appropriately certified building materials from overseas. Products that meet European, American, British and Australian standards will be automatically approved for use in New Zealand.

National will also:

• Support access to skilled construction workers by maintaining apprenticeships and appropriate immigration settings.
• Transfer the processing of Category 3 building consents (buildings over 10 metres) to dedicated consenting teams that specialise in these types of buildings.
• Review the Building Code with a goal to introduce streamlined risk-based consenting that considers the size and complexity of a development and the builder’s credentials.
• Make the promotion of competition a goal of the building regulatory system, as recommended by the Commerce Commission.
• Review scaffolding rules to ensure they are fit for purpose.

“With falling house prices, declining activity and increasing business failures in the construction, National will cut red tape and deliver regulation that is fit for purpose.”