Building Act review

On 12 August Hon Maurice Williamson, Minister of Building and Housing, released details of planned amendments to the Building Act, which Tim Melville, NZIA Building Act working group leader, describes as ‘first steps’ to address concerns outlined by the NZIA as part of the review process.

As reported by the President, the Minister had requested the Department of Building and Housing meet with the NZIA following the announcement. Prior to this meeting, the working group met several times.

• The two NZIA BA submissions were reviewed ‘side by side’ to distill and prioritise a list of ‘non-negotiable’ objectives as the bottom line agenda
• Richard Harris gave the group a summary of the Building Sector Reference Group contribution to the BA review and outlined the role of the new Construction Strategy Group (CSG) of which he is a member
• It was agreed that efforts should focus primarily on promoting the NZIA agenda via the CSG, Select Committee hearings and DBH, and that we will continue to liaise with IPENZ/ACENZ and BRANZ on areas of shared interest
• Changes to the law of joint and several liability were agreed to be at the top of the priority list
• The upcoming DBH meeting was discussed and it was agreed that the Group would deliver its list of ‘non-negotiables’ to the DBH representatives for reaction and discussion.

At the meeting with the Department of Building and Housing, the group - who met with Duncan Joiner, chief architect; Mike Stannard, chief engineer; and John Harper, senior advisor/building standards - took the opportunity to clearly outline the NZIA’s concerns again.

“We saw the Minister’s announcement as a good platform for discussion,” says Tim, “and when the meeting was suggested we were keen for it to have a clear structure. The working group had reviewed both submissions to establish a prioritised list of objectives, and we used this at the meeting to restate our position.“

“At the top of our list, and underpinning everything, is the issue of joint and several liability. It appears we are moving towards an industry that will take responsibility for its work across design and construction, and this needs to be underpinned by a change in the legislation surrounding liability.”

"We tabled our list of ‘non-negotiable’ objectives in order to restate our position and each point was discussed at length:

• the warranty system and surety scheme
• Building Standards, BRANZ , Standards NZ – how they are funded and how it can be ensured that they continue to provide the industry with sound technical information that is accessible and can by understood by all – from designers to those on site
• NZIA support for a National Building Control Authority
• self certification and peer review
• mandatory contract terms
• repeal of the Act.

"It was acknowledged by all present that many of the proposed changes will not be possible unless the issue of joint and several liability is addressed first – Duncan advised there is some work being done on this at the DBH but those present at the meeting aren’t directly involved. We have asked Duncan to advise the best person to engage on this issue so that we can lobby directly.

"There was discussion about the need for skill levels across the industry to be raised in order for the more far reaching changes to be feasible and ‘safe’.

"Duncan and his colleagues advised that the DBH have commenced work on a number of the imperatives outlined in the Minister’s announcement and invited our ongoing input. They will advise us which ‘projects’ are first off the rank and it was agreed that we will look to meet on a regular basis.

"There was general consensus that if the proposed changes to the industry are implemented this will in time require a new act to be written."

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