Having a portion opened to the entire sector is a great way to impart knowledge, and it is fantastic that the buildnz expo is awarded 16 CPD points towards retaining the Licensed Building Practitioners licence.
And when another six are added for the RMBF part, one is a long way there to obtaining the required points. So next year we are off to Tauranga, and we hope many of you will attend there as well.
On another note, there is plenty going on in the sector — almost too much to keep track of.
I have mentioned in the past the Financial Assistance Package legislation that is about to get its third reading. This releases funds from the Crown and councils for up to 50% of the repair cost of a leaky home, and we expect many home owners to take up the offer.
Furthermore, we have been working with the Department of Building and Housing (DBH) and others in the sector to develop a leaky home induction training course, something a number of Wellington Registered Master Builders recently attended a trial of for a day.
This course is well worth attending if you intend to get into leaky home remediation, and I would highly recommend you do the course.
Leaky remediation is full of fish hooks and complexities, and you need to be fully aware of them. The programmes will run during July and August, and if you want to register contact the DBH on
[email protected].
The Productivity Partnership has a goal of increasing productivity by 20% by 2020. It has four work streams — procurement, research, building process and skills. I recently attended a launch of the Built Environment Skills Strategy which concentrates on short-term skills, firms, culture, and education and training.
Skills is an area of concern for us on several levels, and we face an increasing shortage of them as the sector continues to shrink.
But it is not just the numbers of skilled workers that we need to get our head around. Other things need to be addressed, including enticing the young into the sector, improving firms’ management ability, the high number of small-to-medium enterprises that make up the construction industry, fragmentation and many more.
It is pleasing this work is out for consultation, and that other work streams are also being developed.
Most people have been concerned with the affordability of housing for some time. The Government recently established the Productivity Commission which aims to provide insightful, well-informed and accessible advice to increase productivity to improve New Zealand’s well being.
Housing affordability was one of the first inquiries the Government asked the Commission to complete, recognising its significance to New Zealanders’ well being.
It recently published its first paper on housing affordability, and is seeking submissions on it. The RMBF will certainly be doing so as the ever-increasing cost of housing makes affording a new home more difficult which, in turn, impacts on the viability of our sector.
I would like to end on the Government’s decisions relating to getting some certainty for those property owners in Christchurch.
The recent announcements on the various zones are a step forward. Those in the Red Zone will hopefully be in a position to start getting their lives back in order as they can begin to research their options and make decisions.
I accept there is still water to pass under the bridge, but at least some certainty exists. For those in the Green Zone there should be no excuse now for insurance companies to not get on and offer cover — both home and content cover and contract works insurance.
The lack of insurance cover has strangled the property market in Christchurch, but now that there is clarity, the insurance industry must respond and allow the sector to operate.
There is still work to do in the White and Orange Zones, but it is important this work be completed as quickly as possible to allow those affected to also move forward.
Just which option an individual should take is contingent on all sorts of things. It is not only what their rating valuation is, the type of insurance policy they have or their current level of debt, but there are very personal issues to consider as well.
Property owners have to move suburbs, and leave friends and their communities behind — things they have grown up with for years and take for granted will no longer be.
It is fitting the Government has allowed nine months for people to decide what to do, as these are not just financial decisions that are being made.
