New Zealanders will now be able to get into houses sooner and at less cost with the launch of Building Consent Approvals (BCA), the country’s first fully independent residential building consent authority.
The privately-owned company will operate nationally, and promises to issue building consents within 10 working days for eligible residential projects.
BCA has been accredited and registered by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE) as the first independent Building Consent Authority.
It has been reviewed to ensure it complies with Building Act Regulations by International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ), the government-appointed accreditation body. BCA has full civil liability coverage for its activities, providing assurance to home owners, developers and councils.
BCA chair Tony Sewell says the company’s focus is low-risk residential housing (notably single-storey homes) rather than large or complex buildings.
Sewell is one of New Zealand’s leading building and development consultants, having served for many years in pivotal roles such as president of the Property Council NZ.
“Our goal is to make the building consent process faster, easier and cheaper. Our approach will support the rapid delivery of quality homes, particularly in high-growth areas like Selwyn and Christchurch, where housing demand is surging,” Sewell says.
The Building Act has allowed for independent building consent authorities to enter the market since 2004, as an alternative service to what’s provided by local councils.
Under the Act, any organisation, public or private, can apply to become a Building Consent Authority if it meets strict accreditation and registration requirements.
“With BCA focused on low-risk residential housing, it will take the pressure off local body workloads so they can concentrate on commercial, retail, apartment buildings and more complex, higher-risk projects.
“As a government-approved, accredited co-regulator, our role is to ensure building risk, quality and civil liability responsibilities are covered,” Sewell says.
Building Consent Approvals has been assessed against the same legislation as all council BCAs, ensuring that consumers’ risk is consistent with either entity processing the building consent.
“Local councils around New Zealand have long struggled to recruit enough skilled technical staff for consenting work. BCA will help relieve this burden.”
Selwyn District Council chief executive Sharon Mason says while the council will continue to process the more complex building consents, it’s always good for consumers to have choice.
“Private providers will help alleviate pressure, especially during building booms like Selwyn has experienced in recent years,” Mason says.
Today Homes managing director Jon Sanders says the reduced waiting times for consents will improve the flow of their projects — “allowing us to get homes out of the ground faster and into the hands of our clients sooner”.
Ambitious targets
Building Consent Approvals has set itself ambitious performance targets, including a “10 days or less” time frame given for consents when applications meet requirements — far quicker than many current processes.
Other targets include completing 30% of building inspections remotely, issuing building consents for low-risk replicated designs (for pre-approved building designs) within two working days, and completing building inspections and Code of Compliance Certificates within two working days.
For further information visit www.bcapprovals.nz.
