This is to make building easier and affordable to citizens
The New Zealand Government is planning to make changes on the requirements for building professionals, aiming to strengthen the policies surrounding them and their work order to boost consumer confidence, according to Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk.
Penk explained that the government has been planning ways to make home-building easier and more affordable for citizens as the need to address the shortage in housing demanded a different approach from what has been the norm.
“Reforming the way we consent homes and removing barriers to overseas building products will strip out delays and drive down costs so we can get more homes built at a more affordable price.,” said the minister.
However, Penk pointed out that the effectivity of the intended changes required having qualified building professionals that will do their work properly and hold themselves accountable should something go wrong.
The minister explained that in order to reduce oversight for building that had low risk such as granny flats, adequate safeguards needed to be put in place in order for building professionals that are either careless or incompetent will be held accountable for their work. He further pointed out that the current registration and licensing policies were not fully effective.
“While the vast majority of tradespeople are competent, highly skilled professionals, a small minority are holding the sector back,” said Penk.
A need for better policies to ensure accountability
Penk said that there were several building consent authorities that informed him that the penalties within the Building Act for tradespeople that do not properly execute their work were not enough to stop them from doing so and were not equal to the cost consumers are left with which stem from a work done improperly.
“This lack of robust requirements also has an enormous flow on effect which means councils are more likely to be overly risk-averse out of fear that their ratepayers will be liable for paying the bill as the last man standing,” said Penk.
The minister emphasized the need for the government to make changes on the policies concerning building professionals in order for consumer confidence in building work to rise. This would include lifting the competence and accountability requirements for building professionals, improving consumer protection measures to provide proper support for them, giving regulator the right powers to hold people accountable, and making new penalties to discourage bad behaviour in building work.
“These changes will be critical in supporting the Government’s agenda to make it easier and more affordable to build,” said Penk.
