The Minister for Building and Construction is concerned that building inspection capacity won't be able to meet industry demand when construction picks up again

The Minister of Building and Construction says New Zealand is facing a “worrying lack of capacity” in building inspections during the current construction slump and he’s concerned about how the sector will manage inspection demands when construction ramps back up.

Chris Penk announced on Tuesday that the Government was moving forward with a requirement for building consent authorities to use remote inspections as the default method.

“Building anything in New Zealand is too expensive and takes too long,” he said in his announcement.

Penk told interest.co.nz later on Tuesday that building inspection practices had evolved differently across councils, with some permitting remote building inspections while others didn’t.

He said the Government’s requirement was to collate the best – and safest – practices that would also avoid problems like the leaky buildings saga.

“It seems to me that some [councils] are inherently more conservative and risk averse, and that's understandable given that they've got joint and several liability if something goes wrong,” he said. 

“But that doesn't explain why some are different from others, because they all face that reality. I think in the case of councils where they've got maybe less specialised knowledge, all different geographical factors, such as greater distances to travel, someone around with a clipboard to inspect in person, then that might contribute to their decision to allow this or not.”

Penk said he had spoken to builders who had worked across various council jurisdictions and experienced firsthand the differences in councils’ acceptance of remote inspections.

“Some of the councils that are doing it, frankly, deserve to be commended for that, but it's a matter of giving some confidence to the other ones that are not yet on board that they can do likewise,” he said.

Asked if workloads for building inspectors would increase if remote inspections become the default, Penk said inspectors would be able to do more inspections without needing to work additional hours.

“I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to increase the capacity of the number we’ve got at the moment without necessarily increasing the headcount,” he said.

But he added there was a “worrying lack of capacity” that the industry was currently experiencing.

“With the delays that are being experienced by people who are building now when we’re in a relative slump, that doesn’t bode well for a scenario in which activity increases in time – which [we] certainly want to happen for the sake of the sector and for the purpose of supply and affordability,” he said. 

“And so if we can't cope now, [there’s] no hope whatsoever when things take a turn.”

'Safety valve'

To make remote building inspections the standard approach before in-person inspections, Penk said the Government would probably need to make a law change that sets up a default system.

But he wants to hear from builders and councils first.

The Government will release a discussion document in the third quarter of 2024 which will give the building sector and councils an opportunity to provide feedback.

Penk said he wants to know from builders and councils where they think a “safety valve” in the system should be.

“It might be that certain types of building aren't appropriate or inspections at certain stages of the process are less suitable for remote visual inspections,” he said.

Remote inspections is the latest in a raft of changes in the building and construction sector that Penk has announced recently.

In April, he revealed that residential building materials approved in trusted overseas markets are now automatically accepted in NZ under changes to the Building Act. 

Penk announced in May that the Government was going to be “clarifying the definition” of a ‘minor variation’ and introduce ‘minor customizations’ to the Building Act.

In his May announcement, Penk also noted that the Government has already taken steps to: 

• Remove barriers for the use of overseas building products and require councils to accept products that meet international standards which are the same as or higher than those in New Zealand.    
• Bring forward a review of the earthquake prone building legislation and extend remediation deadlines by four years while the review is underway.    
• Exempt small building projects under $65,000 from paying the building levy.    
• Require councils to submit timeframes for building consents applications.    
• Cut more dam red-tape for farmers by raising the height threshold for dam safety regulations from one to four meters.