Councils would have 10 working days instead of 20 to issue the site reports builders need
Councils would have half as long to issue the site reports builders need before starting work, under a change now before Parliament.
Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk said the current wait was costing homeowners money.
“Currently, councils can take 20 working days to process a PIM application, but we know time is money when building a home, and long wait times can quickly drive up costs, delay projects, and frustrate homeowners who are simply trying to get building underway,” Penk said.
Project information memorandums, known as PIMs, set out site-specific requirements such as natural hazards and infrastructure constraints before a building consent is sought.
The Government announced on 17 June that it would cut the processing time for all PIM applications from 20 working days to 10.
The change is part of the Building Amendment Bill, which passed its first reading on 30 June.
It is not yet law.
Penk said the current system could also work against competition.
“Right now, the system can also undermine competition in our building consent market, with private Building Consent Authorities required to obtain PIMs from councils before they can progress work,” Penk said.
“The Government wants to ensure there is a strong incentive for councils to process those applications promptly.”
Local Government Minister Simon Watts said the change removed a barrier for people trying to get projects moving.
“Cutting PIMs processing times means homeowners, businesses and farmers can get projects underway sooner by removing unnecessary barriers, reducing delays and lowering costs,” Watts said.
“Our Government is focused on councils getting back to the basics, ensuring they are delivering core services efficiently and improving outcomes for the communities they serve.”
The wider Bill also shifts building liability from joint and several to proportionate, requires professional indemnity insurance for designers and engineers, and makes home warranties mandatory for most new builds and major renovations of $100,000 or more.
It would also create a 10 working day consent pathway for new homes with solar generation or other sustainable features.
Penk said the Bill would deliver the most significant building system reforms in 20 years.
“For too long, councils and other parties have been left footing the bill for defects they did not cause,” he said.
The Green Party was the only party to vote against the Bill at its first reading.
Green MP Julie Anne Genter told the House the party accepted the Minister’s description of the problem but could not support the Bill.
She said the reform had been “dropped on us in a week of urgency” and the party had not had time to examine it in the detail it normally would.
Genter said the party had serious concerns about moving towards a more privatised network of building consent authorities.
“It’s public-good incentives that need to drive the decisions around consenting,” she said.
“It has to be information, expertise, and the wider public-good incentives, not maximising profit, as will be the case with privatised organisations.”
“Even if we agree with many of the intentions of the bill, we don’t agree with the solution that’s been put forward in this,” Genter said.
The Bill has been referred to Parliament’s Transport and Infrastructure Committee and is now open for submissions.
