John Gray from the Home Owners and Buyers Association. Photo / Janna Dixon
John Gray from the Home Owners and Buyers Association. Photo / Janna Dixon
The Government’s push to get more homes built means it plans to force councils to do building inspections remotely, but an industry leader says not everyone can be trusted and stiffer penalties needed to be brought in for lawbreakers.
Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk today said building consent authoritieswould be required to use remote inspections as the default approach so getting a home is easier and cheaper.
Home Owners and Buyers Association president John Gray said there could be plus and minus factors from the shift.
“It could be acceptable for some. But some builders, sadly, have proven they can’t be trusted. We also need to look more deeply into the self-certification regime and there needs to be greater consequences for breaching the law,” Gray said.
However, like Penk he is concerned about the length of time it takes to have buildings inspected.
“We’ve had feedback from builders in despair, waiting weeks for inspections. But the overarching point is there needs to be greater consequences as the Government moves towards removing red tape,” Gray said.
The Building Act needed to be reviewed and builders who breached that with serious consequences needed to face “criminal consequences”, Gray said.
Arena Williams, Labour’s Building and Construction spokesperson, said councils were already using remote inspections.
“What we need is the Government to back them to do more of it and not to blame councils and developers for being slow when inspections need to be hands-on. In some places we see rapidly changing landscapes due to climate change and careful assessment before work gets under way saves time and money down the track,” Williams said.
Penk today said building was too expensive and took too long.
He noted an item in Property Insider today where builder 8-9 Construction’s liquidation was due to due to “increased construction costs and delays in consenting processes”, according to an initial report.
Building costs had increased by 41% since 2019 and Stats NZ data showed it takes around 569 days on average for a home to be built – and that’s not even including the time to get a consent in the first place, Penk said.
Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. Photo / Alex Burton
Asked about protections against dishonest use of remote inspections, Penk said video images would primarily be used, not stills. These would be tied to a site via geolocators.
“No system is entirely perfect and behind gamesmanship. We need to have penalties and make it clear how we can avoid gaming,” Penk said.
He did not rule out stiffer penalties for lawbreakers under the Building Act.
Cumbersome consenting system and building inspections, carried out to ensure a build was compliant, were a source of problems in the sector.
Inspections were typically in-person, which can lead to long delays as builders are forced to wait sometimes for weeks for a spot to be available, which often means building work must stop in the meantime, he said.
“Remote inspections offer significant productivity gains that make it easier and cheaper to build. However, the use of remote inspections is currently inconsistent across the country, with some councils being reluctant to use it. That’s why the Government is progressing work to make remote inspections the default approach across New Zealand.”
He hopes remote inspections will:
Lower costs by removing the need for inspectors to travel to sites. This is particularly important in congested cities and in rural areas with large travel distances
Reduce delays by enabling more inspections per day and allowing inspectors to work in other regions remotely to support a region with greater demand
Cut transport-related emissions
Result in better record-keeping and documentation, meaning more quality assurance for homeowners
Cut time due to increasing flexibility for inspectors and builders on inspection day.
“The Government will release a discussion document in quarter three of 2024. There will be an opportunity for councils and the sector to provide feedback about the best approach,” Penk said today.
Four years ago, Auckland Council said it could do remote resource consent and building inspections during pandemic lockdowns.
Craig Hobbs, regulatory services director, said this was possible during the alert level 4 lockdowns and was invaluable for staff and customers.
“Using online services and innovative digital applications, our staff have been able to work remotely to continue to support the building and construction industry in this difficult time,” Hobbs was quoted in Our Auckland as saying in 2020.
There were 400 technology-assisted remote inspections performed during level 4 lockdowns, he said.
Normally, the council would do between 650 and 800 inspections a day across Auckland, however, with the restrictions on construction activity, the only work available to inspect related to essential services and owner-builders.
The council used the Artisan mobile phone application, which was developed by the Building Research Association of New Zealand (Branz) with that council.
It supported the capture of photographs of key critical build elements which can be reviewed remotely through the web by inspectors. It also supports higher-quality work and the work is easier to monitor for inspectors, an article August 14, 2020 article said.
Penk also noted Auckland Council had used that Artisan application and said it seemed an obvious possible solution in most situations. His statement came with a demonstration of ZYTE software for remote video inspections in the McKenzie area.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 24 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
