More funding to help process building consents

The government has announced a $3 million, three-year programme to help local authorities process building consents faster.

Friday, October 13th 2006, 9:21AM

by The Landlord

The programme will be funded from the existing Building Levy.

Under the Building Act 2004, territorial and regional authorities must be audited and registered to become accredited Building Consent Authorities (BCAs) by 30 November 2007, if they wish to continue offering building consent and inspection services.

Building Issues Minister Clayton Cosgrove said government recognises that there is a cost to territorial and regional authorities in preparing for accreditation. It will provide assistance in the form of a $3 million package over three years, with up to $2.3 million being available in 2006/07.

The money will be used to pay for those services, products and training that councils would otherwise have to fund in order to become accredited.

Cosgrove said the Government will be seeking feedback from councils on how the $3 million can be best spent, through the release of a consultation document, Proposals to set Building Consent Authority Accreditation Fees and for Assistance with Accreditation.

The document also outlines the proposed fee structure for the accreditation process, which will be run by International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ), an independent accreditation specialist.

It is estimated that IANZ will incur costs of $2.3 million from conducting accreditation assessments on all 85 territorial and regional authorities. This money will be recovered from the fees charged to the local authorities. Fees will range from $16,000 to nearly $63,500 depending on the value of the building work consented the previous year.

Local authorities can recover these accreditation costs through the fees they charge building consent applicants.

Submissions on the consultation document close on 20 November 2006. Once the consultation process is completed, the government will confirm the BCA accreditation fees and the structure of the $3 million programme.

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