Last week I was with a lovely group of frontline Council building control administrators. These women have worked around Council for a while and deal with the public and the building industry. They reminded me that people who apply for building consents rarely fill in the forms correctly. They don't fill in all the parts of the form, they don't bring all the right information, and they don't read the guidance info that would help them. While some people may not like the red tape they have to go through with the process - it is what it is - a process. And it can be made helpful.
I was reminded of what Wellington City Council has done to assist their customers. They have created a guide to completing building consents. I think its really helpful so I though you may too so I am sharing it HERE.
Go well this week 
Rosie Killip

If you saw this on the news today you may wonder where you can find the report.

Well here is the link.

Residential Construction Sector - Market Study - Options Paper - 6 November 2013 

http://www.mbie.govt.nz/about-us/consultation/consultation-on-residential-construction-sector-market-study

I am delighted to announce the launch of Building Networks training services into Australia.

Well folks, the revised NZS3604 has been published and is now for sale through Standards NZ.

I have bought and sold a few houses in my time. I am always interested in what the real estate agents have to say about CCCs and LIMS and other compliance matters.Most say very little about this stuff and leave it up to the parties to discuss or discover. In theory its up to the vendor to fess it up to prospective buyers. Or for the buyers to do the “due diligence” through their conveyancing law firm.

A colleague and I have been chatting about the state of building controls in NZ. My colleague says that the building industry just want to be told what to do, not to be mucked around and to get it right first time. If that’s true…then we need prescription not 101 options. Too many options promotes confusion. I wonder how much time has been wasted on optional options?

When were you taught about the magic triangle of building controls (Building Act, NZ Building Code, Compliance Documents hierarchy)?

Look what has sneaked up on you just in time for Christmas..

Building (Exempt Building Work) Order 2010 amends Schedule 1 of the Building Act. This takes effect from 23 December 2010 – just in time for those summer projects!

If we look at the Government’s proposals you would think to yourself: “There is no future in building controls.”

Get a copy of the Building Amendment Bill No 3 tabled in parliament this week.

I have spoken with a lot of property managers who are being ripped offand mucked around by the building industry.

They are told by tradespeople “no, you don’t need a building consent to do this work”, only to find out later that they did. Or.. they were told to upgrade their building unnecessarily.

Then the trouble starts with Council.

If you are thinking about buying or selling property in NZ you will come across something called a “CCC”.
No its not a bag of chips.. but a document called a “Code Compliance Certificate”. Simply, if the work was done under a building consent it should be finished off with the CCC issued by Council saying that building work is complete.

Homes built before 1 July 1992 won’t have a CCC unless there was building work done on the property since that date. In that case, the CCC only relates to the alteration work (eg. new bathroom, additional bedroom, ensuite, etc.)

Want to know more? Join one of my webinars about other traps which can make for lemon property investments..

http://www.bnets.co.nz/understanding-building-regulation.html

Rosemary Killip, Author and Trainer in Building Law
Building Networks NZ Ltd
www.bnets.co.nz