- Author
-
Building Industry Commission
- Title
- Reform of Building Controls. Volume 1. Report to the Minister of Internal Affairs.
- Coporate
- Building Industry Commission, Wellington
- Report
-
Volume 1
[date unknown]
149 p.
- Keywords
-
building codes
|
legislation
|
regulations
- Identifiers
- New Zealand Building Code; managing the control system; impact of building control reform on other legislation; funding the building control system; program for implementation of reform
- Abstract
- This report is the culmination of a decade of research and study into building control reform in New Zealand and its economic impact initiated by the building industry and responded to by Government in 1979. Government's response led to detailed investigation into the present New Zealand system and analysis of building codes in many other countries. The proposed reform has been developed following extensive consultation and study with both industry and Government. The major features are summarised below: The New Zealand Building Code will apply nationally and will bind the Crown. It is performance based and confined to essential safeguards for the users of buildings and those directly affected by them. Each Code provision establishes the social objectives the building must satisfy, the functions required of the building to meet those objectives, and the performance criteria for the resulting behavior in use of the building and its component parts. The means by which the performance criteria can be met are not prescribed and are open to innovation of new technology and practices. The proposed Building Act provides for the Code to be part of regulations under the Act. Together they become the single focus of the building control system that draws together all building related controls that are currently dispersed through central and local government legislation. The reform will consolidate existing controls with the consequential repeal of current regulations and territorial authority building bylaws related to technical building requirements. A new national body, the Building Industry Authority, will be appointed as the one source of referral and review for the building control system. Production of the Code, its updating, and the assessment of new techniques and solutions will be among its principal functions. The Authority will interpret the control documents and resolve differences between owners and territorial authorities in the application of the control provisions. Territorial authorities will be charged with the administration of the Code and an extended coordinating role between all regulatory bodies. They will continue to be the office for building records and will issue consents for construction and occupancy, signifying that the building owner has provided sufficient assurance of compliance with the Code provisions. Greater emphasis will be placed on the building owner and producers to ensure compliance with the Code. The owner will be required to produce evidence of compliance so the roie of the territorial authority will become more one of checking that appropriate measures and inspections have been undertaken, rather than to conduct those activities itself.