Councils will have to publish building consent data

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Authorities will soon need to submit timeframes for building consent applications. File photo.
Photo: 123RF

The government is making councils publish their building consent data, saying it will help provide greater certainty for the sector.

Building Consent Authorities will be made to submit timeframes for building consent and code compliance certificate applications, starting from next month.

The data will be published on the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment’s website every quarter.

Applications for building consents and code compliance certificates must be completed within 20 days – but building and construction minister Chris Penk said the sector was telling him that was often not the case.

“Either the public will get confidence, once we have the data, that things aren’t actually too bad, and that the anecdotal evidence isn’t reflective of the overall system. Or alternatively, we’ll get the data that we need to inform change that actually is needed,” Penk told RNZ.

“So one way or the other we’ll have a clearer picture about what’s needed. And in the meantime, the transparency and the accountability can only be helpful in terms of system performance.”

A MBIE evaluation of the building consent system in 2022 found the statutory 20-day timeframe was causing confusion and uncertainty.

The clock is stopped while the Building Consent Authority – which receives the application – requests further information.

The report found while most consents were processed within the timeframe, many went on hold pending that further information, meaning the actual processing time was much longer.

One builder quoted in the report said they were consistently seeing consents not being issued for more than 45 days.

Penk said there was no consistent nation-wide data publicly available on building consent timeframes

“The crazy thing is actually that the data is already collected by councils, because they’re required to issue consents within twenty working days, all things being equal. So we know they collect the data, it’s just a matter of actually having the political will to want to use that, and find out as a matter of accountability for what’s happening out there now, but also to think about what system reform might be informed by that.”

The 2022 evaluation said the current system discouraged innovation, leading to design and building work that likely only met the Building Code’s minimum standards. But the extent to which it was an issue would be better understood with improved data.

Penk said making the data public would help make that step.

It was not a case of telling councils to pull their socks up, unless it was clear something was systemically wrong at their end, he said.

“We’ll know what good performance looks like. We’ll also know areas that might not be performing so well, but might have good reason not to be.

“So it might be that some of the smaller councils are finding it difficult, for example, in relation to qualified technical staff being available in a smaller area, you would expect that. And it might be that this specialisation exists in other councils, than their own.

“So already, there’s an element of them, working across councils and in transferring files as need be, but we may be able to create a more efficient system that takes a more holistic view. So this data is going to be the first step in finding out what’s needed there.”

The announcement is part of wider reforms to the building consent system, which the government says will make it easier to build a home.

It also plans to increase the availability of construction materials, to increase competition in the market and drive down costs.

Penk said he expected to say more in that space soon.