Media Release

The Far North District Council is the first Northland local authority to become registered and accredited as a Building Consent Authority under new Government legislation to build excellence and consistency in the construction industry.

Building and Construction Minister Shane Jones and the Deputy Chief Executive of the Department of Building and Housing Nigel Bickle both acknowledged the achievement when they presented certificates at a ceremony at the council’s development consents department offices in Kerikeri last Friday.

Around 80 construction industry, political and council representatives attended the function including Far North Mayor Wayne Brown, MP for Northland John Carter, FNDC Development Consents General Manager Patrick Schofield and Chief Executive Clive Manley, councillors, builders and developers.

Mr Brown pulled no punches in his criticism of present building regulations. Referring to Shane Jones, he said he applauded his attitude that he didn’t want to see one new regulation until 10 had been removed.

"I also look forward to the future eradication of the fees we are required to charge on behalf of the Building & Research Association (BRANZ) and the Department of Building & Housing (DBH). It has always seemed to me to be somewhat bizarre that a developer is asked to pay a fee for research on a product he is purchasing," Mayor Brown said.

"Anything that helps to reduce the payments that have to be made as part of the building consent process will help the community.

“Our building consents team has a difficult time with complicated and onerously audited rules and regulations and it’s a momentous thing that we’ve got this far with the pedantic accreditation process.

“I commend the council’s development consents team for its dedication to seeing this thing through and its efforts to improve. We are getting more efficient and word is getting out that the FNDC is very keen on supporting advancement in the district. This is the message we want to convey.”

Mr Carter agreed that the council’s attitude and communication had improved and the number of complaints received by his office regarding the development consents process was slowing down, despite the extra work that was now expected of council staff.

Mr Bickle said the council had done a great job achieving accreditation without the need for a time extension. “I know this has been a major commitment requiring significant resources and I congratulate the council for becoming the first to achieve accreditation in Northland,” he said.

Mr Jones commented that he had long felt that the pendulum had swung too far in terms of building regulation and he was committed to working with the industry to bring it back to centre.

“The Government philosophically wants to increase the amount of building that can be done without any permit whatsoever,” he said. “We need to ensure that our role in the construction sector does not clog the industry.”

Mr Jones referred to three impending changes to the Building Act: the expansion of Schedule One so that things that never should have been caught up in the consents process could be done without the need for consent; voluntary project Information Memorandums (PIMs); and the provision for group builders to be able to get one mega consent for the whole country.

FNDC Chief Executive Clive Manley said the accreditation process had been a team effort. “The fact that the council is the first in Northland to achieve accreditation is a credit to everyone involved – the staff, the leadership of elected representatives, the construction industry and our customers,” he said. This was a huge task done extremely well by everyone involved.”

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Page created/updated: 1 July, 2008

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