From: Certified Builders Association of New Zealand (CBANZ)
Further Confusion in the Construction Industry
Certified Builders Association of New Zealand (CBANZ) is infuriated that the organisations charged with providing
technical guidance cannot agree on the rules for construction.
‘If the Wellington bureaucrats can’t sort out the rules, how can the practitioners understand” says CBANZ CEO Derek
Baxter.
‘There are now two amendments to major NZ standards that are not accepted or cited by the Department of Building and
Housing – this is ridiculous” he says.
In a release yesterday the Department of Building and Housing raised concerns with the way the Standards committee had
created an amendment to NZS 3640 (The Timber Treatment Standard) and advised that the amendment should be treated as an
alternative solution in terms of the building code.
“There is clearly some sort of communication problem between the organisations and these sort of issues should be sorted
out before publication” Baxter says.
“This may be a reflection of the impractical way that Standards NZ is funded,” he says. Standards reviews are funded by
those interested organisations donating their time and expertise to the review committees. This can create a situation
where all of the relevant factors are not considered because those on the review panel do not have an interest in that
area.
“A major problem in the construction industry at the moment is the interpretation of the various rules and regulations.
Delays while the officials figure out what is acceptable creates increased costs for the consumers” he says.
“CBANZ members want to provide good quality housing for clients. It is very difficult for builders to try and raise the
standards of construction when the red tape underpinning the industry is confusing” Baxter says. “We have now reached
the point that the NZ standards are reduced to the status of guidance”
Ends