Minutes of the Northland Branch Training and Networking Event held on
Friday 9th June 2017 at 1.30pm at Forum North in the Bounty Room 7 Rust Avenue Whangarei
Welcome
Dave Currie Branch Chair welcomed everyone in attendance to our 2nd BOINZ branch training and networking function for 2017.
Attendance
(FNDC) - Dave Currie, John Edwards, Barry Dawson, Greg Machin, Kevin Piper, Mark Henwood, Kelvin Good, Marion Reihana, Taka Stokes, Trent Blakeman, Tony Jane. (KDC) - Jamie Nikora, Kerry Hewson, Derek Free, Tanya Ritter, Julia Mackenzie, (WDC) – Jessica Berridge (guest attendance) Bronwyn McLean, Shane Hakaraia.
Guests
Dan Schiebmair Technical and Education Manager of Building Officials Institute of NZ
Rob Tierney BOINZ Board Member, and CEO & Principal of Holmes Farsight, Code Compliance Building Consultants
Apologies
The rest of the Northland Branch.
Guest Presentation
Daniel Scheibmair – Delivered a training and education update, about the transition from the current APL process for the existing qualifications (two Diplomas) to the new qualifications (Certificate and Diploma) including the new ‘cadetship’ pathway and changes to the BOINZ Training Academy to both align with the new qualifications and enable CPD and reactivity to Regulation and Technical change updates.
Members were advised it is important to note the existing Diplomas can now only be applied for up until December 2017 and any applicants wishing to gain these Diplomas have until December 2019 to finish and obtain them. If not obtained by this date or if not applied for before December 2017 you must enter the new Level 6 Diploma (New Zealand Diploma in Building Surveying) pathway.
It was raised that once the existing Diplomas are superseded, will the previous qualification still be valid.
Answer - absolutely, once obtained you will always hold the Diploma and comply with Regulation 18.
With the new Diploma, there will be an in-employment option for study while working, with 3.5 days a month in classroom with teacher and rest is authentic working hour’s e.g. working for BCA. There is also a full-time study option. The Level 6 Diploma covers small, medium and large buildings and cannot just get one e.g. small. It’s for inspecting and processing and once obtained complies with Regulation 18. This new Diploma is not unit standard based and formal assessments are done. An APL component will still exist in a sense, as retained knowledge is a big part of the formal assessments and can be done if you feel you have the sufficient existing knowledge to complete them. Be aware that if you do fail you will have to start again so if attempting an assessment, you should be current and informed on the subject. This form of course pathway allows for new “green” employees to also get a start in the industry and work on achieving assessments. As they will not have an APL component they will train on the job and this industry cannot rely on employees coming solely from trade as there is also a shortage in both construction and building surveying nationally. Both Full-Time and in-employment courses are NZQA accredited and are offered by BOINZ, Skills and Future Skills. This new Diploma is time driven depending when the teachers/courses are made available.
The other important course offered is the Level 4 Certificate in Building Regulatory Environment and is targeted at those wishing to enter the industry as a stepping stone to a technical role for those looking at a vetting, admin personal, non-technical Level. Level 4 does not gain Regulation 18 recognition but the potential is there for some Level 4 credits to transfer to Level 6. Guidance on both Levels should be out in approximately 3 months.
A reminder, Regulation 18 is not changing, only the method (pathway) of achieving the Diploma is changing. There are still multiple qualifications to achieve Regulation 18 and these are all listed in the Regulation 18 guidance. The Regulation states you must have or be working toward one qualification.
CPD was a topic raised with Dan, who indicated he wants clarify the CPD points registering process. BCOs require competency through assessment each year, so the point was raised is achieving this competency recognized by BOINZ for their CPD points? In simple terms, yes by logging your BCA Training records and experiences. Future CPD training was bought up by Dan and the potential to hold a Northland training event in one location, with others to Skype video in to, save travel and include all BCAs at once, was one of a number of options being looked at.
Dan also spoke to the other of the Institute including HR Division, and its free professional CV Service for members. If you would like to have your CV updated feel free to contact Michelle Te Ohaere – email recruitment@boinz.org.nz. Additionally, if you are considering moving into a new role, or would like any recruitment support or advice, feel free to get in touch.
Rob Tierney (BOINZ Director) introduced himself and his background; a carpenter for 10 years when he thought one day, what about building control? He wanted a change and applied to work in building controls securing a job and starting in the industry. And has gone on to be CEO & Principal of Holmes Farsight, an end to end building compliance firm helping councils and customers.
Rob thanked everyone for a good turn out and that it is a privilege to have been asked to come and speak. Rob acknowledged that all BCAs are very busy at present and its 20% of people that cause 80% of the work and what we do as building officials is very valuable and we must always think of “where to” in the future.
Rob talked about BOINZ 50th Anniversary Conference and said to see 17 past presidents of BOINZ and AIBS attend BOINZ conference was fantastic. Between those 17 past presidents there was approximately 1312 years of experience in the industry and their passion still shows.
“We shape our buildings and then after, they shape us” was a quote from Rob and says a lot about what we as building surveyors strive to achieve – compliant buildings. Study in our building surveying profession is a must to keep updated. Traditionally coming from tools has been the normal entry pathway, however our job now is very black and white, we are to check designs for construction to issued standards, codes etc. Even alternatives must be assessed to a standard. Once issued we inspect parts of the build to ensure compliance to the issued plans, look at variations and amendments. Having the knowledge and knowing what we do and why we do it is vital. And looking at buildings from the clients, and future client’s perspective, and determining if it can actually be built from the plans and is it fit for intended purpose is our role. Remember lots of buildings are built for the public not just the owners. Compliance can really un-shape designs just to comply with a code clause or get a tick in the box and doesn’t mean the proposal will work onsite.
Liability is always a topic in building surveying. It was discussed that liability for us is more impacted on the organisation as long as we follow the policies and procedures set by the organisation. Remember to use the gut feeling but research and thought is more often required. We are not in the business of catching people out, we are there to catch people in, take this approach to work and to site, we are part of the team, not working against contractors.
Previous Minutes
Were confirmed as correct Moved: Taka Stokes seconded: Derek Free
Matters Arising
No matters were raised from previous minutes.
Correspondence
Walter Hill is now Education Advisor at BOINZ and Lynn Dick has replaced Walter in the Membership Relations role. Dan Scheibmair is now the Technical and Education Manager, and Michelle Te Ohaere is the HR Division Manager. HR Division, has been developed to support the sector’s building surveying recruitment needs. If you or your team is looking to recruit new building control staff please utilise this service as the Institute knows the sector and can recruit on your behalf. The associated costs are competitive and only payable should a successful candidate be placed– making it a win-win situation for all. If you would like more information or Michelle’s contact details, Jamie can provide this. Remember the more you support the Institute the more it can do for you and your employer
BOINZ sends out Monthly updates to all BOINZ members, please do advise if you don’t get these and we will assure you do, very handy and helpful info and updates come out in these.
General Business
- Joining fee waiver is still in place until 31st Dec 2017.
- Membership categories were advised of. There will likely be many members in the Associate category eligible to transition to the Licensed category. It’s easy and can be done through the website. Please contact Jamie for a list of these categories.
- Senior BCO Forum 2017 in Wellington 23-25 August, Registrations are now open.
- 2018 Annual Conference in Dunedin 13-16 May 2018.
- Expressions of Interest are now being received for the newly structure Advisory Group categories agreed to by the Board at their March 2017 meeting.
- The BOINZ Training Academy is also seeking new trainer/subject matter specialists.
- Advisory Groups are now split into three distinct categories: Building Code Policy, Built Environment and Education. Each has several specifically focused groups within. While each Advisory Group is focused on its unique segment, there will be overlap between groups.
- KDC and WDC staff recently attended a site safety session aimed at Construction Industry, one point taken of interest was – Site Safety NZ found out only 2 years ago that Asbestos was never completely banned from being imported to NZ, in 1980 100% raw Asbestos was banned, and any product with only a portion containing Asbestos was still allowed into NZ.
- A very big thank you to Dan Scheibmair and Rob Tierney for heading to our event and providing very informative information from BOINZ.
- Also a very big thank you to all of BOINZ office for helping out in this situation covering charges incurred and catering, we couldn’t do this without you guys!!!
Next Branch Meeting and AGM: Friday September 8th 2017 in Whangarei
Jamie Nikora
Northland Branch Secretary
